Communication : Perceiving Nonverbal Communication

Communication skills are quite essential in civilized societies. This is due to their numerous conventions in different aspects of life. These skills do not only involve the verbal side but also the nonverbal side. Nonverbal communication importance used to be neglected by individuals in the past. However, in recent years, people are starting to recognize their crucial roles in their daily lives. They are now more interested in the nonverbal phenomenon. Nonverbal communication is dominated by emotions. It is a method of conveying one's feeling including body postures, facial expressions and even physical contact. Although nonverbal communication might be associated with

I decided to go to Panda Express at 5:30 pm for my observations, while there I was able to observe just how much people rely on nonverbal communications to get their point across. Although I witnessed several encounters of unique body language, there were also a few actions that reoccurred several times in several different people. For example, when a customer would approach the counter where employee served the food, the employee would raise her eyebrows and smile at the customer. The employee’s smile, however, did not reach her eyes suggesting that while it is her job to smile and be welcoming to the customer, she most likely did not want to be at work. Additionally, I noticed that when customers approached the counter about 90 percent of them had their arms crossed. The act of crossing ones arms usually means that a person is trying to put a barrier between them and a situation that they either don’t like, or are uncomfortable with. This may mean that the customers were displeased with having to wait in line to get their food, on the other hand it may be that they were simply comfortable folding their arms. Once they reached the front of the line, every customer pointed to the food they wanted along with verbally telling the employee. This made their communication more effective as it helped to overcome the barrier of sound because the restaurant was noisy.

Interpersonal communication can be defined a number of ways, but it is usually described as communication between or among connected persons, or those in a close relationship. Over the past few weeks, I have really been able to examine my own interpersonal communication between and among the people I am connected to or have close relationships with. Prior to this course, I felt my interpersonal communication skills were above average and very effective. However, I have discovered there are many ways I can improve my interpersonal communications and relationships with others. Through the exercises conducted during this course I have realized that I need to work on my effective listening, perception of others and how my nonverbal cues can cause

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking.  The average person ranks the fear of public speaking higher than the fear of death. According to the National Institute of Mental Health over 74% of people suffer from speech anxiety (Brain, 2016) . This is a sad statistic being that communication is the backbone of our society. It is what allows us to connect with others. Without communication skills, we would not be able to form relationships, whether in our personal or professional lives. We, as a society, tend to think that communication is only verbal. However, communication includes nonverbal, written, even listening, as well as our body language. In fact, over 70% of our communication is nonverbal. In this class I hope to improve on my interpersonal communication by learning ways to overcome my fear and setting new standards in the way I communicate with others. In my personal life, improper communication has led to more than one situation that caused hurt to someone I love. Likewise, I have been on the receiving end of hurt directly as a result of poor communication.

In Amy Cuddy’s “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” Cuddy argues “... We tend to forget, though, the other audience that’s influenced by our nonverbals, and that’s ourselves. We are also influenced by our nonverbals, our thoughts and our feelings and our physiology.”

Nonverbal communication covers all aspects of communication beyond words. It is anything from body gestures to the way words are spoken. The tone, demeanor, hidden meaning behind words, mix that with body language and what is creates in nonverbal communication elements. Even clothes and personal appearance can send a nonverbal message. Nonverbal communication accounts for nearly 65-93% communication means (Wood, 2014). One area where nonverbal communication sent a negative, incorrect message is the movie Erin Brockovich. The clothing of the main character sent the message that she was uneducated, white trash. This could not be further from the truth. She was an intelligent, single mother who saw a problem where nobody else did.

Any communication interaction involves two major components in terms of how people are perceived: verbal, or what words are spoken and nonverbal, the cues such as facial expressions, posture, verbal intonations, and other body gestures. Many people believe it is their words that convey the primary messages but it is really their nonverbal cues. The hypothesis for this research paper was: facial expressions directly impact how a person is perceived. A brief literature search confirmed this hypothesis.

Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.

Amy Cuddy, in the Ted Talk “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” emphasizes the importances of people's body language and the effects it has on themselves. Amy is a social psychologist who studies prejudice and also works as a teacher at Harvard Business School. It was through her teaching and observation of her classroom that she became interested in learning about power dynamics and nonverbal expressions. After watching this video I was enlightened about how people can use their body language to improve their lives. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to learn how to boost their confidence as well as people who want to expand their knowledge on this subject.

It is noticed how one’s intrapersonal communication can impact their interpersonal communication. This can be experienced throughout many aspects and specific examples of ones self communication and communication with others, which can be expressed through experiences in lab seminar as well as personal experiences. Firstly, this is seen throughout my own self as I compare myself to others, and feel as if I am always the inferior. Secondly, my ability to grow from a closed off, shy individual to a more open, outgoing person has impacted my communication with others tremendously. Thirdly, my ability to empathize with people is my area of strength and listening, as well as maintaining eye contact, are areas I need to improve on. Lastly, when

Your normal verbal communication reveals a considerable amount about the person you are, however, what type of person are you when you’re communicating using non-verbal communication? Can your body language change people's perceptions of you and, ultimately, alter your personality? Social psychologist Amy Cuddy addresses both of these questions and even more, by analyzing the influence of nonverbal behaviour. Another important question that Amy will be answering is how “power posing” can help you “fake it till you become it,” while affecting both your mind and your hormones. Amy Cuddy studies both prejudice and power dynamics. She is interested in nonverbal expressions of power and dominance. When you’re feeling “small” you tend to shrivel up and keep to yourself, otherwise, when you’re feeling confident you

Nonverbal communication is communication through sending and receiving wordless cues such as body language between two people. Communication can be through gestures and touch, body language, posture, facial expression, or eye contact. Face to face interactions of nonverbal communication can be classified into three areas: environmental conditions, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during the interaction. Approximately two thirds of all communication is made up of nonverbal communication. “Scientific research of nonverbal communication and behavior began with the 1872 publication of Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Since that time, there has been an abundance of research on the effects and expressions of unspoken communication and behavior.” (Cherry)

Up to 90% of all communication is nonverbal. Most communicators use body language, gestures, and facial expressions during conversations as well as using words. Nonverbal communication is more likely to be used than verbal. Most people perceive people by their first appearances without conversing. An example of this would be if Susie wore dress shirts and skirts to class while Betty wore t-shirts and pajama pants. On first sight someone may perceive

Appearance assumes an imperative part in non-verbal correspondence. Garments, cosmetics, adornments, haircut, selection of hues and regalia generally offer signs identifying with individual's singularity, status, riches, occupation and even engaging quality. Research on shading brain science has exhibited that distinctive hues can summon diverse states of mind. Appearance can likewise modify physiological responses, judgments and understandings. Simply think about all the unpretentious judgments you rapidly make about somebody in light of his or her appearance. These early introductions are imperative, which is the reason specialists propose that activity searchers dress properly for interviews with potential bosses.

Boose, G., Jaffe, J., Segal, J., & Smith. M. (2013). Nonverbal communication. Retrieved from https://classroom.phoenix.edu/afm214/secure/view-thread.jspa?threadID=58196411