Listen up I have something to TELL you!
LOL, Mark.
What! Why is my team member sending me a message of Lots of Love???
Have they sent it to the wrong person? What’s going on?
Have you been caught in the position when you have received or sent a message where the person receiving it has interpreted or decoded it in a different way to your intention?
With the continued development of text messaging, slang, online culture, and memes, it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Yet for generation Z reading this, LOL meant Lots of Love instead of Laugh out Loud ‘back in the day’.
However, with our global and sometimes remote workforce, when sending a message which has no feedback loop i.e. you are telling someone something, often ‘noise’ happens when decoding the message. In other words, the receiver interprets that message in a different way to the sender’s intention.
Having awareness of this is crucial when you are developing your ‘tell’ message. There are 5 common areas that create ‘noise’ and can change the meaning of a message.
Colours have different meaning to these in different cultures. The most well-known is probably the colour red.
Passion & Love - North & South America and Europe
Luck & Fertility - China
Sun God Surya - Thailand
Death & Grief - Some African Countries
Violence from the fight for freedom - Nigeria and South Africa
Words have different interpretations, I’ve already given an example when it comes to pop and youth culture, but this also happens inside of countries. Some fun examples are:
Purse - in the U.S is a women handbag in England it’s the wallet carried inside of her handbag
Chips - in the U.S and Australia this is thinly sliced processed potatoes with flavouring in the UK it is think cut deep-fried hot potatoes.
Pants – again, in the U.S and Australia this means the outwear from waist to ankle to encapsulate each leg, or in the UK, trousers. Pants are the underwear worn below next to the skin.
Football - In the U.S and Australia this refers to NFL or AFL games with oval balls where as in the UK football is what these countries call soccer which is played with a round ball.
Beliefs are developed by individuals as they interact with the world and can be shared by others or not. Some individuals believe dogs are dangerous whereas the majority of others see them as ‘mans’ best friend’ or cute and loveable. Families, communities and countries all develop beliefs that effect the way information is viewed and decoded.
Immunisation is an example where one article misinterpreted or misrepresented data from a study delivering the message that immunisation put children at risk of developing autism or being negatively affected in their ability to develop. This has led to thousands of well-educated and caring parents to decide not to immunise their children putting them at terrible risk of contracting proven life-threatening diseases. The article has been proven false with millions spent proving that there is no risk to children however the idea has taken hold and is proving incredibly difficult to shift and has led to governments here in Australia making it mandatory for children to have their immunisations to attend nursery.
Images presented alongside or as the message can have an impact on the meaning behind the words or information presented with it. There are some we are all used to seeing like:
Weighing Scales - seen as balancing or balanced
2 dots and a semi-circle - as a smiling face
Elephant - thoughtful
Sun - happy, bright hopeful
Rainbow - inclusive, hope
But for some people the association of an object with an emotion can be very different if we look at dogs again who are incredibly popular here in Australia. A picture of them on a post can increase its popularity and likelihood to be shared, however for some a dog is the symbol of protection others fear, in China prosperity & wealth, or the pathway to heaven (hinduism).
Audio can have an impact on the feeling behind a message, just think of all the music tracks played behind different scenes in a movie. The quick tempo to create urgency and excitement to the 4 by 4 slow tempo to create relaxation. This is the same if you have music as part of your message but also is the case with the tempo of delivering your speech. If you are wanting to invigorate and energise your listener a quick tempo with a variation in tone will create interest and excitement. Whereas if you are wanting calm a situation using a slower delivery with a softer tone and volume will serve you better.
Taking the time to think through all of these elements of how the receiver of your message may interrupt or decode them, particularly if you have no opportunity to check the understanding and interpretation of the message. Take the time up front to check with a diverse group of people, not just your own echo chamber group of likeminded people from the same background and culture.
