Social media, for better or worse, has many of us assuming that communication is simply information transmission.

My phone packages information and sends it over a channel to a receiver, that’s you. Or in the context of social media: Write a post, and hit send.

It’s easy to assume that “our position” or “our message” is most important.

This is the transmission model of communication, and it’s what technology does.

But that’s just the technical process of moving info to another, and it’s not the best way to approach human communication.

The rhetorical model of communication is a more useful way to define communication.

Rather than merely transmitting information, Good communicators constantly focus on the effects they have, adapting their communication to have the effects they’re intending.

As good communicators, we should be less concerned with the content of our message, and more focused on the effect it’s having.

Good communicators are other centered people.