MODULE 6:

COMMUNICATING STRATEGICALLY FOR VARIOUS

PURPOSES

Intended Learning Outcome:

• Convey ideas through oral, audio-visual, and/or web-based presentations for
different target audiences in local and global settings using appropriate
registers.
• Create clear, coherent, and effective communication materials.
• Present ideas persuasively using appropriate language registers, tone, facial
expressions, and gestures.
• Adopt awareness of audience and context in presenting ideas.

LESSON 1: OBTAINING AND DISSEMINATING

INFORMATION EFFECTIVELY
“As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best
information.”
Benjamin Disraeli

Specific Lesson Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Know the different rules and guidelines on effectively inquiring about a specific
concern.
2. Identify the different rules and guidelines on properly disseminating information to
other people using social media and other traditional mediums.
3. Apply these rules in making their own inquiry and for their own information
dissemination.

DISCUSSION:

THE ART OF INQUIRING AND SPREADING INFORMATION

❖ The information serves so many functions in today’s world. Using it responsibly for
various purposes may help you become an empowered member of society.
❖ Consequently, when information is shared responsibly for a clear objective, those
around you may also be empowered. To do this, one begins with obtaining
information effectively. This means validating sources and following ethical
practices.
❖ Therefore, in obtaining and disseminating information, the communication context
should be clear to you before making a query or passing on a message. If it is not,
 miscommunication may happen. If it does, you will not be able to achieve your
purpose.
❖ Be sure that your inquiry or request details are well stated to avoid confusing the
person you wish to address (Pearsall and Cunningham, 1986).
❖ Do not make the receiver read a lengthy message and guess your objectives.
Respect the time that is given to attend to your query.

❖ Consider the following steps that may help you develop your effective
communication skills.

How to Make an Effective Query

1. Define the communication context.

2. Choose the appropriate kind of language for composing your inquiry.
3. Make your message clear and concise. Begin with an introduction (who you are
if your addressee does not know you) followed by your main purpose (what
information you need and what it is for), and end it with a closing statement.
4. Thank the addressee promptly when you receive a response. If you need to
make a follow up on your inquiry, do so in a courteous manner.

❖ Many people who have easy access to the internet prefer receiving messages by
email in today’s age.

❖ Consider the following rules of etiquette that Booher (2001) points out in
writing formal electronic messages.

1. Use sentence case instead of uppercase and lowercase.

2. Use single space in composing your message.
3. Avoid humor and sarcasm.
4. Avoid sending emotional messages.
5. Avoid using emotions.

❖ For certain, you have to be aware of your use of tone. Always use respectful and
formal language. Remember that it is not what you say but how you say it.

Read the following sample email messages and compare them.

Sample Letter of Inquiry

Message: Inquiry about a workshop on building communication skills offered by a language

center in a university.
Audience: Director of the language center (authority)
Medium: Email
Purpose: To get more details about the workshop (discounted rates for undergraduate
students and how to volunteer as a workshop assistant)
Language: Formal
SAMPLE 1:

SAMPLE 2
 ASSESSMENT TASKS:

ACTIVITY 1:

Compare the two sample emails above. Write their differences and similarities on
the table provided below.

COMPARISON IN
SAMPLE 1 SAMPLE 2
TERMS OF:

Format

Length

Tone

Statement of Purpose

Kind of Language

Consistency
OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM AVAILABLE SOURCES

❖ Using technology, obtaining information grants us access to secondary sources

such as websites, books, television, and radio programs. The information from
these kinds of media may be just too handy. As such, you have to be responsible
and prudent in choosing, using, and spreading the information you get from these
sources.

Be sure that the sources you rely on are credible and accurate.
❖ Effective sources usually have been reviewed and validated by experts on the
topic.
❖ When in doubt, check the background of the publishers and the authors through
online articles. Fortunately, various fact-checking websites such as snopes.com,
FactCheck.org, or Politifact identify fake news sources or clarify false information.

Check that the information you have is current.

❖ The date of publication or posting is significant. If it is dated, then the information
you have may no longer be relevant or accurate unless you need a historical
background or account of a particular subject.

Consider the perspective or worldview of your sources.

❖ The truth has many sides, and, as a reader, viewer, and listener, you have to look
at these various dimensions to evaluate them more carefully and decide whether
they are worth studying further and sharing.

When you share the information you have learned through various media
platforms, you must cite and acknowledge your sources.
❖ Identify the author/s, publisher/s, article title, magazine, book, website, periodical,
or journal.

For starters, beware of chain emails, text messages, and status updates that
compel recipients or addressees to pass them to a bigger group of people.
❖ If you do receive chain messages, do not pass them on. There is no scientific or
logical basis for following their hidden coercions.

INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

❖ When you face an opportunity to help address the general public, you have to use
simple language that readers, listeners, and viewers may grasp right away (Silver
2014).
❖ Ulmer et al. (2015) suggest the following when informing the public in moments of
crisis:
• Inform the community immediately, acknowledge uncertainty, and assure the
public that they will receive regular updates on current and future risks.
 • The public needs useful and practical statements of managing difficulties during
a crisis.

❖ When you disseminate information, your message should be correct, clear, and
concise. Avoid using vague terminologies that are open to various
interpretations. Instead of using lengthy paragraphs, use numbers or bullet
points to make reading easier and faster.
❖ Consider also the levels of communication involved in disseminating information.
There should be the barangay or community level, the city level, the regional
level, and the national level. Within these levels are different types of audiences
who use different types of languages and various modes of communication.

Consider the following sample Facebook messages.

ACTIVITY 2:

Answer the following questions based on what you have learn from the lesson.

1. Compare the two sample messages from Facebook. Which among them is more
effective? What characteristics do the more effective message has compared to the
less effective one?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. What do you think is the importance of knowing how to properly and effectively
disseminate information especially these times of pandemic?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
ACTIVITY 3:

Choose one from the following tasks. Apply the rules and guidelines on how to
properly and effectively disseminate information/query.
Task 1: Create an Application Letter for a job related to Information Technology.
Task 2: Create a sample Facebook post encouraging people to donate to your
Foundation which gives help and assistance to the COVID 19 Frontliners in your area or
town (You don’t need to post in your Facebook).