SNHU Week 4 Communication Skills & Nonverbal Delivery Discussion Hello, I need help with a discussion can anyone help please? No Plagiarism…work will be

SNHU Week 4 Communication Skills & Nonverbal Delivery Discussion Hello, I need help with a discussion can anyone help please? No Plagiarism…work will be checked on turnitin and studypool… with references if possible please. A minimum of 200 words is required with 3 references Chapter 11
Nonverbal Delivery
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.
Peter F. Drucker
But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives
and thoughts.
Abraham Maslow
Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with
their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.
Charles Dickens
Getting Started
In this chapter, we focus on how a speaker presents ideas, not the ideas themselves.
Have you ever been in class and found it hard to listen to the professor, not because he
or she wasn’t well informed or the topic wasn’t interesting or important to you, but
because the style of presentation didn’t engage you as a listener? If your answer is yes,
then you know that you want to avoid making the same mistake when you give a
presentation. It’s not always what you say, but how you say it that makes a difference.
We sometimes call this “body language,” or “nonverbal communication,” and it is a key
aspect of effective business communication.
How do you know when your boss or instructors are pleased with your progress (or
not)? You might know from the smiles on their faces, from the time and attention they
give you, or perhaps in other nonverbal ways, like a raise, a bonus, or a good grade.
Whether the interaction takes place face-to-face, or at a distance, you can still
experience and interpret nonverbal responses.
Sometimes we place more emphasis on nonverbal aspects of communication that they
warrant. Suppose you have just gotten home from your first date with Amanda and you
feel it went very well. How soon afterward should you call Amanda? There are lots of
advice columns, informal rules and customs, and friends with opinions to offer you
suggestions, but you know what is right for you. You also know that texting her at five
o’clock the next morning might be a bit early. You may choose to wait until a coffee
break around 10 a.m. to send a short text message, and realize that you might not get a
response until later that afternoon.
Does the lack of an immediate response have any meaning? Does it mean Amanda is
less interested in you than you are in her? While you might give it more attention than it
deserves, and maybe let it weigh on your mind and distract you from other tasks, the
time interval for responding may not have as much intentional meaning as you think. It
might mean that Amanda has a different sense of time urgency than you do, or that she
simply didn’t receive your message until later.
Timing is an important aspect of nonverbal communication, but trying to understand
what a single example of timing means is challenging. Context may make a difference.
For example, if you have known someone for years who has always responded promptly
to your e-mails or texts, but now that person hasn’t responded in over a day, you may
have reason for concern. That person’s behavior doesn’t match what you are familiar
with, and this sudden, unexplained change in the established pattern may mean that
you need to follow up.
11.1 Principles of Nonverbal Communication
L EA RNING O B JEC T IV ES
1. Demonstrate nonverbal communication and describe its role in the communication
process.
2. Understand and explain the principles of nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal Communication Is Fluid
Chances are you have had many experiences where words were misunderstood, or
where the meaning of words was unclear. When it comes to nonverbal communication,
meaning is even harder to discern. We can sometimes tell what people are
communicating through their nonverbal communication, but there is no foolproof
“dictionary” of how to interpret nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication is the
process of conveying a message without the use of words. It can include gestures and
facial expressions, tone of voice, timing, posture and where you stand as you
communicate. It can help or hinder the clear understanding of your message, but it
doesn’t reveal (and can even mask) what you are really thinking. Nonverbal
communication is far from simple, and its complexity makes our study and our
understanding a worthy but challenging goal.
Where does a wink start and a nod end? Nonverbal communication involves the entire
body, the space it occupies and dominates, the time it interacts, and not only what is not
said, but how it is not said. Confused? Try to focus on just one element of nonverbal
communication and it will soon get lost among all the other stimuli. Let’s consider eye
contact. What does it mean by itself without context, chin position, or eyebrows to flag
interest or signal a threat? Nonverbal action flows almost seamlessly from one to the
next, making it a challenge to interpret one element, or even a series of elements.
