Modes of Communication

Relationship Between Modes and Senses

Communication is more than mere words.  You probably think of writing as words on a page, and English classes as torture . . . er, writing essays!  But there's far more to communication than simply words.  As human beings, we also convey ideas and feelings through sounds, images, and touch.  Every sense we use to perceive the world offers its own modes of communication — you can see pictures, hear music, and feel Braille.  When we're talking about multimodality, we mean that communication occurs across multiple modes — often at the same time.   So if you're watching a movie, for example, then you have visual images of the film, the sounds of the background music, and language from the words the actors speak — and every one of these is a separate mode.

However, we also express thoughs and feelings in ways that don't seem to be "communication."  For example, grandma might bake everyone's favorite apple pie as a way of expressing love — or it might be her backhanded way of telling everyone that her "favorite" daughter-in-law will never become an adequate cook.  Or the state police might "encourage" you to drive safely by pulling over drivers who exceed the speed limit and issuing rather expensive tickets.

The 5 Persuasive Modes: Academic and Workplace Communication

In the classroom and professional settings, we primarily rely on sight and sound to convey information — with a heavy emphasis on using words.  Aside from the occasional handshake, we don't use physical contact to share information with classmates and coworkers.  This leads to five professional modes of communication: Linguistic, Visual, Aural, Gestural, and Spatial.

The Somatic Modes: Conveying Feelings Through the Physical Senses

Among family and friends, we may also communicate through more modes of direct contact such as a hug, baking a tasty a pie, or using scented candles.  This leads to the three somatic modes, subtle forms of communication that tend to convey feelings rather than direct messages: Tactile, Gustatory, and Olfactory.  Note that sound also travels through the somatic nervous system (Cleveland Clinic), but the aural mode is crucial for professional communication.

The Pressive Modes: Pain, Fear and Longing as Forms of Communication

Unlike traditional rhetorical modes that assume intellectual or emotional persuasion through argument, the Pressive Modes apply direct physical, emotional, and social pressures in the attempt to force or enforce specific behaviors in others through Promissory, Aversive, and Coercive modes.  Note that these modes of communicate are not necessarily "good" or "bad" — like any method of communication, they are simply tactics for influencing others.  They include the penalties of court judgments, the abusive acts of threatening physical harm, and even unions protecting worker wages by going on strike.  Where the pressive modes differ from the persuasive modes is that they don't seek willing agreement from an audience.

Genres of Multiple Modes

For College Research Genres, we focus on using communication to influence and persuade others professionally.  Here are a few examples of multimodal genres you might study in the classroom:

• Posters

• Presentations

• Speeches

• Videos

• Leading Discussions