In your interactions, it’s important to realize that everyone communicates differently.
Talking to others helps you share your thoughts and feelings, building connections.
Communication skills come in different forms, depending on who’s involved and the situation.
Think of it this way: there are four main levels of communication – talking to yourself (intrapersonal communication), chatting one-on-one (interpersonal communication), talking in groups, and communicating with people from different cultures.
However according to psychologist Richard Francisco, there are 5 levels of communication refers to: rituals (repeated behaviours), facts (information), attitudes (beliefs), and feelings (emotions).
Knowing about these types can help you understand and talk to people in a better way and avoid misunderstanding.
Let’s examine deeply these different levels of communication.
Table of Contents
What are the Basic Levels of Communication?
Psychologist Richard Francisco’s model identifies several levels of communication:
- Rituals are regular acts or behaviors that have special meaning in a given culture or society.
- Facts are Information and objective data exchanged at this level.
- Attitudes are the main focus of expressing viewpoints, views, and beliefs.
- Feelings include understanding and expressing emotions such as sympathy and empathy.
The 5 Levels of Communication
Verbal communication involves expressing yourself through words. Consider regular dialogues that you have with friends, family, or coworkers. For example, verbal communication happens when you ask a coworker for assistance with a project or share with a friend your weekend plans.
In verbal communication, tone of voice and word choice are equally important. Consider yourself enthusiastically announcing a promotion. You may be speaking passionately and positively. On the other hand, you may use a more somber and measured tone while offering a teammate constructive criticism.
Furthermore, listening is a part of verbal communication in addition to speaking. When you listen to someone actively, you focus on what they are saying, take in what they are saying, and react correctly. This may be asking clarifying questions in a business meeting or nodding in agreement when speaking with a buddy.
Verbal language allows you to connect with people, communicate information, and express your opinions. It is the foundation of human contact.
Physical Level of Communication
Your body language is how you convey yourself when you interact with someone physically. Consider your everyday encounters and how you employ nonverbal gestures, facial expressions, and body language. For instance, you can express warmth and friendliness when you shake someone’s hand and smile at them.
Another important aspect of physical communication is posture. During a job interview, for example, maintaining eye contact and standing straight can communicate professionalism and confidence. On the other hand, slouching or avoiding your eyes could be a cue of unease or disinterest.
Physical communication facilitates public communication and understanding of others’ feelings in social situations. When you’re speaking, someone crossing their arms could be a sign of disagreement or defensiveness. However, leaning in and nodding can also convey agreement and attention.
Physical communication involves more than simply gestures; it also involves occupying space. Sitting next to someone on a park seat, for example, could indicate intimacy or proximity, but keeping your distance could imply formality or control.
Auditory Level of Communication
Using your sense of hearing to comprehend and communicate is known as auditory communication. Consider how you hear other people when they speak and how you process noises in your surroundings. For instance, you use your ears to hear your friend’s voice and the words they are saying when you are on a phone call with them.
Auditory communication occurs in a variety of contexts in daily life, including following directions in a classroom, listening to music, and engaging in conversation at a lively gathering. Auditory communication occurs every time you focus on someone else’s speech or notice sounds in your environment.
An essential component of auditory communication is listening. It entails hearing what is being said as well as comprehending the context and meaning of those words. In order to remember the material, you attentively listen to the professor’s explanations during a lecture and take notes.
Moreover, spoken words are only one aspect of aural communication. It include nonverbal noises such as sighs, laughter, and voice tones. These audio signals enhance communication by offering more details about intentions, attitudes, and feelings.
All things considered, auditory communication is a necessary component of daily interactions since it enables you to establish connections with people, take in information, and make sense of the sounds around you.
Emotional Level of Communication
Emotional communication includes both understanding and expressing emotions. Think about how you show other people your joy, sorrow, excitement, or annoyance. For example, when you share something that brings you joy with a buddy, you are using words and your voice to convey your sentiments.
Emotional communication occurs in many contexts in everyday life, such celebrating a loved one’s achievements or providing support to a friend at a trying time. Communicating your emotions, demonstrating empathy, or offering support are all examples of emotional communication.
Listening carefully is crucial when expressing feelings. It involves more than simply hearing the words spoken; it involves listening to the emotions that accompany them. For instance, if a family member confides in you about a problem, you could soothe them and listen to them sympathetically.
Body language, gestures, and facial expressions are examples of nonverbal cues that are also employed in emotional communication. These clues facilitate more vivid and accurate emotional communication. A reassuring hug or a sympathetic look, for example, can communicate a lot without a word.
Emotional communication is fundamental to human connection because it allows you to build relationships, exchange experiences, and support each other through life’s highs and lows.
Energetic Level of Communication
The energetic level of communication involves utilizing the energy or vibrations that people give out. Think about the occasions when you enter a space and can feel the vibe or ambiance right away. For example, you may feel encouraged if you notice that everyone is laughing and talking enthusiastically.
In everyday life, whether you realize it or not, energetic communication takes place all the time. As you may have observed, some people seem to exude confidence and joy, while others appear more reserved or tense. These energy cues have the power to influence how you interact with others and how they respond to you.
Speaking in front of an audience or giving a presentation is a typical instance of dynamic communication. A speaker’s enthusiasm and love for their subject matter can enthral the audience and strengthen the persuasiveness of their message. However, a speaker who comes across as uneasy or uninterested may lose the audience’s interest.
Furthermore, dynamic communication encompasses group dynamics and even wider social settings in addition to individual interactions. For instance, everyone in attendance may feel and act differently during a game when the energy of the stadium is tangible.
