Practical models for technical communication - Shannon Kelley 2021

Why multimodal and multimedia Communication matter
Multimodal and multimedia communication

Abstract: Multimodal documents use a combination of written, auditory, spatial, gestural, and visual choices to help convey and deepen a document’s message. Technical communication requires that you understand the choices a writer/designer makes and be able to explain the chosen output. In professional workplaces, your boss will expect you to be able to explain why and how you chose a certain mode of expression for the information and how it benefits the end user. To be successful, you will need to understand and apply a range of communication modes and media.

Looking Ahead

1. Why Multimodal and Multimedia Communication Matter

2. Multimodal Communication at Work

3. Rhetorical Awareness and Digital Literacy

4. Output Options

Key Terms

” digital literacy

” medium, media

” mode

” multimedia communication

” multimodal communication

” rhetoric

” rhetorical awareness

Why multimodal and multimedia Communication matter

Think about the many ways you absorb information daily. Maybe you read your news online, stay updated on family and friends via social media, or get tips on how to perfect your standup routine through podcasts. You interact with different modes—simply put, a variety of communication methods—when you take in ideas through multiple channels, such as text, images, videos, or podcasts.

Multimodal communication is a system of relaying information that includes modes that are gestural (movements), linguistic (words), aural (sounds), visual (images), and spatial (physical arrangement) (figure 4.1). Because the use of multiple modes of communication is so common, you may not recognize it at first. Ever play charades? Or create a home budget on a spreadsheet to track your monthly expenses? Congrats. You’re already living a multimodal life.

The digital age has produced an increased interest in multimodal communication. Your phone, computer, and social media accounts provide different avenues for you to make meaning. Even if you don’t own a cell phone or personal computer, you still participate in a multimodal life because it’s all around you.

Figure 4.1. Types of Multimodal Communication. Multimodal communication mixes together different ways of conveying meaning, mainly linguistic, aural, visual, spatial, and gestural modes.

Multimodal and Multimedia Communication Defined

Multimodal and multimedia sound similar, but don’t let that fool you. Multimodal communication refers to how meaning is created and experienced through a combination of modes: visual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and gestural. Multimedia communication refers to the final product that serves as a container (or medium) for the communication. The difference between mode and medium is subtle, and both terms can be applied equally to a single form of communication. The next two sections will help break down the difference.

Modes

Mode is the style or way content is presented. Mode can be text, images, sound, movement, or anything that creates and conveys meaning. Interpretive dance is an example of a movement-based mode that is useful for describing complex emotional landscapes difficult to put into words. However, this mode would be useless when trying to efficiently describe the safety precautions necessary to operate a forklift.

Multimodal describes using more than one mode at the same time. For example, if you give a presentation to your class, you’ll likely write an outline beforehand (text). You’ll vocally deliver your ideas in front of the class (speech). To make your presentation interesting, you add in a visual aid or animated slides with sound effects (color, image, movement, sound). You use the room as your stage and invite audience participation (gesture, movement). You might not have thought about it directly in these terms, but by incorporating all these elements, you’ve given a multimodal presentation.

Multimodal communication is everywhere. For example, a visit to any modern retail space will bombard you with messages in multiple modes. When you pass a store playing loud, danceable music, that store is using the aural mode to indicate the store is full of fresh styles you’d feel good wearing. If you walk in, employees use the gestural mode of smiling at you to indicate you are welcome and belong in the store. The spatial mode is used to arrange the store so you will pass points of interest in a specific order—the clearance rack is never by the door, and accessories are on the way to the register. Meanwhile, you experience the visual mode through images of people looking good in the latest fashions. Even the flattering mirror shape and lighting in the fitting rooms are designed for a purpose. You encounter the textual mode via exciting buzzwords, information, and price tags. Careful study goes into how the store communicates its brand. Take a moment to consider what multimodal elements might persuade you to choose one store over another.

The pervasiveness of multimodal communication means that modern audiences expect it. As a technical communicator, you should be ready to satisfy this expectation. As a student and developing professional, you should understand why the choices you make about the process (your mode) and how the finished product is distributed (your medium) both create meaning for the user. This sequence requires you to focus specifically on how to transfer meaning to a user. You must think about what your audience understands and how they need to receive new information to make it useful.

Medium/Media

A medium is a means of transmitting information or data. A résumé is an example of a medium. So is a website. Both examples deliver information. They are the result of a process. Media is the plural of medium. Multimedia refers to more than one medium being used in the same application. For example, a multimedia presentation might feature printed handouts, video clips from a documentary, or audio recordings from an album.

In this chapter we use the term multimodal to include both the process of creating meaning through multiple modes of communication and the final product or output (medium). Understand that when you read multimodal from now on, the idea of multimedia is implied. When you apply multimodal communication, it will inevitably take the form of a medium.

Every piece of communication has a mode and a medium. For example, the TED Talk by Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin called “What You Should Know about Vaping and E-Cigarettes” combines linguistic, aural, visual and gestural modes, but it also has a medium (online digital video).¹ You might find it helpful to think of mode as the larger, general category and medium as the narrower, specific category (figure 4.2).

In this TED Talk, Krishnan-Sarin talks about the feeling of raising children, her expertise studying the biology of addiction, and the popularity of vaping while debunking myths about the safety of e-cigarettes. Her speech combines linguistic and aural modes. Her slides use the visual mode by showing different types of vapes, diagrams of e-cigarettes, and the definition of “chasing smoke.” Her body language, facial expressions, and hand movements are subtle, but these do represent the gestural mode—especially when Krishnan-Sarin makes an “opening the door” gesture with her hand while presenting a new slide. The video offers an excellent example of a multimodal approach to presenting a technical topic to a broad audience.

Figure 4.2. Modes and Media. The five modes can be combined in countless ways to create a variety of media types. These media types include brochures, presentations, websites, podcasts, and many other output options that communicate an idea to the user.