David Berlo SMCR Model of Communication | Linear Communication Model

What is the SMCR Model of Communication?

Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication is a linear framework of communication showing the process of communication in its simplest form. The acronym SMCR stands for Sender, Message, Channel, and Receiver.

The sender-message-channel-receiver linear model of communication is an expansion of the Shannon-Weaver model of communication. In 1960, David Berlo postulated the Berlo SMCR model of communication from Shannon Weavers Model of Communication(1949).

David Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication (1960) describes the different components that form the basic communication process. He described factors affecting the individual parts in the communication, making communication more efficient.

Communication

Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages that could be through verbal or non-verbal means. It could mean speech, oral communication, which can be verbal and nonverbal.

Written communication uses words that are the verbal part of it and uses nonverbal whether you type or whether you print whether it’s messy. Signs and symbols, and behavior also communicate, and those are all non-verbal means.

When we look at communication models, we see how a message travels from a source or a sender to a receiver or an audience. The model also focuses on encoding and decoding before the sender sends the message before receiving the message. They are sender encodes the message that travels through a channel and decodes by the receiver.

David Berlo SMCR Model of Communication

Berlo’s model is mainly for components to describe the communication process.

Elements  of  Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication

• Sender
• Message
• Channel
• Receiver

• Save

The Sender in Communication Model

This starts with acknowledging that a message comes from somewhere. It comes from a sender that’s the source of the message.  The person or source sends the message to the receiver.

The following are the factor related to the sender;

• Communication skills: communication skills include the skills to speak, present feed, write listening, check.
• Attitude: The attitude of the sender and the receiver creates the effect of the message. The person’s attitude towards the Receiver and the environment changes the meaning and effect of the message.
• Knowledge; familiarity with the subject in the message makes the communicated message have more effect.
• Social systems: values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion, and many other social factors affect the sender’s communication message. It creates a difference in the generation of messages.
• Culture: Culture differences make messages different. A person from one culture might find something offensive, which is very much accepted in another culture.

Message in Communication Model

The message is what is being communicated, and that message has to go through a channel before it can get to the receiver or the audience of a message. A message can be in the form of text, voice, audio, video, etc.

The key factors affecting the message are:

• Content; Content is the thing that is in the message. The whole message from beginning to end is the content.
• Element; Elements are the nonverbal things the tag along with content like gestures, signs, language, etcetera,
• Treatment: Treatment is how the message is conveyed to the receiver. Treatment also affects the feedback receiver.
• Structure; the structure of the message, or the way it has been structured so arrange, affects the message’s effectiveness.
• Code: code is the form in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of language, text, video or etcetera.

Channel in Communication Model

The channel is the route by which the message travels. Some scholars defined channels as auditory or visual, or audiovisual. If you are watching on Youtube, then you are likely to see it visually. If you hear it from audio, you are also getting it through an auditory channel.

There are a variety of other ways to look at channels. We can talk about channels in terms of the medium.

• Is it a face-to-face communication channel?
• Is it via radio or television?
• Is it via the Internet?

But the channel is how the message gets from the center to the receiver.

For the message to come from the sender to the receiver, it must be put into a form to go through the channel.

In general communication, the five senses of a human being are the channels for the communication flow and affect the channel’s effectiveness.

• Hearing: we received the message through hearing.
• Seeing: we perceived through seeing. We also get nonverbal messages by seeing.
• Touching; Many of the non-verbal communication happens from touching, like holding hands.
• Smelling; We collect information from smelling.
• Tasting; They also provide the information to be sent us a message

The Reciever in Communication Model

The receiver is the person who gets the message sent in the process. This model believes that the thinking pattern and many factors mentioned above must be in sync so that the communication is effective. The message might not have the same effect as the intendant if the receiver and sender are not similar.

The receiver must also have excellent listening skills. Other factors are similar to that of the Sender; communication skills, attitude, knowledge, social system, and culture.

Criticism of Berlo’s SMCR Model

In practice, communication is not nearly as much as described in Berlo’s SMCR model. Several factors may lead to a disrupted communication process.

• Examples include, there is no concept of feedback. Both the sender and receiver will not receive direct feedback on how the message is conveyed.
• It also prevents the message from being adjusted, making it impossible to clarify certain matters further.
• There is no concept of noise. After the message is sent, noise may occur, and this noise disrupts the source and message and causes the receiver to only partially received a message or not at all. It does not mention the communication barriers.
• Another criticism of the model is that it omits the sixth sense usage as a communication channel, which is an asset to human beings (thinking, understanding, analyzing, etc.)
• The linear model of communication in both people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned above.
• It requires people to be on the same level for effective communication to happen. However, that rarely happens in everyday life.

 

SMCR Model of Communication Example