German Coast Guard-Lost in Translation

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In business communication, messages are conveyed using several types of media to include the internet, radio, podcast, and television. In order to convey effective messages presenters must select a medium that is appropriate for their desired objective. They must also tailor the message for the audience, which reflects an understanding of the reader's concerns, and motivations (Carrero, 2011). In the video “German coast guard-lost in translation”, the director uses a combination of techniques to illustrate the importance of language and communication. In the video, a German coast guard trainee gets an urgent message from a ship. The ships occupants speak English, and report that the ship is sinking. The German trainee responds back by saying “What are you sinking about?” The video ends with a message that says, “Improve your English”. The video makes light of a potentially dangerous situation however, it draws the audience’s attention to the real message of the video—know English! This video is a good example of a poor audio communication effort. Employees should always be well versed in a wide range of communication tasks such as expressing ideas, communicating ethically, and actively listening (p 7-8). Focusing on those basic areas can help make employees or individuals in general better, and more successful communicators.

Overall Impression

Using Humor in communication can help express ideas, and leave a lasting impression on an audience. After watching the video “German Coast Guard-Lost in Translation” one time, I was able to take away the main point of the video. The humor coupled with the ending punch line made the video very effective as well as memorable. In addition to humor, the director used a combination of music, g...

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...nding and receiving information. There are several different methods of communication, each with its own pros and cons. For example, while verbal communication can be more personable, it leaves room for misinterpretation. In this sense, written communication is more concrete and can be re-read by employees who were unclear about any of the details. Verbal communication however, particularly face-to-face, has the benefit of body language and can help make the meaning clearer, even when a language barrier exists.

Even though the director of “German Coast Guard-Lost in Translation” did a great job of using different elements to convey his message there are always some areas where improvement could be made to increase the effectiveness of a message. Learning to communicate effectively can yield many benefits most of which can lead to a successful business career.

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