Meta-message

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Metabotage is all information that helps the recipient of a message to decrypt or interpret it.

In the best case, senders consciously use these “decoding instructions” in their communication in order to convey their intended message. In this way you reduce the risk of misunderstandings .

Meta messages are transported by:

  • the communication medium (a phone call means urgency, whereas SMS gives you some time to think about an answer)
  • Gestures / facial expressions / body posture (jagged gestures / compressed lips / tense posture point more to stress and urgent, serious issues; quiet, wide gesture / smile / loose attitude point more relaxation and less urgent leisure content)
  • Clothing (suit / blouse vs. jogging clothes )
  • Setting (conference room vs. bedroom)
  • Vocabulary (standard German vs. colloquial language)
  • Voice / volume / pitch / intonation (This shows, for example, whether a question has been asked or a statement has been made. Example: “You can open the door ?!”)

See also

literature

  • Bateson, Gregory (1981): Ecology of Mind. Frankfurt / M.: Suhrkamp
  • Dilts, Robert B. (1998): From Vision to Action: The creation of a world that people want to belong to. Visionary leadership. Applied NLP, Paderborn.
  • Luhmann, Niklas (1987): Social Systems. Frankfurt / M.: Suhrkamp
  • Friedemann Schulz von Thun : Talking to each other 1: Disruptions and clarifications. General Psychology of Communication, ISBN 3499174898
  • Watzlawick, Paul / Beavin, Janet H. / Jackson, Don D. (1996): Human Communication. Forms, disorders, paradoxes. 9th ed. Bern: Hans Huber

Web links