 In this video, we'll discuss five modes of communication. You might think of composing as the art of writing text, but there are many ways in which we communicate beyond writing words, sentences, and paragraphs. Looking at a popular meme, for example, we notice a combination of words and images, which are spaced and organized in a strategic way. These elements correspond to different communication modes. Words like Kristen Arola and her colleagues identify five of these modes. The linguistic mode, visual mode, oral mode, gestural mode, and spatial mode. Compositions that include two or more of these modes are considered multimodal. To better understand how we can compose in each of these modes, let's look at each in greater detail. The linguistic mode is the choice of spoken or written words, or how we organize those words into sentences and paragraphs in a text. The linguistic mode is probably what comes to mind first when you think about composition and writing. The visual mode is how we use and interpret images, color, layout, style, size, or perspective in a text. Almost any design choices that appeal to our site constitute the visual mode. Consider how popular YouTube channels make use of bright colors, bold text, and striking images in their video thumbnails. Their use of the visual mode draws our attention and helps communicate what each video is about. The oral mode refers to sound, including how we use music and sound effects, ambient noise, silence, tone of voice and spoken language, volume, emphasis, and accent in our composition to achieve specific purposes. Any modality that appeals to our hearing constitutes the oral mode. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball has played recordings of crowd noise to try to replicate a normal experience for players and viewers. The addition of sound makes the game seem more familiar and less surreal. The gestural mode involves the use of movement. The ways that body language, facial expression, and hand gestures are used in a face-to-face conversation or a YouTube video involve the gestural mode. Sound gestures have an agreed upon meaning within a culture, and the way members of that culture use these gestures can determine how people interpret their actions and intentions. In the United States, we use the thumbs up to signal approval or agreement to an opinion or a cause. And finally, the spatial mode concerns with the decisions we make about the use of space, in other words, the arrangement, organization, alignment, and proximity. The way we place, position, or arrange objects or design elements are all uses of the spatial mode. Most websites make use of the spatial mode through navigation and categorizing information. The arrangement of the site helps the audience to understand how to interact with it and highlights important information. Composing in multiple modes expands our options for communicating with an audience. Whether you are working with digital tools or not, you can use the linguistic, visual, gestural, and spatial modes in many different combinations. The next time you communicate, consider the modes you might use.