Communication Process

Problems with Verbal & Non-verbal Communication  

•       Perception

   1.      We take in information (7 sources)

   2.      We organize it

   3.      We interpret and evaluate what we perceive 

3 Characteristics of Perception

1.      Perception is a subjective process

2.      People strive for stability in their perceptions

3.      People assume that what they perceive is meaningful and true

“We do not see things as they are. We see things as we think we are.”

Other Problems with Communication

•      Abstraction with language use

•       

•      Labels and language

•       

•      Too much information

•       

•      Too little information

GENDER AND VERBAL COMMUNICATION

•      Review differences

•      Waffles and Spaghetti

CULTURE AND VERBAL COMMUNICATION

•      Language

•      Values

•      Traditions

•      Ethnicity

•      Relationships

•      Code of conduct

•      Non-verbal clues

Function of Non-verbal Codes

•      Reinforcement

•      Modification

•      Substitution

•      Regulation

•      Seating arrangements

Face / Eye Behavior

•      Judgment

•      Disinterest

•      Intensity

•      Control

•      Understanding

•      Acceptance – Unconditional Positive Regard

Use of Time

•      Starting meetings on time

–    Making others wait

–    Cultural differences of “on time”

•      Dragging out meetings – signals of boredom

–    Looking at clock

–    Yawning

–    fidgeting

•      Expectations

•      Others?

Problems with Non-Verbal communication

•      Ambiguous

•      Unintentional

–   Gender posturing

–   Perceptions of opposite sex

•      Inhibits communication

Gestures, Postures, Movement

•      Regulation

–   Turning your back

–   Eye contact

–   Nodding

–   Smiling

–   Leaving Room

–   Others?

Nonverbal Communication The Messages Of Action, Space, Time, and Silence

I. Importance of Nonverbal Communication

•      A. Judging internal states

•      B. First impressions

•      C. Subconscious actions

•      D. Culture-bound

II. Defining Nonverbal Communication

•      All nonverbal stimuli in a communicative setting that are generated (intentionally and unintentionally) by both the source and his/her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or the receiver.

III. Functions of Nonverbal Behavior

•      Repeating

•      Complementing

•      Substituting

•      Regulating

•      Contradicting

IV. Guidelines and Limitations

•      A. Nonverbal communication is ambiguous.

•      B. We are more than one culture.

•      C. Need to avoid overstating differences.

•      D. Nonverbal communication seldom operates in isolation.

V. Nonverbal communication and Culture

•      Greetings – US, Japan, Arab, Mexico

•      Signaling others to come near?

•      Crossing legs? Relaxation or taboo?

•      Silence – Wisdom vs foolishness

•      Expression of emotions?

•      Posture – German & Sweden vs US

•      Shows what cultures value

w  Formality vs friendliness

VI. Two categories of Nonverbal plus other considerations

•      A. Body Behavior (cultural and universal)

w  1. General appearance and attire

w  2. Body movement or kinesis (posture and gestures)

w  3. Facial expressions (six universal expressions)

w  4. Eye contact

w  5. Touch

w  6. Smell

w  7. Paralanguage

•   A. Three kinds of vocalizations: Vocal characterizers, Qualifiers, and vocal segregates.

•   B. Additional components: volume, “noises” laughing, accents and dialects

B. Space and Distance or Proximics

•      1. Personal space

•      2. Seating

Americans – face to face

Chinese – side to side

Hierarchies/leadership

•      3. Furniture arrangement

Interaction

Feng shui

C. Time

•      1. Informal time (tardiness and pace)

•      2. Past, present and future orientations

•      3. Monochronic (M-time) and polychronic (P-time) classifications

D. Silence - Cultural Differences