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General Learning Outcomes
Nonverbal Communication
1. We should learn that nonverbal signals greatly affect how an audience interprets what we say.
2. We should learn the major areas of
nonverbal communication.
3. We should learn the five major characteristics
of nonverbal communication.
4. We should learn the standards of appropriate body action and facial
expression in communication.
5. We should learn the impact on communication the nonverbal signals of voice and articulation.
6. We should learn to make practical evaluation of the
vocal and articulatory processes and pronunciation.
7. We should learn that we express attitudes through
body action, voice,What we wear and own, and
our use of time and space
Importance of Nonverbal
Communication
Do you realize that only 35 percent of
communication may be verbal?
When you speak face-to-face with a person, that person may be receiving 65 percent of
your message by means other than the words you use – by your tone of voice,
Your gestures, evenBy the way you stand and are dressed.
In one view, the relative ability or impact of the facial
nonverbals may reach 55 percent and the vocal
nonverbals 38 percent.
It may be that the blending of channels has more to do
with meaning than the simple summing of all the
channels.
In other words, the verbal is still critical to how we interpret the
nonverbal.
When we find that a gesture that means “come here” in America means “go away” in Italy, we begin to sense
the problem.
Perhaps a culture or subculture creates its own
system of nonverbal communication.
There is also evidence that the senes differ in their nonverbal behaviors,
And that they are in line with societal role expectations.
When combined with the verbal message, nonverbal signals are quite
effective in conveying ideas,Particularly emotional concepts
such as love hate
People display quite different nonverbal responses to various emotional situations.
One study found that some people are more sensitive than
others to nonverbal signals, and that such individuals tend to function better socially and
intellectually.
The same study also found that young people
were less sensitive to nonverbal signals than
older people were,
No wonder that in some speech communications our voices and our actions speak so loudly that our words are often unheard or
are not very persuasive.
Apparently, in the long run we cannot avoid acting
nonverbally, and therefore we cannot avoid communicating at
least nonverbally.
That our nonverbal behavior may be unintentionally contrary to our verbal
message should be considered by speakers.
We express our attitudes through our body action, our voice articulation
patterns,The objects we wear or own,
Our use of time space, and Our language and throughly prepared
messages.
The speech communication act, then,
includes an almost countless number of
channels.
Making the nonverbal communication process
work for us by improving our messages is the major objective of this article.
Areas or aspects of nonverbal communication
most relevant to speech communication are:
1. Body communication (Kinesics),
2. Voice and articulation (Paralanguage),
3. Objects (Clothes things),
4. Space, and
5. Time
Of these, kinesics and paralanguage are the
most important to speakers.
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
Our nonverbals of what ever kind, conscious or
unconscious, may be characterized as follows:
1. They always communicate some thing.
2. They are bound to the situation.
3. They are believed.
4. They are seldom isolated.
5. They affect our relationships.
1. The always communicate some
thing
Assuming some kind of human interaction, one cannot not
behavior, and since behavior is nonverbal communication – one
cannot not communicate.
A blank stare communicates something to the decoder, even if it is
just confusion.
This is not always appreciated by less
sensitive personalities.
These behaviors may be consiciously or
unconciously conveyed, but one way or another
they communicate.
2. They are bound to the
situation.
The context or situation makes a lot
of difference.
The baby’s smile might indicate pleasare in one
situation or gas in another.
A thumb in the air might mean A – OK on the
launch pad or a request for a fide on the high way.
When the context or situation is not appreciated or
considered,
Nonverbals can be confusing indeed! When it is obvious, our nonverbals
are most clear.
3. They are believed
Perhaps they should not be, but this tendency exists.
Con men have taken advantage of this fact from the beginning
Perhaps nonverbals are harder to fake for most of us, but certainly not for
good actors.
When what you say disagrees with how you
look or sound, people tend to believe the nonverbals.
“She said no – no, but there was yes – yes in her eyes!”
4. They are seldom isolated
It is very difficult for most of us to be boiling man and yet control our actions and voice
so that we appear calm.