We perceive time as linear, flowing along in a straight line. We did one task, we’re doing
another task now, and we are planning on doing something else all the time. Sometimes
we place more emphasis on the future, or the past, forgetting that we are actually living
in the present moment whether we focus on “the now” or not. Nonverbal
communication is always in motion, as long as we are, and is never the same twice.
Nonverbal communication is irreversible. In written communication, you can write a
clarification, correction, or retraction. While it never makes the original statement go
completely away, it does allow for correction. Unlike written communication, oral
communication may allow “do-overs” on the spot: you can explain and restate, hoping
to clarify your point. You can also dig the hole you are in just a little bit deeper. The old
sayings “when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging” and “open mouth, insert foot”
can sometimes apply to oral communications. We’ve all said something we would give
anything to take back, but we all know we can’t. Oral communication, like written
communication, allows for some correction, but it still doesn’t erase the original
message or its impact. Nonverbal communication takes it one step further. You can’t
separate one nonverbal action from the context of all the other verbal and nonverbal
communication acts, and you can’t take it back.
In a speech, nonverbal communication is continuous in the sense that it is always
occurring, and because it is so fluid, it can be hard to determine where one nonverbal
message starts and another stops. Words can be easily identified and isolated, but if we
try to single out a speaker’s gestures, smile, or stance without looking at how they all
come together in context, we may miss the point and draw the wrong conclusion. You
need to be conscious of this aspect of public speaking because, to quote another old
saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” This is true in the sense that people often pay
more attention to your nonverbal expressions more than your words. As a result,
nonverbal communication is a powerful way to contribute to (or detract from) your
success in communicating your message to the audience.
Nonverbal Communication Is Fast
Let’s pretend you are at your computer at work. You see that an e-mail has arrived, but
you are right in the middle of tallying a spreadsheet whose numbers just don’t add up.
You see that the e-mail is from a coworker and you click on it. The subject line reads
“pink slips.” You could interpret this to mean a suggestion for a Halloween costume, or a
challenge to race for each other’s car ownership, but in the context of the workplace you
may assume it means layoffs.
Your emotional response is immediate. If the author of the e-mail could see your face,
they would know that your response was one of disbelief and frustration, even anger, all
via your nonverbal communication. Yes, when a tree falls in the forest it makes a sound,
even if no one is there to hear it. In the same way, you express yourself via nonverbal
communication all the time without much conscious thought at all. You may think about
how to share the news with your partner, and try to display a smile and a sense of calm
when you feel like anything but smiling.
Nonverbal communication gives our thoughts and feelings away before we are even
aware of what we are thinking or how we feel. People may see and hear more than you
ever anticipated. Your nonverbal communication includes both intentional and
unintentional messages, but since it all happens so fast, the unintentional ones can
contradict what you know you are supposed to say or how you are supposed to react.
Nonverbal Communication Can Add to or Replace Verbal
Communication
People tend to pay more attention to how you say it than what you actually say. In
presenting a speech this is particularly true. We communicate nonverbally more than we
engage in verbal communication, and often use nonverbal expressions to add to, or even
replace, words we might otherwise say. We use a nonverbal gesture called
an illustrator to communicate our message effectively and reinforce our point. Your
coworker Andrew may ask you, “Barney’s Bar after work?” as he walks by, and you
simply nod and say “yeah.” Andrew may respond with a nonverbal gesture, called
an emblem, by signaling with the “OK” sign as he walks away.
In addition to illustrators or emblematic nonverbal communication, we also use
regulators. “Regulators are nonverbal messages which control, maintain or discourage
interaction.” [1]For example, if someone is telling you a message that is confusing or
upsetting, you may hold up your hand, a commonly recognized regulator that asks the
speaker to stop talking.
Let’s say you are in a meeting presenting a speech that introduces your company’s latest
product. If your audience members nod their heads in agreement on important points
and maintain good eye contact, it is a good sign. Nonverbally, they are using regulators
encouraging you to continue with your presentation. In contrast, if they look away, tap
their feet, and begin drawing in the margins of their notebook, these are regulators
suggesting that you better think of a way to regain their interest or else wrap up your
presentation quickly.
