What Is Communication? Definition, Models, Types & Examples

You’re already good at what you do. But imagine how much further you could go if every word landed as you intended – if people not only heard you, but felt compelled to act.

In this guide, you’ll discover what communication really is, the key models and types that shape it, and examples you can learn from to elevate your influence.

At Body Talk, we’ve spent over 20 years helping people do just that, from leading brands like EE and Specsavers to professionals who need their message to land clearly and deliver results. Let’s get into how communication really works.

Key Takeaways

Communication isn’t just about what you say. It’s about how your message is delivered, received, and interpreted in the moment.

Here’s what matters most:

• Communication is multi-layered. Words, tone, body language, visuals, and listening all work together. When they align, your message lands with clarity and impact. When they don’t, meaning gets lost.
• Every interaction follows a process. From sender to receiver, encoding to feedback, understanding how messages travel helps you spot where misunderstandings happen and fix them fast.
• Models of communication explain why things work (or don’t).
  • Linear models show how messages travel one way.
  • Interactive models highlight the importance of feedback.
  • Transactional models reveal that communication is happening constantly, even in silence.
• Context and ‘noise’ shape meaning. Environment, stress, assumptions, and distractions all influence how messages are interpreted. Great communicators manage these factors intentionally.
• Effective communication builds trust and drives results. Whether in leadership, healthcare, or public speaking, empathy, clarity, and authenticity consistently improve outcomes.
• Strong communication skills can be trained. Awareness, feedback, and professional coaching turn everyday conversations into opportunities to influence, connect, and lead with confidence.

Understand communication, and you’ll be heard.

Use it intentionally, and you’ll move people to action.

What is communication?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines communication, or to communicate, as:

“To share information with others by speaking, writing, moving your body, or using other signals.”

Notice the phrase “moving your body or using other signals.” Communication isn’t just about the words you use. It’s about how you deliver them and how others receive and interpret them.

For example, imagine saying “I’m fine” with a smile, steady tone, and open posture. That signals calm and reassurance. Say the same words while avoiding eye contact, crossing your arms, and sounding tense, and the meaning completely changes.

Types of communication

There are five different types of communication:

• Verbal communication – Your spoken words and how you deliver them. Your tone, pace, and clarity shape understanding just as much as the message itself. This includes face-to-face communication, phone calls, video meetings, and presentations.
• Non-verbal communication – Everything your body says without spoken language. Facial expressions, posture, gestures, and eye contact can strengthen or completely change your message.
• Written communication – Anything you put into the written form, like emails, reports, proposals, or even text messages.
• Visual communication – The use of visuals to make your spoken or written words easier to understand. Charts, infographics, videos, and design elements bring data and ideas to life.
• Listening – Active listening means giving full attention, noticing tone and emotion, and responding thoughtfully. It turns one-way communication into a genuine exchange.

The communication process

Every conversation follows the same simple pattern. It’s how ideas move from one person to another, and how they sometimes get lost on the way.

Here’s what happens:

• Sender – The person who wants to share something.
• Message – What they’re trying to say. An idea, feeling, or piece of information.
• Channel – How they send it, for instance through face-to-face communication.
• Receiver – The person who hears or sees the message.
• Decoding – How the receiver interprets what they’ve heard or seen.
• Feedback – How they respond. Maybe a question, a nod, or their own message back.

Models of communication

Over time, researchers have created communication models to explain how meaning flows between people. These models aren’t just academic, they’re tools you can use to sharpen your impact.

Linear models of communication

The linear model is the simplest way to explain communication- a one-way process where a message travels from the sender to the receiver. Think of a presentation, a speech, or even a TV broadcast.

Aristotle’s model of communication 

One of the earliest versions of this model came from Aristotle, who saw communication as a tool of persuasion. His model focused on three key elements that every persuasive message should include:

• Ethos – The credibility of the speaker. Why should the audience trust you?
• Pathos – An appeal to the audience’s emotions. How can you make them feel something?
• Logos – An appeal to logic and reasoning. What facts, data, or examples back up your message?

Aristotle’s model includes four components: the speaker, the speech, the audience, and the effect.

In other words, effective communication depends on how well the speaker prepares their message for the audience, and for the effect they want to achieve.

The Shannon and Weaver Model of communication

The Shannon and Weaver Model expanded on earlier theories by introducing the key elements we’ve already covered – sender, message, channel, receiver, and decoding – along with one more vital component: noise. Noise represents anything that interferes with understanding, like background distractions or misinterpretation.

