Many basic concepts reappear in the different models, like "sender", "[[Receiver (information theory)|receiver]]", "[[message]]", "[[Communication channel|channel]]", "[[signal]]", "[[encoding]]", "decoding", "[[Communication noise|noise]]", "[[feedback]]", and "[[Context (language use)|context]]". Their exact meanings vary slightly from model to model and sometimes different terms are used for the same ideas. Simple models only rely on a few of these concepts while more complex models include many of them.{{sfn|Narula|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AuRyXwyAJ78C 10–12, 23–25]|loc=1. Basic Communication Models}}{{sfn|UMN staff|2013|loc=[https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/1-2-the-communication-process/ 1.2 The Communication Process]}}{{sfn|McQuail|2008|p=[https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+International+Encyclopedia+of+Communication%2C+12+Volume+Set-p-9781405131995 3143–9]|loc=Models of communication}}
The '''''sender''''' is responsible for creating the message and sending it to the '''''receiver'''''. Some theorists use the terms ''source'' and ''destination'' instead. The '''''message''''' itself can be verbal or non-verbal and contains some form of [[information]].{{sfn|UMN staff|2013|loc=[https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/1-2-the-communication-process/ 1.2 The Communication Process]}}{{sfn|Steinberg|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g8GRgXYeo_kC&pg=PA91 91]}} The process of '''''encoding''''' translates the message into a signal that can be conveyed using a channel. The '''''channel''''' is the sensory route on which the signal travels. For example, expressing one's thoughts in a speech encodes them as [[sound]]s, which are transmitted using air as a channel. '''''Decoding''''' is the reverse process of encoding: it happens when the signal is translated back into a message.{{sfn|Sereno|Mortensen|1970|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vQwEAQAAIAAJ 122–3]|loc=Communication Theory: Decoding-Encoding}}{{sfn|Chandler|Munday|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C 125]|loc=encoding}}{{sfn|Chandler|Munday|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C 44]|loc=channel}}
'''''Noise''''' is any influence that interferes with the message reaching its destination. Some theorists distinguish environmental noise and [[Semantics|semantic]] noise: ''environmental noise'' distorts the signal on its way to the receiver, whereas ''Semanticsemantic noise'' occurs during encoding or decoding, for example, when an ambiguous word in the message is not interpreted by the receiver as it was meant by the sender.{{sfn|UMN staff|2013|loc=[https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/1-2-the-communication-process/ 1.2 The Communication Process]}}{{sfn|Chandler|Munday|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C 296]|loc=noise}} '''''Feedback''''' means that the receiver responds to the message by conveying some information back to the original sender.{{sfn|UMN staff|2013|loc=[https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/1-2-the-communication-process/ 1.2 The Communication Process]}} '''''Context''''' consists in the circumstances of the communication. It is a very wide term that can apply to the physical environment and the [[mental state]] of the communicators as well as the general social situation.{{sfn|Chandler|Munday|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C 72]|loc=context}}
