The title of the show chosen
was “Martin” and watching it with the sound off forced me to focus solely on
the body movements and facial expressions of the characters. Based on the body
language that consisted of eye contact and movements, facial expressions,
smile, hugs, and touches I believe that the man and woman was a couple. They seemed
to display feelings of affection and intimacy with each other by the way they hugged,
leaned in close and glanced at each other across the room. The man and woman
sat on the sofa next to each other, and the man put his arms around the woman’s
shoulder and she laid her head on his chest and watched television. Throughout the
show the same two men used key came into the house, got food, watched
television, etc. I assumed they were relatives that lived there. The woman in
the room walked to the door and opened it, threw both hands up and rolled her
eyes at the man who was standing at the door. Based on her facial expression
and hand gestures, I assumed that she was not happy to see the man.
With the sound on the assumptions
about the characters’ communication was fairly accurate. The man and woman was
a couple and with the sound on they talked about daily events of their lives,
work, dinner, etc. and how they loved each other. My assumption concerning the
two men was incorrect because they were not relatives nor did they live there. I
gained no insight of the plot by watching nonverbal behaviors.
My assumptions likely
would have been more correct if I had watched the show because the plot and
character would be familiar and I would have certain knowledge and expectations.
Insight gained from
this experience is that nonverbal communication is convincing and tells a lot
about what people are really saying through their verbal communication. I am
realizing how influential nonverbal communication is as reinforcement to verbal
communication (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012), which would be beneficial to understanding
as I engage in forms of communication with my colleagues.
Hi Audrey,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post. It is amazing the assumptions that are made by just watching people. This exercise help show how important it becomes to use all of the strategies in order to communicate. We need to use verbal, non-verbal, and listening skills appropriately. It also made me realize how I may be perceived by just my actions. As an educator, I want to make a positive impression.
Thank you for sharing your insights!
Cindy Rube
This exercise made me think about what TV would be like without body language or expressions, only lines and words. How boring. Of course, they are actors, so that is what they do and they have rehearsals to get it just right. In life, we don't get opportunities to rehearse our body language and expressions. All the more reason for us to be very aware of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey,
ReplyDeleteI can remember watching Martin when it used to come on. It was funny watching it with the sound but it must have been cool to watch it without the sound! Just from some of the episodes I remember, Martin and Gina were always very affectionate with each other. There body language showed how much they cared about each other. That was a cool show to share. :-)
Audrey,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good practice to bring awareness of nonverbal cues. It also made me focus solely on body movement and facial expressions. I intentionally concentrated which is more than I normally do to catch the jest of what is happening in a movie or television program.
Drue