I cannot take credit for the following article but, as a Communications major, I certainly agree with its contents. It was brought to my attention by Bro. Todd Kokko of Northville Lodge No. 186 F.& A.M. in Michigan. It is entitled, “A Short Ramble Through Freemasonry & Communication Theory” which offers four basic principles of communication for Masonic Leaders. There was no copyright or publishing notes included, but we believe it is either from Oklahoma or Michigan. Nonetheless, it is as fresh today as it was when it was written years ago.”
In some ways, Communication Theorists are not very good communicators. We tend to try to pack too much into too little space. It’s efficient in its own way, but it does sometimes mean we have to explain the explanation.
Some of the principles below are like that, but their compact nature lets you apply them to several situations which a different phrasing would make difficult.
PRINCIPLE #1
Person “A” has status in the eyes of Person “B” to the extent that “B” perceives “A” to represent “B’s” goals.
That mouthful says several things that are important for Masons communicating with non-Masons. I think of you as a status figure to the extent that I see you as being what I want to be, or having what I want to have.
A few examples.
PERCEPTION: I think you have a lot of money.
GOAL: I want a lot of money.
RESULT: You are a high status figure for me.
PERCEPTION: I think you have a lot of money.
GOAL: I don’t really care that much about money.
RESULT: That fact will not make you a high status figure for me.
PERCEPTION: I see you as a leader of men.
GOAL: I want to be a leader (or I admire leadership).
RESULT: You are a status figure for me.
PERCEPTION: You are a great football player.
GOAL: I have no interest in football.
RESULT: You are not a status figure for me.
Obvious, isn’t it?
Now consider this opening from a news release:
Most Worshipful Isa Blowhard, the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Coltfusion, will place a cornerstone with full Masonic Ritual at the new State Home for the Bewildered next Sunday.
The obvious hope (and what a hope it is!) is that the non-Masonic public will be impressed with the grandeur and glory of the man and the Fraternity.
QUESTIONS:
- Does the non-Masonic public know what a Grand Master is?
- Does the non-Masonic public want to be a Grand Master?
- Is it likely that the non-Masonic public will think Brother Blowhard represents its goals?
- Is that public likely to draw a distinction between Most Worshipful Grand Master, Grand Dragon, and Lord High Pooh-bah?
- Is anyone surprised if the newspaper decides to run a filler on the rabbit problem in Australia instead of the cornerstone story?
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
You are having a Friend’s Night. Several non-Masons and their wives are there. The program, of course, starts with introductions.
Master of Ceremonies: “There are a few people I would like to introduce before we get started. (By the way, shouldn’t it tell us something that we think of introductions as something to do “before we get started?”) First of all, we are honored to have with us tonight M:.W:.Willy Guidewell, M:.W:.Grand Master of the M:.W:.Grand Lodge. Then there’s M:.W:. -oh, no. I’m sorry, Right Worshipful, I should have said Right Worshipful Titus Canby, R:.W:. Grand Treasurer of the M:.W:.Grand Lodge ……….. and, of course, Illustrious Brother D. Eagles, Thirty-third Degree, Sovereign Grand Inspector General ….. Past Watchman of the Shepherds ……… Past Grand Electa … (that soft background sound is the non-Masonic guests, catching a few winks) …… and Brother Earnest Goodfellow who once seriously considered running for a Grand Lodge office …….. now is there any Dignitary here I have not introduced?”
SO HOW CAN YOU USE Principle 1?
To make Masonry relevant, to give it the proper status in the eyes of the non-Mason, decide what the goals of the non-Mason probably are, then show how Masonry represents or furthers those goals.
Let’s list a few of those goals. Your own knowledge will show you how the various programs, charities, and activities of Masonry fit. Then, structure your messages so that they show how Masonry dovetails with the goals of the audience.
