Archiv der Kategorie: Communication

Communication consists of perception, thought models and communication behavior.

Additional meaning is between the lines

Not only since the Internet there is the tendency to ever shorter texts. Blog posts provide facts, opinions and gossip with less than 1000 words. In extreme cases a Tweet compresses expressions into 140 characters. Thus, it will be more and more important to be aware that a text contains only a part of the meaning. Additional meaning is between the lines.

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The steps to this additional sense go over questions concerning the following aspects.

  • Intentions
    Each text is written with a certain intention that does not necessarily reveal itself in the text. If somebody describes drawbacks, like for example the U.S. in the course of the Volkswagen crisis, then the text conveys noble reasons, like the protection of the environment or the consumers. If one could see behind the scenes, then perhaps the true intentions would become visible – influencing the automobile market or damaging the European economy in favor of the U.S.
    The question that arises is: What are the true intentions of the writer?
  • Concepts and terms
    The words that are used in a text, are coming out of the mind of the author, which he learned through concepts and terminologies. In German, new terms can be quickly created by simply combining two nouns, like e.g. joy and hunger to joy hunger. But the resulting word will be incomprehensible to some and understandable to others. If the word is used in the context of psychology, another association emerges, as if one finds it in a cook book. Eventually one cannot know, what the writer originally meant. The appropriate questions are:
    In which context are the words used? What do the words mean?
  • Standards
    All texts evolve in a cultural context with certain standards. If an American writes a text, then the individual is always in the limelight – the American dream stimulates for special performance. In Asian countries the text is created in the context of social relationships – the stimulus results from the obligations for the community.
    The suitable question is: Which standards push the meaning into which direction?
  • Way of writing texts
    The production of texts can be very different. Hand written words from the ivory tower have another character, than sentences written by hand in a coffee shop, or typed with a typewriter, or entered into a computer or spoken into a tape recorder. The same is also valid with the text interpretation – read or listened. According to the procedure, texts have a more or less well structured story line as well as a respective consistency of the thoughts.
    The questions are: Where and how was the text created?
  • Feelings
    “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” Ludwig Wittgenstein finished with this sentence his Tractatus Philosophicus. And this is where we find the limits of expression. Feelings that move us and that we do not have a word for, cannot be expressed accordingly with words. Nevertheless they affect the flow and the conclusions that are written or are omitted in the text.
    The associated question is: What was the mood of the author?

Bottom line: In summary, a text is much more than the sum of its words. In most of the cases it will be difficult to determine those additional backgrounds. Perhaps at least a part might be discovered, by imagining additional meaning between the lines.

The form – the first gateway into the mind of the audience

Sometimes it is like bewitched. After days you have the solution for a problem. The premises are described in detail, the conclusions fit together, and the results build up on the original expectations. Everything leads to a comprehensible result. Nevertheless the audience cannot follow you. Perhaps the correct form is simply missing – the first gateway into the mind of the audience.

Form Kommunikation

At first sight the various formats, like articles, brochures or presentations seem to lack a common form. In fact, they all have a similar pattern that can be reduced to the following aspects.

  • Titles carry away
    The quick entry point to the audience is the title. With the flood of information that we are exposed to, we do not have the patience to consider for a long time, whether the actual information is worth it to invest attention. The title is the hook that pulls the observer into it, repels or, in the worst case, leads to no reaction at all. The more surprising and intriguing a title, the more likely the public will engage to look at it.
  • Summaries engage
    The second hurdle is taken within the following minute, in which the viewers have to be drawn into it in such a way that they look also at the remaining information. In a text the summary fills a paragraph by announcing all essential insights in such a way that one can overlook the facts but not yet finally knows. In a presentation the summary is in the header of a slide that shows the essential expression in one sentence.
  • Subheads are leading
    The outline depends particularly on the respective contents. In any case there are sections that consist at least of one paragraph. The emphasis of these subheads helps the viewers, to run quickly over the side at hand and to find the areas of interest. Contrary to the title, which should rather create fundamental curiosity, the subheads follow the topic. They should announce the succeeding contents as clearly as possible.
  • Paragraphs bundle
    In a paragraph two to three sentences are combined into a unit. Navigation is facilitated for the interested audience by the contentual blocks. A faster skimming is possible in texts. During the presentation the spectators can run quickly through the foil and direct their attention on the part that is most interesting for them.
  • Highlights send a signal
    The small brother of the paragraph is the fat or italic In these cases the author emphasizes special words. That way the viewers get quickly an overview of the most important components of the sentences. These highlights should be used as rarely as possible, so that their effect does not fall flat. In presentations the emphasis can also be produced with colors. The use of colors is a separate topic. The only thing to be said here: marking with the wrong color, like positive aspects with red and negative aspects with green sends the wrong message; Except: this is the message.
  • Lists relieve
    Related paragraphs that describe a whole, can be shown at best as lists. Thus, one creates a related unit that can be processed quickly. This costs space, but the readers honor this form, because they can better remember the contents.
  • Pictures are open for interpretations
    It is actually trivial, but a picture is worth a thousand words. This effect comes mainly from the fact that the respective wording creates different associations for different people. This leads frequently to misunderstandings that result from the individual living situation. With a picture the respective use of words takes unconsciously place in the mind of the observer. The look at the picture facilitates connecting the message with the personal thoughts and experiences. The conclusions that they make, are rather similar in one cultural area.

Bottom line: The application of the previous elements in texts and presentations makes it easier for the audience to understand the contents. If the perception is not disturbed by a form-free structure, the actual message reaches the audience with minimum resistances.