Nonverbal communication is a natural, unconscious form of communication that gives us a different perspective of feelings and intentions of those around us. All of our nonverbal actions sends a strong messages whether it be the gestures we make, our posture and even how much eye contact we make. In many instances, the way we talk and the nonverbal gestures we make are two totally different things that correlate with each other. When given a mixed communication from verbal and nonverbal, whoever you are talking to must figure out which form of communication to believe and most of the time they're going to pick nonverbal because its natural, unconscious and hard to fake.
Though nonverbal gestures are universal, in different cultures and societies there are more specific things in the nonverbal world that allow for different meanings. For example, while I was living in Japan as a kid I went to various Japanese restaurants. In these restaurants I would hear people slurping their soup or noodles in an extremely loud sense. To me this was disrespectful of the people around the "slurper". When I received my order noodles I quietly ate them, in a well-mannered way. I quickly noticed that the Japanese people around me were looking at me as if I were being disrespectful. I had asked my father about this situation and he told me that in this country it is polite to slurp, it was a compliment for the restaurant and the cooks. Within this nonverbal way, it was the first time I had truly experienced this aspect of nonverbal communication as it was not a universal act. In the video below is almost a perfect depict of how I first saw this action take place and how I responded, at the end of the video he puts his chopsticks in the middle of the bowl. This is a bad omen in japan and "brings" bad luck.
Japanese Noodle Eating
As a kid I experienced a whole new form of communication, verbally and non-verbally. In terms of how this will help influence my future is honestly one of my possible career choices. Lately I have been thinking about becoming an profiler in the FBI. Profiler's look at facial expressions, body language and any other form of nonverbal communication to predict someones next action, if they're telling a lie or anything else. Nonverbal communication will help me in my future of criminal justice no matter what path I decide to go on.
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.References:
yea non verbal expressions say more that words. I like the sounds of the FBI job. Go get it.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting when you give the example of slurping noodles in a very loud sound. I have heard the same thing before, but until now I could not probably slurp noodles loudly. I still find it very inappropriate to do. However, I think I should set aside my own principle when I am surrounded by Japanese people ^^
ReplyDeleteCool post, I know that in Hispanic cultures, it is impolite to sit on the opposite side of a bench from someone. You are supposed to sit right next to the person on a bench, if you don't do this, it can be seen as rude.
ReplyDeleteI like that you used a personal example to connect to the topic of nonverbal communication.For future blogs, make sure you cite the sources that you reference in the blog. You should definitely have a Martin & Nakayama citation in your first paragraph when you define the concept. Also think about how you can keep adding in photos and videos to expand your points.
ReplyDeleteI love this example because I remember my parents telling me not to slurp my soup when I was growing up. I was always confused because I didn't think I was slurping, I thought I was just eating.
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