EDUC-6165 Observing Communication Skills
The program I chose to watch was a TV Show on cable TV. There were a store manager and staffers in this series called "Superstore." In episode S4, E9, which I chose at random. I watched the show with the sound turned off and then with the sound turned on.
I saw a female employee stayed half-opened the door, poking her head inside, and said something before entering the room. An older man sitting at the table turned to the woman from the computer screen and conversed with him using the gesture. Although the woman was standing inside the room, the conversation continued, smiling with contented expressions. The woman was standing and talking calmly. The woman sometimes spoke with an embarrassed expression, as if she wanted something. The man was shocked and looked around. Like looking for someone else… then he showed himself with his hand. The man continued to speak in exaggerated gestures. Frankly, I could not understand if he was angry or excited. Although I understood that the female employee wanted something, it wasn't easy to interpret the man sitting at the table without words. While the man was writing something in the notebook, the woman opened her eyes as if she wanted her not to do it.
Whatever the man's writing was for the woman was unnecessary. When I turned up the volume and watched it later, I didn't really know what was happening at the show; I could see the importance of nonverbal communication and verbal communication. Watching a muted television show was a challenging experience for me. Although I could see specific details that helped me understand the two characters and predict relationships, I found that I could not accurately describe the man's behavior when I turned up the voice and listened. I thought how misleading could be the messages intended to be given in nonverbal communication. I learned that the best communication with the people I communicate with is that verbal and nonverbal communication should be together, and both communications should complement each other (O'Hair et al., 2018). It is challenging to communicate effectively while supporting our communication with non-verbal communication, and often several types of communication must coexist to reduce misunderstandings and potential conflicts (O'Hair et al., 2018).
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2018). Real communication: An introduction (4th. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Hello Behice,
ReplyDeleteWhile viewing the television show that I choose I was also able to understand the feelings that were being expressed from nonverbal cues. I agree that verbal and nonverbal communication should work together to compliment each other. It was not east trying to figure out what was going on with the sound off. Great post!
Hello Behice,
ReplyDeleteI understand the difficulty you expressed with this assignment. My first attempt at this assignment was a movie that had a person with a mental illness as the main role. It was extremely challenging as the person's nonverbal communication was a symptom of the mental disorder; multiple personality disorder. I think nonverbal and verbal communication takes on a different perspective when a mental illness comes into play.
Samantha
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThis assignment was challenging, however it did reiterate that nonverbal messages are just as important as the verbal message. I had to watch my show twice without the sound to be sure I was understanding the plot. Something else you are right about is that some gestures are so closely related that they could be misunderstood.
Good post.