Principles of Communication: Public Speaking

Abstract

Like life-sustaining breath, communication is ever-present in our lives. That makes understanding and improving how we communicate with others a basic life skill. Communication is an inescapable and fundamental aspect of being human. Con sider the number of times you have purposefully communicated with someone today as you worked, ate, studied, shopped, or went about your daily duties. Most people spend between 80 and 90 percent of their waking hours communicating with oth ers.1 Even if you live in isolation from other people, you talk to yourself through your thoughts. It is through the process of communication that we convey who we are, both to ourselves and to others