Lesson 4 — Activity 3: Analyzing Messages
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Lesson 4 — Activity 3: Analyzing Messages
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If you are an active listener and a good note-taker, you will find it easier to analyze the messages you receive. Our society surrounds us with a lot of information. It is important to practise thinking about that information and analyzing it to decide whether it affects you, is important to you, or is even true!
When you want to analyze a message, you should think about the following:
What is the source of the message?
- That is, who is the sender? Is it someone you can trust to tell the truth? Does the sender have a bias that you should recognize?
- Is the sender able to support his or her ideas with facts, or is the sender ignoring any facts?
Who is the audience?
- If you get a message that is meant for someone else, you may have trouble understanding it!
What is the purpose of the message?
- That is, what does the sender want to accomplish? As you know, a message could be intended to entertain, to persuade, or to inform. You will understand the message better if you know why it is being sent.
What is the context of the communication?
- Depending on the circumstances, a message that might be intended as a joke in one situation could be taken seriously in another situation.
What is the format used to communicate?
- The same message might be interpreted differently depending on how it is communicated. For example, we might be more likely to take cover if we hear a severe storm warning on the radio than if we overhear someone at a bus stop mentioning bad weather.