Scientology: What is Effective Communication?

What is Communication?

The Factors of Communication

Two-Way Communication

Suggestions for
Further Study

Two-Way Communication

A cycle of communication and two-way communication are actually two different things. If we examine closely the anatomy of communication – the actual structure and parts – we will discover that a cycle of communication is not a two-way communication in its entirety.

If you will inspect Graph A below, you will see a cycle of communication:

Here we have Joe as the originator of a communication. It is his primary impulse. This impulse is addressed to Bill. We find Bill receiving it, and then Bill originating an answer or acknowledgment as Bill, which acknowledgment is sent back to Joe. Joe has said, for instance, “How are you?” Bill has received this, and then Bill (becoming secondary cause) has replied to it as Bill with “I’m okay,” which goes back to Joe and thus ends the cycle.

Now what we call a two-way cycle of communication may ensue as in Graph B below:

Here we have Bill originating a communication. Bill says, “How’s tricks?” Joe receives this, and then as Joe’ or secondary cause, answers “Okay, I guess,” which answer is then acknowledged in its receipt by Bill’.

In both of these graphs we discover that in Graph A the acknowledgment of the secondary cause was expressed by Joe as a nod or a look of satisfaction. And again, in Graph B Joe"s “Okay, I guess” is actually acknowledged by Bill’ with a nod or some expression signifying the receipt of the communication.

If both Joe and Bill are “strong, silent men,” they would omit some portion of these cycles. The most flagrant omission and the one most often understood as “communication lag” would be for Joe in Graph A to say, “How are you?” and for Bill to stand there without speaking. (By “communication lag” is meant the length of time intervening between the asking of a question and the reply to that specific question by the person asked.)

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