Selecting the best medium to convey your message.

Author: Jo Ann Luna

          Communication is vital in the business environment.  Whether an individual is trying to communicate with a superior, assistant, or employee, the need to be able to exchange information and effectively communicate a message is essential. Choosing the proper medium can make the difference between an effective and ineffective message. The medium is the form in which you use to communicate a message, ranging anywhere from a voice mail to an email to a podcast.  The simple decision of choosing to use an email where a memo is more appropriate can change the effectiveness of the message.  The key to being able to distinguish which medium is the best way to communicate depends on the purpose, situation, and audience.

There are four different forms of communicating:

·         Oral media- a medium that includes face-to-face conversations, which would be most appropriate for in person presentations in meeting, speeches and interviews.  This is the most personal form of communicating that allows for immediate responses and encourages interaction and the ability to ask questions. This is one of the best ways to communicate when the message is urgent.  However, this is not the best way to communicate when trying to avoid interaction or unpleasant situations.

·         Written media- includes Memos, letters, and reports and proposals that can be in memo or letter form.   Memos are printed documents mainly used for day-to-day exchange of information. A letter is usually used for conveying a message with an individual or people outside of the organization. The written medium allows for planning and control of the message and offers a permanent certifiable record.  However, they do take more time and resources to reproduce and lack the emotional and nonverbal cues that are offered by oral media.  This medium is slowly getting replaced by electronic media such as e-mail and blogs.

·         Visual media- consists of any format that uses a visual element such as a diagram or graph to play a central role in conveying the content of the message.  This method can be less intimidating than large blocks of text and is quick to express complex ideas.  Still, this medium may be harder to create and requires technical and artistic skills that some do not possess. 

·         Electronic media- has a vast range of formats.  This includes phone calls, e-mail, blogs, power points, podcasts and now even text messaging.  This list does not stop there, as new technology becomes available the list continues to grow.  If an individual wants to make a strong impression electronic media can enhance visual appeal and add excitement to any message.  This media offers more tools allowing for a more complex way of presenting information. On the other hand it is more complicated to use and can present problems. It can present privacy and security risk such as exposing confidential data and viruses.
When dealing with electronic media, there can be set back.  If we take communication on the web as an example, this excert from an article written by the Office of External Affairs and Communication at the University of Cambridge tells us that, "In communications terms, we can create information for consumption but we cannot place it directly in front of the audience", meaning we can't guarantee that electronic media is always going to be effective either. 

Though these mediums are extremely helpful there are some disadvantages, so it is important to choose the medium wisely.  Stop and think before choosing a medium. There are factors that you have to take into consideration when selecting a medium.  Knowing whether the message needs an immediate response or not, if it is an urgent message, and who the target audience is allows you to narrow down your options and figure out which mediums are appropriate.  
You can also ask yourself, “Does it have enough media richness?”  Media richness is the medium’s ability to carry information and convey the meaning of the message; it should also allow for feedback and establish personal focus. In that case the richest media is going to be face-to-face conversation; therefore, the “leanest” medium would be any form of communication that does not allow space for feedback and is impersonal.

Therefore, choosing the medium that delivers the message in the most effective way is one of the most important steps when planning in the writing process.


For a more in depth description of how to use electronic media you can look at the University of Cambridge's article on "Communication using Electronic Media".


Resources: 
Communicating using Electronic Media
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/communications/resources/multimedia.html