Communication comes from the Latin word communicate which means "to share" or "to make common." Communication is a sharing process, a cooperative enterprise to exchange ideas and information to establish effective human relations and outcomes. Discourse can be both descriptive and prescriptive because it conveys independent realities, "what is" and what "ought to be," within the cultural environment. Discourse can be complex or simple, deceptive or real.

To communicate successfully is to bring about change in behavior through understanding, acceptance, and support. Oneway communication refers to speaking or lecturing with no intention of feedback from the receiver. Unless time is allotted later for feedback, shared understanding is not likely to exist and desired outcomes may not be achieved. Two-way communication is a reciprocal process in which the sharing of ideas takes place through exchanges between the sender and the receiver. Dialogue, the mutual sharing of information, allows for greater understanding of problems.

Rumor is a message or action devoid of fact and transmitted with great speed. Rumor is perhaps the most rapid form of communication and depends largely on wishful thinking and inaccurate listening. When formal communications are infrequent or slow to be transmitted, rumors are transmitted instead.