This paper examines the dual coding hypothesis, a model of the coding of visual and textual information, from the perspective of a mass media professional, such as a teacher, interested in accurately presenting both visual and textual material to a mass audience (i.e., students). It offers an extension to the theory, based upon the various skill levels of members of the audience at processing information, and provides a series of 12 practical suggestions to those encoding visual media messages. The suggestions are intended to increase the accuracy of integration of visual and verbal symbols and the likelihood of faithful communication between the encoder and the audience. An introduction to the dual coding hypothesis serves as a basis for the 12 suggestions, which address issues such as verbal and visual stimuli; imagens and logogens; image receivers; concept formation; information conveyance; discrepancies; anxiety; and the mediated communication model, consisting of both a content and a receptions system. Finally, to make the model more effective in the classroom context, it is recommended that the model be extended to cover the entire information transmitting process from source of information to the audience. (Contains seven references.) (MAS)