A glisten of perspiration,
A faster eye – blink,
A slight tremble,
A dryness in the voice – these and more give us away.
Even when you are laughing on the outside (and crying on the inside), the character of
your laughter probably gives you away.
These other nonverbals tend to be related,
consistent, and supportive of one another.
When they are not, suspicions about intent are raised.
Except in pictures or audio – tapes,
nonverbals are difficult to isolate.
5. They affect our relationships
We decide three important things about people largely on the basis of nonverbal
communication.
These are:
1. Personal liking or attraction,
2. Evaluation of power relationships,
3. Our feelings about the response we get from others.
Let’s review each of these as
nonverbal codes:
1. Sometimes by nonverbal cues alone,
we might feel attracted toward another.
That person seems a “likeable sort,” a “good guy” , and is easy to be
with.
That the opposite also happens is all too clear. More will be said about
attraction later on.
2. Power assessment is your evaluation of the other person’s status, influence, or clout.
Nonverbal cues become important, particularly in
the absence of verbal information.
Several of these will be discussed
shortly.
3. Another nonverbal area of this interpersonal decision making is your perception of a responsive listener, a person who can will
appreciate your position or your problem.
These three nonverbal decisions about people lead
us in and out of a lot of communication trouble.
Body Action Language (Kinesics)
Our audience interprets the total message that we present to them.
There fore , what they see may seriously affect how they interpret what
we say.
An actor’s clever pantomime is some times much cleaver and more emphatic than what the
actor says.
Body action language may therefore be important to the total impression made
by the speaker.
Unconscious Nonverbal
Communication
We use body action constantly in our
every day conversation.
It is a definite part of our communication
system.
The way a person walks or sits at a given moment may demonstrate that person’s
mood more adequately than her words do.
When we try to avoid looking awkward, it usually communicates even more awkwardness and looks unnatural and ridiculos.
In addition, such holding back may
lead to poor control of one’s emotions.
A lack of action often makes the
message less clear.
There is no point in trying to avoid body action; there are many good reasons to try to understand it, control it, and
use it.
Communication by stereotypes
The communication of stereotyped – stylized –
gestures and facial expressions has been
studied experimentally.
Landis performed an experiment designed to discover
whether subjects reported emotions are accompanied by definite and easily recognized
facial expressions.
His subjects were photographed while they were being exposed to
various emotional situations;They were not simply portraying
emotions, as an actor would.
After comparing the reactions of many subjects to these situations, landis
reported:
“with no verbal report of a given emotion did a muscle, group of
muscles, or expression occur with sufficient frequency to be considered
characteristic of that emotion.There is no expression typically
associated with any verbal report”
A more recent study by williams tolch indicated that there are two elements in the
perception of acted facial expressions: general evaluation
dynamism
By general evaluation they meant a viewer’s evaluation of those characteristics
of an expression that reveal such ethical qualities as goodness,
Gratefulness, Kindness , and
the like.
Dynamism is an evaluation of qualities such as
active or passive, fast or slow,
interesting or boring, and so on.
Acted facial expressions based on only these two
elements were differentiated successfully
by views.
However, an acted “no message- neutral” expression introduced into the study was usually seen as having both
evaluative and dynamic qualities.
Schlosbery suggests that facial expression can be evaluated in terms
of what he calls: pleasantness or unpleasantness,
steep or tension, and rejection or attention.
More and savage cut up pictures of stereotyped emotions (such as
terror , love and hate) and asked students to look at the hand
gestures and facial expressions separately.
Recognition of the emotion portrayed was better than chance in
both cases,
Indicating that there are stylized expressions of the hands as well as of
the face.
On the basis of these experiments, we can say that acted or stylized emotions can be identified with some reliability, whereas real
emotions can not be recognized with any certainty.
Good actors and capable speakers appear to
communicate emotions regularly.
The actor has the play, the set, the other actors, and
the stylized conceptions of the audience as aids.
If the cause of whatever emotion the actor is portraying
also is seen (for example , a gun fear), the communication is
easier to interpret.
