Two discussion post respond to them only five sentences each please use your own words no references
Here is the question?Briefly explain the context...where were you? Who were you watching? Why did you choose this person? What was it about the interaction that got your attention?
1. What kind of gestures did you see? Describe the gestures. Don't just say, "she used her hands a lot." How? There's a difference between pointing your finger in someone's face and stroking someone's face.
Did it seem this person needed his/her hands to express themselves? Did he or she have any repetitive habits like drumming his fingers or playing with her hair? Did this person touch someone with them? What did the touch tell you? Would you say this person used his or her WHOLE body to communicate or did this person make only small, occasional movements and gestures?
2. Did this person's clothing/body say anything about him or her? Describe what he/she is wearing. A T-shirt with a slogan or art? Do you see any tattoos, piercings, etc.? Jewelry? Dressed up or casual? Did you feel he or she was appropriately dressed for the time and place?
3. What about eye contact? Did this person sustain eye contact with whomever he/she was with? Some eye contact? A lot of eye contact? Smiles? Frowns? Would you say based on the nonverbal that you would describe this person as happy, sad, preoccupied, friendly, quiet, standoffish, what?
4. What did this experience show you about communicating nonverbally? How might this experience affect how you interact in the future? How do you feel verbal and nonverbal communication differ after doing this exercise? Does nonverbal communication enhance/distract?
1. I was at a restaurant, a fairly nice one. There were 5 tables in the room I was seated in, all with couples with the exception of one table that seated a party of 5. I chose to watch a couple (man and woman) probably in their mid-fifties. I chose them because they appeared to be married (they each wore a wedding band) and I was curious as to how they would interact.
The woman seemed to be angry. I came to this conclusion by her facial expressions and body language. She sat upright in the chair, her back not in contact with the seat back. Her brows were drawn, eyes wide and her lips pursed, suggesting anger to me. She stopped her partner's communication with her 3 times by putting her hand up in a 'stop' gesture while he spoke. Though it seemed she was trying to keep the tone of her voice down, it frequently rose, accompanied by exaggerated facial expressions.
The couple's clothing led me to believe they were fairly well-off. They both had designer clothing, well-coiffed hair and her face was impeccably made up. She was wearing tasteful, and what appeared to be, expensive jewelry.
Throughout the length of the conversation I witnessed, she made direct eye contact though he frequently looked down at his plate. He did not appear angry most of the time but, rather, defeated. His voice never rose and he made few movements with his hands and/or body.
This experience showed me that regardless of what may truly be transpiring, one's nonverbal communication can lead others to a judgement about them that may not be fair or accurate.
2. I used to be religious about going to the gym. However, these days with my schedule I find it very difficult and I find that I lack the motivation. There are occasions such as today when I sit on my leg press machine taking a moment in-between each set glancing at an individual working with a trainer who clearly has the motivation and desire to get fit.
Maybe this guy is fed up with the way he looks in the mirror or maybe his girlfriend or wife has made too many jokes about his soft around the edges look. Whatever the reason for him being there he got my attention. His obvious desire to do something about his situation inspired me to stay motivated myself, thus I kept observing.
While observing my prey I noticed his eagerness to learn how each machine worked and what body part he was focusing on at the time. Through his dripping sweat and trembling muscles, you could clearly see he had never worked his muscles to the degree his trainer was pushing. I watched, as the trainer would decrease the weight to show the man that if the weight was too much he could adjust the weight to his capabilities.
The trainee used his hands to show the target areas to the trainer he wanted to focus on the most. He used a lot of exaggerated almost sarcastic full body motions in between workouts almost to poke fun at his inexperience and weaknesses. Towards the end of his training session, the client was rubbing his biceps to showing signs of strain and fatigue. Upon parting ways with the trainer he patted him on the shoulder and shook his hand almost as if he made a new friend and was happy that he was finally on his way of getting back in shape.
This guy is definitely not trying to impress anyone. He is clearly here for one thing and one thing only. Wearing bright florescent tennis shoes with knee-high socks and red basketball shorts with a non-matching pink Floyd t-shirt. Though he wasn't going to turn many heads he was dressed for comfort and well suited for his objectives.
His spider web tattoo on the back of his right calf showed that he is no stranger to pain and that he likes spider webs. I noticed he was clean-shaven but yet his hair was disheveled almost as though he just rolled out of bed. From where I was sitting I could smell the right-guard radiating off his sweaty body. Which I gladly accepted this opposed to the normal body odor I smell from other gym rats.
He maintained eye contact with his trainer intently as to make sure he understood all of the instructions. When performing the exercises he would then stare intently at himself to make sure his form was correct. When he would have trouble with a certain exercise he would laugh at himself covering up his embarrassment, but would quickly regain his composure and show seriousness in his face as if he was concentrating on what he was doing. He was a man of few words not saying much, but when he did he seemed ebullient. Once his workout came to an end he smiled from ear to ear.
This experience showed me that it's very easy to communicate without the use of verbal communication by utilizing body language facial expressions eye contact as well as your overall appearance. In the future, I will be more observant of people's gestures both when in conversation with someone and noticing from afar.
Nonverbal and verbal communication differ in that in verbal there is a narrow margin in inferences of what is being said compared to nonverbal whereas peoples body language can be misconstrued sometimes if we are not familiar with the person's actions. I believe that non-verbal communication enhances because with the combination of verbal and non-verbal cues you can begin to get a clear understanding of what the person is trying to convey. However, when a person is waving their hands and flailing their arms around erratically due to their heightened emotions when telling a story it can be rather distractive and make you miss the point of their story.