Some Thoughts on Communication

communication of inappropriate or misleading messages. It is certainly worse than no communication at all, since it confuses the receivers and destroys the credibility of the communicator. So, even in an emergency situation it may be worth a few day’s delay to do some rapid action research to make sure that what you propose to say will be valid, appropriate and acceptable to your intended audiences. This action research should involve a representative sample of the local population in discussion groups or individual interviews, based on a prepared list of questions. It is essentially systematic listening and should aim to find out the characteristics and needs of your intended audiences. Are they a homogeneous group or a variety of sub-groups richer or poorer, more rural or more urban,illiterate or educated? What are their traditional housing designs and construction skills? Is their environment homogeneous or will one area use bamboo and another mud bricks? Having distinguished the target groups the next step should be to define your aims, if possible in behavioural terms -what do you want each group to know and do? It should then be possible to plan clear, simple messages appropriate to specific groups. This ‘message research and planning’ may well be done by a small group or communication unit, including perhaps specialists in housing design and construction, officials and others concerned with the disaster and, one would hope, representatives of the victim groups, whose views should continue to be sought and listened to attentively. As agreement is reached on what should be said to whom, intended messages may well be written in short sentences on The worst crime a communicator can commit is effective a blackboard or large sheet of paper, with rough sketches where visual representation is more appropriate. The planning group can then look at each statement and picture critically to assess its relevance to the target group. Can they follow the advice given? Will it give the expected results? Looking, for example, at the poster produced after the recent Indian cyclone (copy attached) the planning group might have asked themselves :