Composition: The Communication Triangle

THE COMMUNICATION TRIANGLE

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TO ILLUSTRATE IN a simple way what the Communication Triangle involves, consider this: a monetary bail-out bill was rejected by the US Congress when it was called a "bail-out" bill, then passed when renamed a "rescue" bill.

The first term worried taxpayers, who felt they were paying for the mistakes—perhaps even crimes—of people on Wall Street. By renaming it a "rescue" bill, lawmakers appealed to voters: as if to say, we are not bailing-out (saving) people who screwed up the economy on Wall Street, but we are rescuing the average citizen, "like yourself."

You can see how all areas of the Communication Triangle are related. Since my purpose is to change my listener's vote, I change ("revise") my text too. If I fail in any area of the CT, I fail in communication:

If I don't know what my purpose is, I won't consider my audience; and if I don't consider my audience, I won't revise my term, "bail-out" as "rescue" (text). So all three points of the CT work together.

(To hear a joke on this issue, go here, or listen to attachment.) The transcript is below.

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Well, I guess you know, last night the Senate passed a bail-out bill, 74-25. They say one of the reasons the new law passed is the lawmakers stopped calling it a bail-out bill and started calling it a rescue bill. See they changed the name. I'm sorry, isn't that called putting lipstick on a pig? I'm sorry.

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