Receiver: the person that is receiving the message from another person. The receiver is the component of the communication process that has the job of interpreting the message and figuring out what the messages importance is to them and makes their own idea of what the message means. They should also remember what kind of context they are in, which will affect how to interpret the message. (DeFleur, Kearney, Plax, & DeFleur, 2005).
Referent: the object or idea that a word in a language takes the place of; for example, the word “mouse” can refer either to the small furry animal, or to a piece of computer hardware. Both objects are referents of the typed and spoken word “mouse”, and are aroused when one hears the word (sil.org).
Regulator: nonverbal cues that allow the other person in the conversation to know it is their turn to talk. A regulator can be eye contact, lifting your hand, a breath, nodding your head, etc. Without regulators in our communications with others, the conversation would be unorganized and out of control. Lack of regulators can lead to people talking over each other, and causing confusion and frustration during the conversation (DeFleur, Kearney, Plax, & DeFleur, 2005).
Role-Taking: a process that takes place when the sender tries to evaluate whether or not the receiver will be able to understand the meaning of a part of the message they are sending them. As the sender is speaking he or she is evaluating the receiver’s response and may modify the message as they go. For example, if the receiver starts to look confused while the sender is speaking to them, the sender will start to modify the way in which they are communicating their message to the receiver (DeFleur, Kearney, Plax, & DeFleur, 2005).
Roles: a set of rules in a group that represents who has the right to send specific messages and also who has to listen to them. Everybody in a group has a certain task to perform, and a hierarchy of power comes out of a group as well leading to who can give orders and who must listen. For example, people in a business group understand that a manager has the authority to give orders, and everybody else has to listen to them (DeFleur, Kearney, Plax, & DeFleur, 2005).
Round table: A common format for informal discussion groups in which there is usually no audience and the participants are arranged in some sort of circular pattern. These are often found in board rooms at corporations or other businesses and the participants are all high-ranking members with low power distance between them; that is, they are most often around the same rank or standing in the organization. (DeFleur, Kearney, Plax & Defleur, 2005).