What makes this model so powerful is how it helps you see what’s really happening in any interaction. For example, the channel you choose can completely change the outcome. Will face-to-face make your message feel more personal and human, or will an online conversation be more practical and less intimidating? If your message didn’t land well or there was a misunderstanding, could that be because of noise getting in the way?

Maybe you’re reading your email at the end of a stressful day, or multitasking during a video call. The stress and multitasking are examples of noise that could get in the way of effective communication.

Interactive models of communication

The interactive model recognises that communication isn’t always a one-way broadcast, it can also be a two-way exchange. Both people play an active role, taking turns as sender and receiver.

The Osgood-Schramm Model of Communication

The Osgood-Schramm Model of Communication is a great example of this. Unlike the linear model, where information simply travels in one direction, this one views communication as a loop – a continuous cycle of encoding, decoding, and responding. Each person interprets the other’s message through their own experiences, emotions, and perspective, adjusting how they reply in return.

Think about a manager explaining a project update. They share the plan, a team member asks for clarity, and the manager rephrases based on that question. Communication here is a series of exchanges, not a single delivery.

Transactional models of communication

The transactional model goes one step further. It recognises that communication doesn’t happen in turns, it happens all at once. Both people are communicators, constantly sending, receiving, and interpreting signals simultaneously.

Barnlund’s Transactional Model

In Dean Barnlund’s Transactional Model, every response – nod, a pause, a change in tone – becomes the next message. It’s a continuous feedback loop where meaning is created in real time.

Barnlund identified three key types of cues that shape this process:

• Public cues – These come from the environment and set the scene for how messages are interpreted. They’re things we don’t directly control, like lighting, background noise, or even the smell of coffee in a meeting room. Some are natural (like weather or daylight), others are human-made (like décor or layout). These environmental factors subtly influence how comfortable and receptive people feel.
• Private cues – These exist within the individual. They include inner thoughts, emotions, memories, and physical sensations, as well as private external experiences like listening to music through headphones. Private cues colour how we interpret what’s being said. For example, someone who’s anxious or distracted might misread a neutral comment as criticism.
• Behavioural cues – These are the signals we control, consciously or unconsciously. Our tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and even word choice all fall into this category. Behavioural cues are how we respond to both public and private influences.

Barnlund’s model highlights that communication isn’t just about what’s said, it’s about how all these cues interact. The same words can mean very different things depending on the space, the emotion behind them, and the nonverbal signals that accompany them.

Examples of effective communication

See how people communicate effectively through practical examples, each backed by research that highlights what works and why.

Workplace communication

A manager sits down with an employee whose performance has been declining. Instead of starting with criticism, they start with curiosity – asking how things are going, listening to what’s said (and what isn’t), and acknowledging how the employee feels before offering solutions.

That approach changes everything. The employee feels supported and walks away motivated to improve, not discouraged.

According to Jamil Zaki, research psychologist at Stanford University, evidence shows that employees who believe their managers are empathetic experience less burnout, fewer stress-related absences, and higher morale. They’re also more likely to stay, innovate, and take creative risks.

Healthcare communication

A doctor explains a new treatment plan to a patient. Instead of ending with “Any questions?”, they ask the patient to summarise what they’ve understood. Not as a test, but as a way to confirm clarity and understanding.

That small act of checking understanding builds trust and confidence. Instead of feeling confused or anxious, the patient feels empowered to follow through with care instructions.

This is called the teach-back method, and research published by the National Library of Medicine shows it improves patient satisfaction, self-management, comprehension, and overall health outcomes, while reducing readmissions.

Public speaking

A professional speaker steps onto the stage at a major conference. They smile and make eye contact with a few people in the audience before saying a word.

Their language is natural and simple, filled with moments of humour and honesty. The audience leans in, nods, and laughs in the right places because the speaker sounds like someone they’d want to talk to.

In a study of 10 experienced public speakers, participants emphasised that the most effective speakers use a conversational, relaxed, and authentic tone. They described great presentations as “very structured talks, but ones that feel like a conversation.”

One speaker put it simply: “The most important thing for a presenter is to come across as authentic.”

How to improve communication skills

Becoming a better communicator isn’t about changing who you are, it’s about becoming more aware of how you connect. Small, consistent habits can completely transform how your message lands.

