Demonstrative communication is an important means of transferring information from one person to another, or a group through a means that provides context, tone, and symbolism with brevity and conciseness. People are empathic creatures who communicate through many nonverbal means. Symbols, expressions, vocal intonations and gestures communicate information about the sender’s feelings and opinions on a level that “fills in the gaps” of mere linguistic transmission. These “gaps” in information are often layered dimensions of information about the sender’s feelings and opinions that would be too pedantic and time-consuming to relate to a receiver with a limited attention span. The following describes how body language, vocal intonation, expressions, affect a sender’s ability to communicate effectively and a receiver’s ability to be inspired and conditioned by rhetoric using an economy of linguistic information.
Body language is a powerful tool at the disposal of a skilled orator. Adolf Hitler, one of the most skilled public speakers of the 20th century would have the gestures of his rehearsed speeches photographed so that he could study them and improve upon their efficacy (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011). Hitler was inspired by the operas of Richard Wagner during the architecture of his political strategy. Opera is a form of theater: an art form that uses a synergy of linguistic information, visual composition, symbolism, drama, and music to move its audiences. Hitler was well aware of the theatrics of politics, and he was shrewd to exploit that dimension of his strategy so that he could move his people enough to make them ignore or justify the atrocities of National Socialism. Gestures allow the orator to...
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...ation with an overly stern expression, the receiver may be put in a state of discomfort toward the perceived intentions of the sender.
Nonverbal communication is extremely important because communication happens on multiple dimensions: the linguistic dimension, the symbolic dimension, and the emotional dimension. The true message related between the sender and receiver, beyond mere linguistic information, is coordinated in the spaces between where these dimensions relate in the minds of both sender and receiver.
References
Fast, J. (1970). Body language . New York: M. Evans; distributed in association with Lippincott.
Manusov, V. L., & Patterson, M. L. (2006). The SAGE handbook of nonverbal communication . Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (2011) Retrieved from
http://www.ushmm.org
Nonverbal communication surrounds us all the time. “Nonverbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words” (Wood, 2016, p. 135). It is not communication with words, but we use nonverbal communication when we talk. We use nonverbal communication without even realizing it in every facet of our lives. This type of communication can be challenging depending on someone’s culture. Something that means one thing in America, can mean something totally different in another country. It is important to know this so that you don’t offend someone from another culture (Wood, 2016, p. 149).
The presence of nonverbal messages in our communication is very important. Following the text, researchers have estimated it is up to “65 percent of social meaning we convey in face-to-face interactions is a result of nonverbal behavior” (131). The movie “Mrs. Doubtfire” is a typical example about the interactions among characters, also with audience. Several scenes in this movie show us the effects of nonverbal messages in communication, especially through the character Daniel, who disguises himself as a middle-aged British nanny in order to be near his children.
Oral communication provides fast speed and feedback when conveying a message to a person or a group of people. The problem with oral communication is that when you begin to pass a certain message thru many people the message is distorted. In the article oral communications is the method that is used in face to face communications. Although, face to face uses oral communication it does not suffer from the disadvantage provided from this form of communication. The book provides a breakdown of what nonverbal communications is which is used highly in face to face communication. When a verbal message is received it contains a non-verbal attachment that is received by the person in which you are talking to. Nonverbal messages are not always attached to verbal messages so they are created directly or indirectly. Both the article and the book provide an explanation on how we are able to read nonverbal cues. Unconsciously are body sends messages that provide information that explains our current state of mind. The book explains how body movements communicates emotions that are within us and we merely attach spoken words to that nonverbal cue. This relates to the article because it helps us understand why we try to imitate the end user who is talking. We are trying to understand the emotional context that his nonverbal cues are sending so we try to repeat
Non-verbal communication can be defined as a medium for communication which entails using cues via body language to convey message content. Facial expressions, body gestures, and voice tone are forms of nonverbal communication (Essentials of Communication...
It is amazing to see how much nonverbal communication plays such a large role in simple day to day activities. We do most without being conscious of it, as it is second nature to us. We share our thoughts and feelings with face expressions, and often feel the need to support our words with gestures to further convey our point we are trying to make. Doing this study, also made me aware of the nonverbal cues I am sending out as well. I am thankful now that I am aware of these things, I am able to have more control of the message I want to send
There are different types of communication (verbal, nonverbal, paralinguistic). Verbal communication is communicating with words. For instance, an individual speaks to another at a business meeting regarding profit margins. Second, nonverbal communication is communicating without the use of words but through gesture, body language, facial expression and eye contact (Baron, Branscombe, Byrne). Also these physical expressions can provide powerful and valuable information about others’ current feelings and reactions without the need of words. Lastly paralinguistic is defined as the use of emotional expression, gestures, and the location of the body in relation to the other's body, eye contact, and level of voice instead of verbally expressing these cues (Triandis). Additionally, paralinguistic is also known as paralanguage as a way to modify or nuance meaning, or convey emotion, with the use of pitch, volume, and intonation (Triandis). For instance, as described by Triandis’ article Culture and Communication, “in Bulgaria and south India a nod means "no,” and a shake of the head, means "yes".” It’s interesting how Triandis describes the amount of difficulty it was to compre...
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
Demonstrative communication is a wonderful type of communication. It really does tell you a lot about people. I know that I like reading, “listening” to people. Demonstrative communication involves a lot of different aspects, that I believe a lot of people do not even realize it is a type or form of communication. Demonstrative communication is facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. It is nonverbal and unwritten, but can still convey a very important message, effectively and ineffectively. Overall, this type of communication is something that we all do and have done and it will continue, whether we mean to do it or not.
Over half of all communications is done through body language and non-verbal communications and not through words themselves. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states that body language is “movements or positions of the body that express a person's thoughts or feelings.” Part of the first impression you get from someone is based on the way the use their body. Even though body language should not be used as the sole reason to form an opinion of someone, many people te...
Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.
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.
While communicating with another human being, one only has to examine the other’s face in order to comprehend what is being said on a much deeper level. It is said that up to 55 percent of a message’s meaning can be derived from facial expression (Subramani, 2010). These facial manipulations allow thoughts to be expressed in ways that are often difficult to articulate verbally, with the face demonstrating “the thoughts of the mind, and the feelings of the heart” (Singla). Many expressions are said to universal, particularly those showing happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and...
Harper, R, 1978. Nonverbal communication: The State of the Art. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
I learned a lot about Human Communication in this class when I read the chapter about Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal Communication is the process of using messages that are not words to generate meaning. I learned that it happens every day. I also learned that is very hard to read or understand depending on the person you are speaking to or with. Verbal and Nonverbal codes work in conjunction with each other. The words we speak or say are used in conjunction six different ways: to repeat, to emphasize, to complement, to contradict, to substitute, and to regulate. I never knew until reading this chapter that we do these things all most every time we communicate. These are things I took for granted until now. I now know that I will pay
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.