They probably want:
- Security
- To live in a good, caring community
- Recognition of their own worth as people
- To feel that they are accomplishing something
- To know that social problems are being addressed
- To help those less fortunate
- A better world for their children
- Security for their spouses
- To feel good about themselves and their own talents and abilities
- To associate with people of good standing in the community
- To be wanted and appreciated
PRINCIPLE #2
Meanings are in PEOPLE, not in WORDS.
That’s another obvious one, and one we overlook. Words are symbols. The meaning of any symbol is in the mind of the symbol-user, not in the symbol itself. When we learn a meaning for a word, we develop a whole set of reactions and feelings as well as a “dictionary meaning” for a term.
That’s important for this reason: JUST BECAUSE A WORD IS CLEAR, SIMPLE, AND STRAIGHT-FORWARD TO YOU DOESN’T MEAN IT’S CLEAR, SIMPLE OR STRAIGHTFORWARD TO YOUR READER OR LISTENER
If we’re going to communicate clearly about Freemasonry, we must use the meanings our audience is most likely to have.
- WORD Masonic Audience Would Think Non-Masons Might Think
- Esoteric not written down witchcraft? new age?
- Monitorial written in the Monitor something to do with the Civil War Battleship?
- Profane not a Mason dirty, sacrilegious,
- Worshipful honored to be worshiped like a god.
- EXERCISE: Translate the following sentence as a non- Mason might.
“The Worshipful Master says we should not talk about the esoteric work in the presence of the profane.”
SO HOW CAN YOU USE Principle 2?
Remember your audience. If you are at a district meeting or some other event for Masons or Masons and wives, use all the jargon you want, your audience will understand it. But remember that, for other audiences, hearing Masonic jargon effects them just like you are effected when your Doctor uses medical jargon. You wonder why he can’t tell you what’s wrong in plain English.
PRINCIPLE #3
A COMMUNICATION INCLUDES ALL MESSAGES, VERBAL, NON-VERBAL, VISUAL AND AUDITORY SENT AT ANY ONE TIME, PLUS ALL THE THOUGHTS, IDEAS, AND ASSOCIATIONS AROUSED IN THE MIND OF THE RECEIVER.
There really is no such thing as a simple message. All messages are extremely complex, because so much more than words are involved. Communications contain thousands of clues, and each clue changes the meaning slightly.
Let’s take a fairly straightforward example first.
“I believe you.” Three simple words. You can say them in such a way that it is a reassurance to the listener. But you can also say them with sarcasm, making it clear that you don’t believe the person at all. Or you can say them suggesting doubt and uncertainty, as if you were really saying, “I’d like to believe you, but I wish you’d convince me a little more.”
If those words can be so changed just by a tone of voice, think what can modify the meaning of a longer, more complex message. To communicate effectively, you have to consider as many of the “hidden” messages as possible.
SUPPOSE YOU ARE PREPARING A WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, a pamphlet or flyer about Masonry, for example. Here are some things you must take into account in addition to the words you choose and their meanings.
- the quality of the paper and its “feel” in the hand
- the look of the paper, whether it is glossy or matte in finish
- the color of the paper
- the color of the ink
- the size and style of the type (research tells us that serif type, type with little lines added, like that on the bottom of the “P”) is easier for persons over 50 to read than sans-serif type like this).
- the contrast between paper color and type color
- the margins
- the illustrations, the size of blocks of type, the emotional content of pictures
SUPPOSE YOU ARE PREPARING A VIDEO TAPE. In addition to the words, you must consider:
the “image” of the narrator. Does he look as if he conforms to their values and would be a status figure for them?
- His speech pattern. Is it likely to be offensive to your viewers?
- The locations shown. Do they re-enforce the message or interfere with it?
- Does it look professional, or like the loving hands of home?
- Is there “visual junk” in the way of the message? One otherwise good Masonic video suffered from these problems:
- There were loose threads around the buttonhole of the speaker’s suit
- Beside the Master, one could see half of a covered Eastern Star signet.