“Affect displays are nonverbal communication that express emotions or feelings.” [2] An
affect display that might accompany holding up your hand for silence would be to frown
and shake your head from side to side. When you and Andrew are at Barney’s Bar,
smiling and waving at coworkers who arrive lets them know where you are seated and
welcomes them.
“Adaptors are displays of nonverbal communication that help you adapt to your
environment and each context, helping you feel comfortable and secure.” [3] A selfadaptor involves you meeting your need for security, by playing with your hair for
example, by adapting something about yourself in way for which it was not designed or
for no apparent purpose. Combing your hair would be an example of a purposeful
action, unlike a self-adaptive behavior. Anobject-adaptor involves the use of an object in
a way for which it was not designed. You may see audience members tapping their
pencils, chewing on them, or playing with them, while ignoring you and your
presentation. Or perhaps someone pulls out a comb and repeatedly rubs a thumbnail
against the comb’s teeth. They are using the comb or the pencil in a way other than its
intended design, an object-adaptor that communicates a lack of engagement or
enthusiasm in your speech.
Intentional nonverbal communication can complement, repeat, replace, mask, or
contradict what we say. When Andrew invited you to Barney’s, you said, “Yeah” and
nodded, complementing and repeating the message. You could have simply nodded,
effectively replacing the “yes” with a nonverbal response. You could also have decided to
say no, but did not want to hurt Andrew’s feelings. Shaking your head “no” while
pointing to your watch, communicating work and time issues, may mask your real
thoughts or feelings. Masking involves the substitution of appropriate nonverbal
communication for nonverbal communication you may want to display. [4] Finally,
nonverbal messages that conflict with verbal communication can confuse the
listener. Table 11.1 “Some Nonverbal Expressions” summarizes these concepts.
Table 11.1 Some Nonverbal Expressions
Term
Definition
Adaptors
Help us feel comfortable or indicate emotions or moods
Affect Displays
Express emotions or feelings
Complementing Reinforcing verbal communication
Contradicting
Contradicting verbal communication
Emblems
Nonverbal gestures that carry a specific meaning, and can replace or reinforce words
Illustrators
Reinforce a verbal message
Masking
Substituting more appropriate displays for less appropriate displays
Term
Definition
ObjectAdaptors
Using an object for a purpose other than its intended design
Regulators
Control, encourage or discourage interaction
Repeating
Repeating verbal communication
Replacing
Replacing verbal communication
Self-Adaptors
Adapting something about yourself in a way for which it was not designed or for no
apparent purpose
Nonverbal Communication Is Universal
Consider the many contexts in which interaction occurs during your day. In the
morning, at work, after work, at home, with friends, with family, and our list could go on
for quite awhile. Now consider the differences in nonverbal communication across these
many contexts. When you are at work, do you jump up and down and say whatever you
want? Why or why not? You may not engage in that behavior because of expectations at
work, but the fact remains that from the moment you wake until you sleep, you are
surrounded by nonverbal communication.
If you had been born in a different country, to different parents, and perhaps as a
member of the opposite sex, your whole world would be quite different. Yet nonverbal
communication would remain a universal constant. It may not look the same, or get
used in the same way, but it will still be nonverbal communication in its many functions
and displays.
Nonverbal Communication Is Confusing and Contextual
Nonverbal communication can be confusing. We need contextual clues to help us
understand, or begin to understand, what a movement, gesture, or lack of display
means. Then we have to figure it all out based on our prior knowledge (or lack thereof)
of the person and hope to get it right. Talk about a challenge. Nonverbal communication
is everywhere, and we all use it, but that doesn’t make it simple or independent of when,
where, why, or how we communicate.