The energetic level of communication is essentially about observing the subtleties of people’s messages and vibrations, which can significantly influence the dynamics of relationships and encounters.
Francisco’s Model of Five Levels of Communication
The five levels of communication in Francisco’s model go from the most fundamental to the most complicated. Between safety and higher risk, as well as between less and more trust, we progress through these degrees.
Level 1: Ritual
Francisco’s five-level communication paradigm defines Level 1 as a “Ritual.” is a group communication. This level involves recurring acts or behaviours that are significant to a specific group or culture.
Consider any routines you may witness in your own life, such as greeting coworkers with a “good morning” when you get to work or shaking hands with new people. These customs help the group feel more comfortable and connected by defining social standards and expectations.
Rituals may also refer to more formal practices and events, such as marriage rituals, graduation ceremonies, or religious rites.
Frequently, these occurrences entail particular behaviours or patterns that represent more profound significance and principles inside the society.
Essentially, within a community or civilization, Level 1 communication rituals are used to maintain common intercultural communication traditions, respect, and strengthen social relationships.
Level 2: Extended Ritual
Level 2 is “Extended Ritual.” This level incorporates increasingly intricate and sophisticated forms of communication within a cultural or social framework, building upon the fundamental rituals of Level 1.
Extended rituals can involve more elaborate organisational communication, and they frequently involve ceremonies or activities with deeper symbolic implications. Extended rituals can take many forms, such as official ceremonies like coronations or inaugurations, religious festivals, or cultural celebrations.
Whether honouring historical occurrences, enforcing community ties, or marking momentous life stages, these rituals frequently fulfil crucial societal roles. They call for group engagement and frequently elicit intense emotional reactions from individuals involved.
The transmission of values and beliefs between generations, the development of social integration, and the formation of cultural identity are all greatly aided by Level 2 communication through prolonged rituals.
Level 3: Surface
Surface-level communication is when the exchanges stay at the surface level, with no real emotional or intellectual depth.
Surface communication encompasses a variety of interactions, such as polite small talk, casual small talk, and quick conversations on everyday activities, current events, and the weather. These discussions usually don’t go above the surface and don’t cover more in-depth or important topics.
In social contacts, surface communication is useful as it helps build rapport, preserve social relationships, and promote more seamless interactions in daily situations. Nevertheless, it frequently falls short of the richness and content of more profound or personal kinds of communication.
Level 3 surface communication offers a structure for polite conversation and social engagement, but it might not foster a deeper comprehension or emotional bond between people.
Level 4: Feelings About Content
“Feelings About Content” involves investigating the emotional reactions and perceptions related to the content being shared. At this level, people share their thoughts, feelings, and responses about discourse in addition to discussing its obvious concerns.
When talking about a recent project at work, for example, people could express their satisfaction with the outcome, their frustrations about obstacles they faced, or their joy about reaching milestones. These emotional reactions reveal information about how people understand and process the conversation’s substance.
Level 4 communication recognises and validates each other’s emotional experiences, which promotes greater empathy and understanding between participants. It makes people feel more comfortable being honest and open, which promotes real connection and support from one another.
Level 5: Feelings About Each Other
“Feelings About Each Other” digs deeper into the attitudes and feelings people have for one another when they communicate.
At this stage of communication, the discussion moves beyond the topic at hand and explores the emotional dynamics among participants. People talk about how they feel, think, and feel about each other, based on their rapport, trust, and interpersonal relationships.
In a team meeting, for instance, Level 5 communication can entail expressing gratitude for a colleague’s contributions, recognising the value of their support, or resolving any stress or conflict that may be present in the relationship.
Level 5 communication helps people become more self-aware and empathetic by helping them consider their own feelings and comprehend how they affect how they connect with other people.
It also promotes open and honest communication, which helps to settle conflicts and forge closer relationships with others.
In addition to strengthening interpersonal ties and promoting mutual respect, level 5 communication also produces a supportive, cooperative atmosphere that is conducive to fruitful discussion and healthy partnerships.
Two More Common Levels Of Communication
Interpersonal Communication
All five of the communication levels we previously covered fall under the levels of interpersonal communication, which is defined as exchanges between you and one or more other people.
Interpersonal communication occurs when we engage with people at work and home by influencing how we move through different social environments, both personally and professionally. Communicating with others involves exchanging concepts, data, feelings, and meaning both verbally and nonverbally.
Interpersonal communication includes written correspondence, nonverbal clues, verbal expression, and careful listening. All of these factors work together to enhance our overall social skills and effectiveness in interacting with others.
Intrapersonal Communication
While interpersonal communication refers to our interactions with other people, intrapersonal communication is the communication we have with ourselves.
Intrapersonal communication is the term used to describe the inner discourse we have with ourselves, or the talk we have with ourselves.
Intrapersonal communication occurs throughout thought processes, journaling, writing, reading, listening, dreaming, and even conversation. There are both conscious and unconscious processes involved.
Intrapersonal communication abilities include self-awareness, self-regulation, self-observation, self-reflection, internal motivation, and impulse control.
It is this internal dialogue that shapes our self-concept, or how we see and understand ourselves.
The development of intrapersonal communication skills is crucial since they reveal our degree of comprehension and self-awareness.
Books Related to Levels of Communication
FAQS
What is communication competence?
Effective message delivery, comprehending others, and navigating social relationships are all parts of communication competence. Together with dynamic, flexibility, active listening, verbal and nonverbal skills, conflict resolution, cultural competency, and ethical communication are all included.
It takes constant self-awareness and practice and is necessary for establishing connections and accomplishing goals.
