This commercial really caught my attention when it came on air four years ago:
I'm no alcoholic, but I'm highly intrigued by how grown men could get so excited over a hidden stash of beer! Anyway, Heineken did a great job in communicating with its intended audience. Within a mere time frame of 32 seconds and with hardly any verbal communication, Heineken managed to capture its audience with the aid of expression and non-verbal cues. This commercial alone proves that communication models such as the Linear and Transactional models are overly simplistic and that they fail to capture communication in its entirety.
Effective communication, in my opinion, occurs only when the intended message sent by its composer is accurately interpreted by its receiver. In practice, a message can be encoded via various modes which may not be limited to verbal, written or non-verbal means. These means help to shape the message in a holistic manner such that the message can be decoded with greater ease by the receiver, as shown in the commercial above (if the receiver is human, that is). In addition, methods such as active listening and effective questioning should also be employed so as to enjoy an engaging conversation.
In any case, if you find communication with humans impossible at the moment (not likely if you're reading this), try this:
If you have a pet at home, try communicating with it via any means possible. I have three dogs living in my humble abode and I communicate with them often (not that they'd actually understand what I'm saying). The thing is, they do listen and respond to our intonation, facial expressions as well as body language. For example, my dogs do not like taking baths and they tend to bite if I were to say the word "bath". If I were to approach them with fear, they would try to dominate the situation by barking and snapping at me; highly undesirable. In contrast, if I were to assert my authority and carry them swiftly without hesitating, they would willingly submit to my rule. It is all in the body language and my methods have proven that I've communicated effectively with my dogs.
P.S. Watch this too, it's Physics for the general public (by MinutePhysics) - well-communicated and easily decoded.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI must say the videos have made your post very effective in conveying your thoughts. Also incorporating facts about communication models, encoding and decoding of messages and touching on active listening and questioning make it a very informative read.
The Heineken commercial is one of my favourites as well! Short but creates a very impactful and positive image of the brand. The commercial drove home your point of non-verbal communication very well and I like how you used your dogs as an example on the importance of non-verbal communication. Overall, an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteBut I must admit that I don't understand the MinutePhysics video very well. I'm no physicist and the pace of speech is too fast for me to grasp the information conveyed by the video. I guess it also brings out the point that understanding the gap of knowledge and information background of the listener/audience is important to effective communication as well.
I agree with you that a lot depends on the speaker or writer and the skill with which he/she crafts the piece of communication - obviously with the listener or reader in mind. This means that the sender has to be conscious of the 'noise' factor as well.
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