Power in Communication: Attaining Goals

Power
Power in communication is defined as the ability to influence the attainment of goals sought by you or others, according to J. Dan Rothwell in his book In the Company of Others: An Introduction to Communication. In communication there are general indicators, verbal indicators, and nonverbal indicators of power.
General Indicators:
* Those who can define others
This refers to individuals who can assign roles to other individuals. For example, in a group where an individual dictates who does what. In a kitchen the chef would exhibit power by assigning specific tasks for those under him or her.
* The individual who cares less about maintaining a relationship
This is defined by the Principle of Least Interest which states the person who cares less about maintaining and continuing a relationship is usually considered to have more power.
* Whose decisions are followed
Similar to the first, individuals who have the ability to define people and make decisions for others to follow are typically obeyed, and defined as leaders.
Verbal Indicators:
Indicators of the powerless: implies lack of confidence, inability to be decisive, submission
* Hedges: the use of qualifiers, lessens the impact of the message
Examples: words like perhaps, maybe, kind of
*Hesitations: Um, Uh, long pauses during or between statements, etc.
*Tag Questions: making a statement more similar to a question
Examples: adding a question: “Don’t you think?” and up-talk, where the talker’s inflection raises at the end of each statement
*Disclaimers: the use of words like “but,” “however,”
Examples: “I agree with you but…”
*Excessive Politeness: being overly polite, implies an individual is timid
Nonverbal Indicators:
*Clothing: the powersuit, uniforms can imply power
*Touch: the more powerful individual generally touches the less powerful
*Eye-Contact: less powerful individuals generally fail to make eye-contact, while powerful people tend to stare
Information Resources for Power:
Anything that helps individuals to attain their goals, aids other in the achievement of their goals, or hinders the attainment of goals for others.
*Information Power
Access to information that is not easily or readily available, and having the ability to explain this information
*Expertise Power
Knowledge of how to use information, much like the aforementioned information, but incapable of explaining. Person must also be seen as trustworthy
*Legitimate Power/Authority
Based on a position a person holds that is acknowledged by others. This position is appointed or elected
*Rewards/Punishment Power
Rewards are considered positive, punishment is considered to be negative. For punishment power, the person must be perceived to have the ability to follow through with the punishment.
*Personal Qualities
Person must have charisma or other qualities that others find attractive. This power is granted to people by others

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