Free Essays on Nonverbal Communication

by means of facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, postures, physical appearance, and tones of voice. The concept of nonverbal communication is complex. It is almost impossible to know exactly what it includes, but the majority of our talking is done without speaking. No one can speak more than one word at a time, but nonverbal messages can be sent in multiple ways at the same time. The meaning of nonverbal messages differs between cultures (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119), races, and sometimes gender (Burgoon and Saine, The Unspoken Dialogue: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication, 130). Nonverbal and verbal communications sometimes contradict each other because people are sometimes unaware of the nonverbal messages that they send (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119). The movement of the body makes up a language, in which certain movements have specific meanings. Kinesics focuses on how people communicate through movement and posture, gestures, and the face and eyes (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 124). Kinesics refers to all types of body movement, except for touch, that may act as nonverbal communication. Body movement and posture are known as body language. Gestures are large and small movements of the hands and arms that send messages. Gestures complement our speech, bridge our silences, send unspoken messages, or express our approval or disapproval (Lamb and Watson, Body Code: The Meaning in Movement, 1). Negative gestures like fidgeting lets others know that a speaker is... Free Essays on Nonverbal Communication Free Essays on Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication and language are different. There has been some research claiming that humans used nonverbal communication before they developed a language. Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages without using words by means of facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, postures, physical appearance, and tones of voice. The concept of nonverbal communication is complex. It is almost impossible to know exactly what it includes, but the majority of our talking is done without speaking. No one can speak more than one word at a time, but nonverbal messages can be sent in multiple ways at the same time. The meaning of nonverbal messages differs between cultures (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119), races, and sometimes gender (Burgoon and Saine, The Unspoken Dialogue: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication, 130). Nonverbal and verbal communications sometimes contradict each other because people are sometimes unaware of the nonverbal messages that they send (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119). The movement of the body makes up a language, in which certain movements have specific meanings. Kinesics focuses on how people communicate through movement and posture, gestures, and the face and eyes (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 124). Kinesics refers to all types of body movement, except for touch, that may act as nonverbal communication. Body movement and posture are known as body language. Gestures are large and small movements of the hands and arms that send messages. Gestures complement our speech, bridge our silences, send unspoken messages, or express our approval or disapproval (Lamb and Watson, Body Code: The Meaning in Movement, 1). Negative gestures like fidgeting lets others know that a speaker is... Free Essays on Nonverbal Communication The location I chose to perform my violation of a cultural norm was in an elevator. I used the elevator that is located in my dormitory’s building. After trying to decide which cultural norm to experiment with, I came to the conclusion to invade someone else’s space. The plan I created was to move closer to someone, in the elevator, than the normal space required, while communicating with this person. It was real difficult to engage in this kind this behavior. I have never performed an action similar to this one. People assume that other people will respect and follow the normal rules to communication. It took all my power to make myself break one of those rules. I have to say, however, I was real anxious to see how the person was going to react. Having never performed this action before, I had no idea what to expect or how the person was going to act. The reaction of the person I performed my experiment on was one that I could have anticipated. When I first began to move closer to the person they performed no reaction. They showed no look that they acknowledge my changed behavior. After noticing this I decided to move even closer to the person. This time the person saw that I invade their space and took a small step back. Even though I didn’t know what to expect form this experiment, I had an idea that the initial reaction by the person would be to move back. I wasn’t satisfied with the person just moving back. I wanted the person to show a more defined reaction that would show they didn’t appreciate what I was doing. After the person stepped back, I took a step towards them once again. The person repeated the same movement they did before. I decided to take one more step forward and the person reacted verbally. The person, who had no idea who I was, asked me â€Å"what the heck I was doing.† At this point I could tell this person wasn’t pleased with me, and I decided to explain my experiment to them. The personï ¿ ½... Free Essays on Nonverbal Communication The usage of the eyes in nonverbal communication is a perpetual, trusted form of communication. As we communicate, we normally look into each others eyes trying to decode messages and enhance our ability to interact with the sender. This is one of the essential functions of the eyes, as a monitor of interaction. Environmental cues are a stimulus related function, which are sometimes out of our control of receiving and responding to. Eye contact however, enables us to have mutual communication in order to pickup other cues. By better executing proper communication cues you can see the â€Å"eye of the beholder†. Within interpersonal communication, being able to see beyond what the eyes are saying makes being able to accurately communicate possible. The eye is constantly communicating with the environment. Either by instinctively having a stimulus response or by intentionally directing vision, the eye serves as a mediator to the brain. The messages the eyes send to the brain bring about thought processes. For instance, when you see the stove is on and you avoid putting your hand on it or seeing a flash a lightning causing you to jump. As possibility the most necessary and frequent usage of the eye, it is not interpersonal. However, when foreseen by someone other than yourself that you are engaging in communication, whether intentional or not, it is. While the eyes may not be seen as a vital part of interpersonal communication, they are part of the face and a complimentary aspect of verbal communication. They can supportively coincide with or be contradictory to the overall communication taking place. Eye cues may even take the place of verbal communication as when staring harshly into someone’s eyes, or rolling th em in a disregarding manner. Understanding the messages you can send and understanding those that are received are essential to communication. The eyes are the most noticeable aspect of a person’s face. Whether...