Here are a few quick, actionable ways to start:

• Watch your tone and body language.
  Keep your voice steady and natural, your posture open, and your eye contact relaxed. The way you deliver a message often matters more than the words themselves.
• Adapt to your audience.
  Match your message to who you’re speaking to. What are their pain points? What pressures or priorities shape how they’ll hear you? Tailor your tone, language, and examples to their experience. A technical update for your team might sound very different from how you’d explain the same thing to a client or senior leader.

Want practical ways to build these habits? Read our full guide on how to improve your communication skills.

Note to launch team: Please link this to the blog on How to Improve Your Communication Skills once live.

Measuring and assessing communication skills

Assessing your communication skills helps you spot blind spots and track real progress.

Assessment techniques

Start by turning your attention inward. Reflect on recent interactions – what went well, and where did things fall flat?

• Journalling after key conversations helps you notice patterns in how you communicate and respond under pressure.
• Recording yourself whilst you practice a speech, or even during presentations or meetings allows you to hear how your tone, pace, and body language come across.
• Ask for feedback from others. This can be daunting, but it’s one of the most useful ways to develop your communication skills. Ask colleagues or mentors for honest insights on how your message comes across – what works well and what could be clearer.

Professional communication skills training

With professional communication skills training, you’ll receive expert feedback from specialists who’ve helped thousands of professionals overcome the very same communication challenges you face.

Our trainers at Body Talk are industry leaders with backgrounds in national media, film, and stage, bringing a rare blend of performance insight and business understanding.

Through The Body Talk Way, they’ll help you develop the mindset and techniques to transform how you speak, listen, and lead.

These sessions go beyond theory. They’re practical, high-energy, and immediately applicable, helping you communicate with confidence in every situation.

Book your training session

Bringing it all together

The communication models, examples, and improvement techniques all point to one clear truth: communication works best when you understand how it functions beneath the surface.

Linear, interactive, and transactional models remind us that every message is shaped by how we deliver it, how others interpret it, and the environment we’re communicating in. The real-world examples we’ve gone through show how small choices – a question, a gesture, a display of empathy – can completely change the outcome of an interaction.

And when you measure your skills through reflection, feedback, or professional coaching, you start to see patterns you can strengthen.

If you want support accelerating that journey, Body Talk’s professional training gives you practical, science-backed tools you can use immediately.

Understanding communication is useful.

Using it intentionally is transformational.

Frequently asked questions

We’ve answered some of the questions we hear most often below.

What are the main barriers to effective communication?

Communication is the process of sharing information and meaning, and it’s something that’s intuitive to us as humans – but we all know it’s easy for that process to break down.

Common barriers to communication include:

• Distractions – Divided attention, multitasking, or noisy environments make it hard to focus on the message.
• Unclear messages – Vague language or missing details can cause confusion.
• Assumptions – Filling in gaps without confirming understanding often leads to misinterpretation.
• Lack of feedback – Without clarification or response, it’s difficult to know if your message was understood correctly.

What are the benefits of having strong communication skills?

Strong communication skills influence every part of daily life, from building strong relationships to achieving professional success.

Here’s what effective communication helps you do:

• Understand messages clearly and respond appropriately.
• Convey ideas with confidence, whether written, spoken, or visual.
• Transfer information efficiently, reducing mistakes and misunderstandings.
• Strengthen your ability to connect with others, collaborate, and solve problems faster.

How can I become a better communicator?

At its core, communication means more than just talking. It’s about how you send messages and make sure they’re received as intended. To become a better communicator:

• Listen actively before responding.
• Simplify your language and focus on clarity.
• Watch your tone and non-verbal signals.
• Ask questions to confirm understanding.

How do you define good communication?

Good communication involves clear expression, empathy, and awareness. It’s not just about words – in fact, most communication happens through non-verbal cues like tone, body language, and facial expressions.

A spoken message may carry the information, but your non-verbal signals carry the emotion and intent behind it. When both align, your message feels genuine, and people respond to that.

What is context in communication?

Context is the background that shapes how communication is understood, and it can completely change interpretation.

For example, a deaf person may rely on sign language or other forms of visual communication. That context determines how messages are sent and received.

Context can also include culture, environment, relationships, and situation. A phrase that feels friendly in one culture might seem overly direct in another. The same words can land differently in a boardroom than in a casual chat with a friend.