コミュニケーションとは？

My idea of the word "communication" is essentially two-fold.

On one hand, there's the typical definition of "communication" as defined by dictionaries. If one looks up "communication" in Merriam-Webster, for example, they're greeted with the following definition:

1) "the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else"

2) "a message that is given to someone : a letter, telephone call, etc."

(Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication [Accessed 2/17/2014])

And yet, I see "communication" as more than merely the "act" of expressing information, or the "sending" of a message. For communication to be considered communication it has to be successful. The ideas or information conveyed by one individual have to actually be understood by the recipient to some extent. Failing to convey a message with a shared understanding between the sender and the recipient is...well, a failed attempt at communication. 

I would argue, for example, that one cannot simply imitate the sounds of a monkey and say that they can now communicate with monkeys. And no, simply getting a response from a monkey by saying "OOOOH, AHHHH" does not count. Responding to noise and successful communication are two different phenomena (which, admittedly, are not mutually exclusive).
(Unless, of course, this special imitator actually could understand the significance behind each sound of a monkey and go about constructing a coherent message to a monkey by applying those sounds...)

So what exactly brings about successful, effective communication (where effective signifies the amount of overlap between the sender's and recipient's understanding of a message)? There is, unfortunately, no constant answer to this question. Communicating to different individuals requires different approaches.

From personal experience, for example, the approach a physical chemistry professor might use to teach (and therefore "communicate the meaning of") a concept to a student majoring in physics may very well be different from the approach used to teach that same concept to a biochemistry major. Why? Because biochemistry majors (like me) do not usually have the same mathematical background as physics majors (What kind of biochemist actually likes math?).

In sum, if one wants to actually communicate something, he or she must always keep at least two things in mind:

1) What am I trying to convey to my message's recipient/audience?

2) What approaches can I use so that my audience understands my message?

Failing to successfully carry out 2) leads to something that is not communication, but a (failed) attempt at communication.