- A non-Masonic audience would be bound to wonder what it was.
- A slightly crooked picture of Washington was on the wall.
These things draw audience attention away from the message.
SUPPOSE YOU ARE DOING A ‘FRIENDS NIGHT’ AND INVITING NON-MASONS INTO THE LODGE BUILDING
- What does the building say about Masonry?
- Is the building very, very clean?
- Are there stained ceiling tiles?
- Are the walls clean and well painted?
- Does the building smell?
- Does the plumbing work?
- Are there torn or worn places in the floor covering?
If there is food, is it ample, tasty, hot? (Those who do Friends Nights serving dried-out beef, watery mashed potatoes, canned gravy and salad of discouraged lettuce will receive exactly the amount of success they deserve.)
Has someone been dispatched to see to it that Brother Alonso Grump (who treats non-Masons in the Temple as if they were carriers of some loathsome disease) is out fishing that night?
SO HOW CAN YOU USE Principle 3?
Never forget the audience. Look at ads, promotional campaigns, etc., remember those companies pay people a lot of money to guess right about messages. Remember the total picture when you design a letter, a brochure, or any other communication.
PRINCIPLE #4
Never forget that successful communication starts with an analysis of the intended audience.
You would not address an audience of 40 year old men and women by breezing into the room and saying, “Good morning, boys and girls. Isn’t it a pretty day today?” Always know the audience you want to reach. You should know something about their educational level, their income groups, their values and goals.
Be sensitive to any special considerations with your audience. As Brother Mark Twain remarked, “It is indelicate to mention rope in a house where someone has recently been hanged.” Do not violate the cultural or social conventions. In that context, remember the Korean clothing manufacturer who decided to introduce his line of men’s underwear (which had proven very popular in Korea) into the United States. He had the name translated into English and started marketing “Little Pansy men’s underwear.” Sales did not meet his expectations.
Preaching to the choir is fine, if you only want to talk to the choir. Putting together a communication without knowing and analyzing your audience is exactly like trying to make clothing for someone without knowing what size they are. You might, just by accident, get it right. But the odds are against you.
THY OCEAN IS SO GREAT,
AND MY BOAT IS SO SMALL!
Masonic communication may be more difficult than most. We operate under strictures of ethics which do not concern many others. We also often operate with the necessity of making sure that the right egos are petted, the Venerable Guard (ever ready to criticize anything that differs from their youth – circa 1723) is appeased, and the Appendant and Affiliated Bodies made properly content. May everyone have the luck we have in Oklahoma, where those problems seldom arise!
But even with the best going for us, it is a difficult task. Masonry has become somewhat remote from the experiences of a typical non-Masonic audience. Finding ways to communicate effectively with that audience is not easy, but it is possible.
Just remember this: we must communicate with people “where they are,” not where we wish they were. We have to find ways to speak their language. Masonic language is fine and highly desirable among Masons. It is a foreign tongue to the non-Mason.
GUARANTEED STEPS TO FAILURE IN COMMUNICATIONS
Pass over your newest Master Mason, who also happens to be your best communicator, in favor of Brother Codger because he is a Grand Lodge Officer, a Past Grand Master, or the “grand old man of Masonry” in your state.
Load as much Masonic jargon as possible into every sentence. If the audience doesn’t understand, they should pay better attention!
ALWAYS hold meetings with the public in the Lodge Room. No worse structure for communication can be created than having people sitting down both sides of a room so that, to look at half the audience you must turn your back on the other half.
Answer every question with “I can’t talk about that, it’s secret.”
In writing news releases or newspaper stories, be sure to put all the Masonic titles into the first sentence. That way if they print it, they may not cut the Masonic titles. And we all know that they are far more important. Start the actual story about paragraph seven.
Keep the Faith.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction or any other Masonic related body. As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:
Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com
Copyright © 2007-13 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
Originally published in 2007.