Nonverbal Communication Can Be Intentional or Unintentional
Suppose you are working as a salesclerk in a retail store, and a customer communicated
frustration to you. Would the nonverbal aspects of your response be intentional or
unintentional? Your job is to be pleasant and courteous at all times, yet your wrinkled
eyebrows or wide eyes may have been unintentional. They clearly communicate your
negative feelings at that moment. Restating your wish to be helpful and displaying
nonverbal gestures may communicate “no big deal,” but the stress of the moment is still
“written” on your face.
Can we tell when people are intentionally or unintentionally communicating
nonverbally? Ask ten people this question and compare their responses. You may be
surprised. It is clearly a challenge to understand nonverbal communication in action.
We often assign intentional motives to nonverbal communication when in fact their
display is unintentional, and often hard to interpret.
Nonverbal Messages Communicate Feelings and Attitudes
Steven Beebe, Susan Beebe, and Mark Redmond offer us three additional principals of
interpersonal nonverbal communication that serve our discussion. One is that you often
react faster than you think. Your nonverbal responses communicate your initial reaction
before you can process it through language or formulate an appropriate response. If
your appropriate, spoken response doesn’t match your nonverbal reaction, you may give
away your true feelings and attitudes. [5]
Albert Mehrabian asserts that we rarely communicate emotional messages through the
spoken word. According to Mehrabian, 93 percent of the time we communicate our
emotions nonverbally, with at least 55 percent associated with facial gestures. Vocal
cues, body position and movement, and normative space between speaker and receiver
can also be clues to feelings and attitudes. [6]
Is your first emotional response always an accurate and true representation of your
feelings and attitudes, or does your emotional response change across time? We are all
changing all the time, and sometimes a moment of frustration or a flash of anger can
signal to the receiver a feeling or emotion that existed for a moment, but has since
passed. Their response to your communication will be based on that perception, even
though you might already be over the issue. This is where the spoken word serves us
well. You may need to articulate clearly that you were frustrated, but not anymore. The
words spoken out loud can serve to clarify and invite additional discussion.
We Believe Nonverbal Communication More than Verbal
Building on the example of responding to a situation with facial gestures associated with
frustration before you even have time to think of an appropriate verbal response, let’s
ask the question: what would you believe, someone’s actions or their words? According
to William Seiler and Melissa Beall, most people tend to believe the nonverbal message
over the verbal message. People will often answer that “actions speak louder than
words” and place a disproportionate emphasis on the nonverbal response. [7] Humans
aren’t logical all the time, and they do experience feelings and attitudes that change.
Still, we place more confidence in nonverbal communication, particularly when it comes
to lying behaviors. According to Miron Zuckerman, Bella DePaulo, and Robert
Rosenthal, there are several behaviors people often display when they are being
deceptive: [8]
•
Reduction in eye contact while engaged in a conversation
•
Awkward pauses in conversation
•
Higher pitch in voice
•
Deliberate pronunciation and articulation of words
•
Increased delay in response time to a question
•
Increased body movements like changes in posture
•
Decreased smiling
•
Decreased rate of speech
If you notice one of more of the behaviors, you may want to take a closer look. Over time
we learn people’s patterns of speech and behavior, and form a set of expectations.
Variation from their established patterns, combined with the clues above, can serve to
alert you to the possibility that something deserves closer attention.
Our nonverbal responses have a connection to our physiological responses to stress,
such as heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductivity. Polygraph machines
(popularly referred to as “lie detectors”) focus on these physiological responses and
demonstrate anomalies, or variations. While movies and TV crime shows may make
polygraphs look foolproof, there is significant debate about whether they measure
dishonesty with any degree of accuracy.
Can you train yourself to detect lies? It is unlikely. Our purpose in studying nonverbal
communication is not to uncover dishonesty in others, but rather to help you
understand how to use the nonverbal aspects of communication to increase
understanding.
Nonverbal Communication Is Key in the Speaker/Audience
Relationship
When we first see each other, before anyone says a word, we are already sizing each
other up. Within the first few seconds we have made judgments about each other based
on what we wear, our physical characteristics, even our posture. Are these judgments
accurate? That is hard to know without context, but we can say that nonverbal
communication certainly affects first impressions, for better or worse. When a speaker
and…
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