There is also new evidence that we tend to communicate
(nonverbally) more sterotypically when we know
we are not alone.
In review, research into the portragal and recognition of
emotions such as anger, love and fear has shown that we rely on
previous experience in interpreting these highly abstract messages.
As suggested earlier, certain cultures subcultures
stereotype patterns of body action in ways different from
our own.
In some cultures a smile does not always indicate amusement, but rather
politeness.
These observations lead to the question of how much
stereotyping a speaker should use.
One needs enough stereotyping to be
understood, not so much as to appear artificial.
One view tought that “every action of face or
hand … is simply an outward effect of an inward expression.
In other words, speaker should be so involved in
his/her subject that his/her expression is always
dynamic and spontaneous.
At present, we recognize that in our communicative body action,
we do rely on certain learned, general streotypes which we use
in natural and relatively spontaneous ways.
The conclusion of all this research is that “meaning” is in the eyes, ears, and other senses of the receiver, but even it is in the receiver’s
store of experience,
knowledge, attitudes,
and emotions.
Empathy
If your instructor runs his finger nails sharply across
the blackboard , you probably cringe and grit your
teeth.
If youlve ever seen a youngester take a violent and bruising fall, you probably “felt” the pain as you projected yourself into the
youngester’s situation.
This projection is the basis of empathy.
Empathy includes a muscular reaction: to an
extent, an audience imitates the actions of the
speaker.
When a speaker appears mortally afraid tense, the
audience dies a little .
When the speaker acts tired, the
audience feels tired or bored.
When a person paces the floor like a caged lion, the
audience usually tires before the speaker does.
The speaker should take the audience into account when considering body
action.
Attempt to use the kind and amount of action that
will help achieve the purpose of your speech.
Emotion one can drain pent– up tension by body action this is why some speakers
pace the floor or fidget constantly.
Instead of acting in distracting ways, try to use meaningful body action that will help you control
your speech fright at the same time that it helps communicate your
message.
General Impression
The general impression you create is a combination not only of all the signals that you communicate to your
audience,
But also of the things over which you may not always have control – for example, the lighting, the building, the platform, and the person who introduces you.
However, there are some relatively simple things over which you do have some control,
Things that may contribute much to the general impression you
make.
Dress is one of these. In considering
what to wear, the watch word is appropriate.
You don’t want to appear conspicuous , yet yout do wish to live up to your audience’s
expectations regarding the dress of its speakers.
Your physical and psychological
comfort affect your body action.
However, there’s a lesson to be learned if the audience remembers your leotard instead of your speech.
Another problem is whether to address the
audience from a sitting or a standing position.
You might feel awkward standing on a platform with
only 3 to 4 listeners at your feet, and some mall informal
audiences may prefer that you sit while speaking to them.
How ever , other small groups are
insulted if the speaker sits.
The impression they receive, apparenty, is that they are not considered important enough for a stand – up
speech.
Your decision depends a lot up on how well you
know the group and how well they know you.
As a general rule there is less risk in standing,
even before a very small group.
If the audience appears uncomfortable, it is much easier to sit down after a speech has started than to
stand up.
Whether you’re sitting, standing or walking, the
way you do it is revealing.
It can draw people to you or drive
them away.
All of the elements of body action contribute
to the general impression you create.
The Types of Bodily Action
In this section we shall discuss the patterns of physical behavior that
make up total body action.
Although these patterns most often occur at the same time, we are separating them here
for the purpose of explanation.
Pasture is an important part of the general impression you
make: it effects the empathy of the audience and what they
conclude from your signals.
The way you carry yourself tends to show
whether or not you have confidence in yourself.
Whether you slouch and cower or whether you stand with
military bearing affects your outlook and sense of power and
your control over yourself.
A slouching posture can tire the audience as quickly as it can the
speaker.
In general, good posture involves the distribution of your
body weight in a comfortable and poised way consistent with
the impression you wish to make as a speaker.
You should be erect without looking stiff, comfortable without
appearing limp.
