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Language and Communication

PREPARED BY:
PROF. KATRINA S. PAR
LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS
 Lesson 4:

EVALUATING MESSAGES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

❖ know the consequences of an ineffective communication;

❖ evaluate the effectiveness of our messages;
❖ develop and use strategic questions to identify strengths and
weaknesses of our messages:
❖ identify the qualities of an effective message;
❖ explore the strategies for evaluating our own work
WHY IS EVALUATING MESSAGES IMPORTANT?

In the process of communication, the use of verbal and nonverbal

communications are not enough. You should try hard to determine the meaning
intended by the speaker by using your own experience to decide what you have
just received. Evaluating or examining the message means making judgments
about the message by connecting the message to our ideas or feelings. In order to
avoid misunderstanding or be surprised by a reaction to our message, guidelines
must be set. Without using guidelines, evaluating our own messages may be
innacurate because of our subject biases. It is helpful, therefore, to have some
objective standards by to measure them
 THREE MAIN QUALITIES
FOR AN EFFECTIVE MESSAGE
1. Simplicity - This quality ensures that our messages are well understood and straight to the
point. To achieve this, make sure that the core message is clear and the purpose is evident.
2. Specificity - It pertains to the process of choosing a language and its usage. In order to ensure
the language chosen is specific, we may ask ourselves the following questions:
a. Is the chosen language specific?
b. Is the chosen language concrete, rather than abstract?
c. Does the words I choose have any connotative meanings? If so, do these emotional associations
serve or go against my purpose?
d. Am I using words which have additional meanings, that could perhaps be misconstrued?
 THREE MAIN QUALITIES
FOR AN EFFECTIVE MESSAGE
3. Structure - With structure, ideas should be logically organized making it easy to
follow. To evaluate whether a message is structured or not, ask yourself the
following questions:
a. Does the message I presented have a structure?
b. Is there a more effective way to arrange my ideas?
EVALUATING SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES
Social media messages are typically fast paced and short. We digest one
and move quickly on to the next. Sometimes, though, we need to slow down
and think critically about the messages we produce and consume. After all,
our social media interactions reflect how we perceive others and affect how
others perceive us.
Just as with traditional media forms, you can use the communication
situation to evaluate social media messages. Review the evaluation
checklist below.