Field Work, Non-Verbal Communication Essay

Body movement and posture – the way in which people walk, move their hands or even cross their legs can send a message about how they are feeling. When people sit with their arms crossed can mean that they are not taking any notice or that they disagree with you. Leaning back or to the side can show people that they are relaxed or even bored. If you are leaning forward, that can show people that you are interested or that you are showing sympathy or concern. When being face to face with someone that can send the message of being angry.

Gestures: Gestures such as waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate signals are commonly used in our daily life. These are deliberate movement used to convey signals without uttering a word. Gestures varies as per professions, cultures, nations, person etc.For an instance if waving my hand towards my friends

Communication is everywhere. We, as interactive human beings, spend the majority of our time corresponding with others to satisfy our physical, identity, social, and practical needs (Adler, Rodman, & Sevigny, 2011). Often, this is consciously done; we search our minds for the accurate linguistic means to express our experiences, and use them to communicate with those around us. However, communication is not as straightforward and effortless as we may believe. It is, in fact, often unintentional, with 65% of it occurring as a result of non-verbal cues (Matsumoto, Shibata, Seiji, Mori, & Shioe, 2010). As mentioned by Marta Dynel (2011) in a study done on nonverbal communication, “Non verbal signs and signals ... are prevalent practically in

One last nonverbal observation I will mention is that of Person A’s posture. He generally sat hunched over the table, rarely sitting up straight. Combined with the other nonverbal observations, this posture suggests he wanted to be as near to Person B as possible.

I believe the nonverbal message in this image is Affect Displays. A woman with an obvious bad tan seems as though she has a negative reaction to the gentleman that’s doing a double take, looking at her. Her facial expression has a look of irritation from the staring

One last nonverbal observation I will mention is that of Person A’s posture. He generally sat hunched over the table, rarely sitting up straight. Combined with the other nonverbal observations, this posture suggests he wanted to be as near to Person B as possible.

There are eight key forms of nonverbal communications used on a daily basis. These forms can affect the way people view another person; however, without understanding the forms of nonverbal communication there is certain to be a lot of misinterpretations. Cultural and language differences are a common reason for miscommunication. When communicating with people in different cultures, a person should be extremely aware of the hand gestures and nonverbal communication tools they are using. Many of the hand gestures used in the United States that mean good things, mean offensive and profane things to other cultures. Nonverbal communication is described as body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. It is known that people reveal more information through nonverbal communication, than words alone to get a point across. There will always be some interaction between two or more people that everyone’s

While this conversation was taken place I also noticed facial expressions, which is a gesture executed by using facial muscles. Below is an example of how both gestures and facial expression are both used during a nonverbal conversation.

Helweg-Larsen, Cunninghamn, Carrico, and Pergram examined the non-verbal communication style of head nodding between genders versus their peers and professors. Head nodding is one type of backchannel (a response that is a short and non-interruptive gesture to show the attentiveness of the listener) that is a universal sign of agreement. Helweg-Larsen and her colleagues completed this study to figure out the interactive effect gender and status has on the nonverbal domain of acceptance. This study conducted has tried to enlighten on the gap in literature based on which gender nods in acceptance more, whether it is because of their agreeableness or whether that gender is just “wired” to do so. Helweg-Larsen and her colleagues have implied that

There are also different body movements by both the bartender and the customer that all gave more meaning to the conversation. For example, when the customer could not be controlled, the bartender called the security staff by raising his hand palm up and establishing eye contact with him. The security understood immediately that his service was needed at the bar. This nonverbal body movement is called emblems. According to ( textbook p.69) ‘emblems are those gestures that have

They use symbolism. A Joad family member tries to get a ride with another man, who really isn’t supposed to be giving rides out to anyone, he says to the driver, something to the effect of, “We are both good guys.” Using the symbolic meaning of a good person to sway the driver’s mind into letting the other man hitch a ride with the driver. A way that I see this perspective being used would be interpreting people’s behavior or their tone of voice. Making sure that a dear friend seems to be doing okay based on their actions seems to be a very common thing. Most of us at some point have used our middle finger as a form of symbolism too, however in certain circumstances it can mean very different things like at a friend it usually mean, “Hey, what is happenin’ I can not actually talk right now, so bye.” Or if it’s to an unwelcomed event it’s usually a form of slur that can be directed at someone from a nice distance away. Using and gestures could be a form of

I recently observed a young couple interacting while sitting in a coffee house. To begin with, the couple seemed awkward and unsure initially and became more comfortable with one another as the time passed. The couple used all types of nonverbal signals but I particularly noticed there was very little space between them, they often touched, and they almost always maintained eye contact. While I observed them, they sat side by side on a small couch, facing each other, and the female sometimes touched the male's arms and thighs. Based on what I witnessed, the nonverbal signals helped this couple to successfully correspond to one another and moved along their conversation. Although I could not make out their conversation it was very evident both

Throughout the years there have been different ways that humans communicate with each other whether it be from talking, body language, or sign language. But how does this communication affect us as human beings? There are many different types of communication such as Interpersonal Communications, Intrapersonal Communications, and Cross-Cultural Communications. Finding out how people communicate with each other is a key factor in our lives and we need to be able to understand how we can communicate better with ourselves and each other especially when it comes to communicating with people with cultures unlike ours.

When words don't work and the communication barrier breaks down, humans rely on the universal trait to get their point across: body language. However, in London or France, one may find that his or her thumbs up may have them running by the seat of their pants.

One thing we all have in common is that we must all communicate in one form or another. Everyone communicates even if they know it or not. Both verbal and nonverbal communication is used during conversations. Using both forms helps convey and support the message you are trying to send.