Your bearing should be alert, self – possessed, and
communicative.
Good posture and poise reflect a kind of cool unconcern.
The great danger, as with all stylized body action, is appearing artificial, overly noticeable or out of place.
A satisfactory standing position should be a
balanced one: it should allow you t recover quickly if you
were suddenly pushed:
Your feet should be fairly close together,
General Learning outcomes
1. We should learn the fundamental importance of
language habits and semantics as they relate to meaning and
one’s total communication effectiveness.
2. We should learn about the sensitive nature of words and language segments and their impact upon human behavior
and understanding.
3. We should learn that language habits affect and reflect our
personality.
4. We should learn that unless we become aware
of abstraction, generalization, and
semantics,
We are not meeting the ethical responsibilities
of an educated communicator.
Language Habits
Code and symbol
It is in the use of oral language that we
need our most rigorous training,
For there is an infinitely larger number of oral means available to the
listener than to the reader.
This is because of the concomitant signals – those that accompany and operate
at the same time as the words.
Your voice, for example, is a wonderfully sensitive instrument
with a powerful influence upon the meaning the listener attaches both to your words and to you , the speaker.
Your correct use of your voice and your articulation is thus
very important.
The appearance of the speaker – dress, movements, facial
expressions, and gestures – is another signal that affects the
decoding by the listener.
Another, less obvious point to be made is that
these codes signals affect one another.
Some times they work together and strengthen the meaning intended
by the speaker.
At other times, however, they conflict with one another and
distort the intended meaning to the point at which the listener is
confused, suspicious, or frustrated.
Consider the sloppy student presenting a speech on the value of personal neatness, or the professor with a frozen grin discussing the possibility of a student’s failing
his/her course.
We often act in a way contrary to what we
really intend.
The cause may be tension, emotional
involvement, or simply poor speech training.
Let’s turn now to the all – important symbols we call word’s remembering that the codes and symbols previously
discussed will affect their intended meaning in ways other than those
described here.
Words are symbols which are
conventionally used to represent certain things.
They are convenient labels which help us
to classify things.
It is obvious that there are more things concepts in the world than there are
words. So you think a rat is a rat.
Try the definitions in figure 1.
As another example, if each chair in the world had its own label, we would have to have
dictionaries of chairs.
Even with the general classifying word chair, we have developed a ge vocabulary of chair – words (for example, windsor, Hitchcock, Stuffed,
Swivel, rocking).
In short, if we did not use a limited number of words to represent an infinite number
of things, we could communicate hardly at all.
Despite our useful and necessary dictionaries, no
word has real meaning except in the particular
context in which it is used.
The meaning of a word is never quite the same from one
occasion to another, although the variation in meaning may
not always be great.
Word meanings change when we take words for granted and think of them as actual things rather than as
what they really are – representation of things. A good speaker must always ask,
“what dose this word mean to this audience, in this
situation, in this context, as used by this speaker at this
time?”
A word may be considered, then, as a representation or
generalization with its meaning matching its
context.
When we arrange words into the context of a sentence -
that is, when we create syntax – we are really fitting
generalization together.
The meaning of an English sentence is determined not
by its words alone but by the whole arrangement and sequence of the words.
Even this meaning may be vague if the relationship
of the sentence to the paragraph or chapter is
not known.
In one sense, the communication pattern of a sentence is the systematic exclusion of meanings the
listener might attach which are not intended by the speaker.
In short, the sentence may define meanings
not intended.
Ever – changing black slang is a good example of how words can be confusing if you are not familiar with
them.
Try yourself on some of the these. Bad: bad or good (used to mean good) bleach bribe money
down home: jail or prison (used to mean the south) early: late
stay: go q: rescue, barbecue, etc. (q sound)
In light of the above, it is not difficult to understand why there are
sensitivities to certain words and why people may sometimes react
negatively to words not intended to be derogatory.
Were confucius alive today, he might well be
pained by our fascination with slang.
He once said ,”the first step in finding out the
truth is to call things by their right names.”
Verbal obscenity