Communicating is something we do every single day and even every single moment. We never stop communicating to the world (except maybe when we are asleep). It might be through what we speak or noises that we make, and it might also be our gestures, face expression, body language and so on. So, we can conclude that communication can be done through two ways. One is through verbal cues and the other is nonverbal cues.
Believe it or not, we always combine these two cues when we are trying to communicate ourselves to the outside worlds. The verbal and the nonverbal cues are intertwined together but not dependent on the other. What I'm trying to say is we can use only verbal cues or only nonverbal cues when communicating. But the meaning we're trying to send would be conveyed better if we use both. Let's take a look at this video I found in Youtube.
What do you think of their conversation? Does it seem boring or lively? Is the message each family member is trying to convey clear enough?
There's actually a lot of nonverbal cues used in this video which enhanced the quality of the message each person was trying to convey. Look at the opening of the video where you can see all the 'Fuplers' trying to think of some words to put on the scrabble board. Wait, wait a minute! How do you know, how do I know that the Fuplers were thinking? It's thanks to their expressions and gestures, isn't it? The father was frowning and emitted a "Hmmn" sound, the mother was looking at her tiles and the scrabble board, the brother was fiddling with his tiles and frowning, and the little sister was looking back and forth between the dictionary and the scrabble board. All these small gestures and expressions showed us what they were doing and maybe also what they were feeling. We can conclude that they were thinking and maybe they were a little confused. And this is an example of nonverbal cues which is used alone without the verbal cues. The nonverbal cues substituted the verbal ones.
Let's move forward. Take a look at the part in 1:08 where the brother asked the father, "You're gonna challenge me?". Look at his facial expression then. The raised eyebrows and mocking smile. What do those expressions and the sentence "You're gonna challenge me?" showed us? It showed that the young man was confident, right? Imagine if he said the sentence with stutters and flickering eyes. He would look like someone who is not sure whether his answer is correct or wrong. So, attaching different nonverbal cues to a single verbal cue will change its nature. This is why the experts said that nonverbal cues complement the verbal messages.
And then look at the scene in 1:09. The father said "Yes!" and nodded his head. The nonverbal cues he used, which is the nod, repeat his verbal one. Compare it to the scene in 1:04-1:05. He said, "Kevin, it's not a word." Yet, he nodded his head. Both are nod and both emphasized what he was trying to say. But the general function is different. For the 1:09, the nod repeated the verbal message while the one in 1:05 contradicted the verbal message. So, there's actually different kind of functions that is attributed to nonverbal cues. It can repeat, contradict, substitute, complement, accent, and regulate the verbal message.
And usually we use more than one nonverbal cues at the same time with our verbal cues. Like the scene in 1:08, you can see more than one nonverbal cues were used.
Well, I think life would be painfully boring if there's no nonverbal cues in this world. Our communication would be very plain. And we won't be able to communiacte with people who don't understand our language, right? I believe there's not a single person in this world who doesn't use nonverbal cues. So, what do you think?
Believe it or not, we always combine these two cues when we are trying to communicate ourselves to the outside worlds. The verbal and the nonverbal cues are intertwined together but not dependent on the other. What I'm trying to say is we can use only verbal cues or only nonverbal cues when communicating. But the meaning we're trying to send would be conveyed better if we use both. Let's take a look at this video I found in Youtube.
What do you think of their conversation? Does it seem boring or lively? Is the message each family member is trying to convey clear enough?
There's actually a lot of nonverbal cues used in this video which enhanced the quality of the message each person was trying to convey. Look at the opening of the video where you can see all the 'Fuplers' trying to think of some words to put on the scrabble board. Wait, wait a minute! How do you know, how do I know that the Fuplers were thinking? It's thanks to their expressions and gestures, isn't it? The father was frowning and emitted a "Hmmn" sound, the mother was looking at her tiles and the scrabble board, the brother was fiddling with his tiles and frowning, and the little sister was looking back and forth between the dictionary and the scrabble board. All these small gestures and expressions showed us what they were doing and maybe also what they were feeling. We can conclude that they were thinking and maybe they were a little confused. And this is an example of nonverbal cues which is used alone without the verbal cues. The nonverbal cues substituted the verbal ones.
Let's move forward. Take a look at the part in 1:08 where the brother asked the father, "You're gonna challenge me?". Look at his facial expression then. The raised eyebrows and mocking smile. What do those expressions and the sentence "You're gonna challenge me?" showed us? It showed that the young man was confident, right? Imagine if he said the sentence with stutters and flickering eyes. He would look like someone who is not sure whether his answer is correct or wrong. So, attaching different nonverbal cues to a single verbal cue will change its nature. This is why the experts said that nonverbal cues complement the verbal messages.
And then look at the scene in 1:09. The father said "Yes!" and nodded his head. The nonverbal cues he used, which is the nod, repeat his verbal one. Compare it to the scene in 1:04-1:05. He said, "Kevin, it's not a word." Yet, he nodded his head. Both are nod and both emphasized what he was trying to say. But the general function is different. For the 1:09, the nod repeated the verbal message while the one in 1:05 contradicted the verbal message. So, there's actually different kind of functions that is attributed to nonverbal cues. It can repeat, contradict, substitute, complement, accent, and regulate the verbal message.
And usually we use more than one nonverbal cues at the same time with our verbal cues. Like the scene in 1:08, you can see more than one nonverbal cues were used.
Well, I think life would be painfully boring if there's no nonverbal cues in this world. Our communication would be very plain. And we won't be able to communiacte with people who don't understand our language, right? I believe there's not a single person in this world who doesn't use nonverbal cues. So, what do you think?
11 comments:
I firmly agree that nonverbal cues do completing our verbal cues. Even most of the time, nonverbal cues will be more useful than verbal one. One example has been menioned, when we want to 'talk' to somebody that has different language with us. And another good example, is when we are in a library which just making a litle noise will affect others' concentrate. It will be quite embarassing, doesn't it?
I can't imagine if there is no nonverbal cues. It will be very hard for individuals to know what their family, friends, colleagues, and classmates are thinking, and they might provoke one another very easily. But with nonverbal cues such as body language and face expressions, communication between one and another will be much more easier!!
no matter is verbal or nonverbal..
i think sometime we already know about the answer from someone expression.
so the way we understand about ppl expression is important...
to conclude....
whether it is verbal or nonverbal...
for me....
there are important...
without word , nobody know what do we want to say!
without expression, nobody know what do we feel or our mood!
I agree actually. Everybody will use nonverbal cues, even a baby. He would smile at you if he was happy, he would cry if he was hungry. I bet those are the nonverbal cues, aren't they ? Moreover, I think a blind man will have these nonverbal expression too, am I right? He wrinkles his eyebrow when he's thinking of something, he blushes when he's shy and many more nonverbal cues.
i think so too that it'd be "very plain" without nonverbal cues - every meaning would have to come from literal verbal communication. and plus it would be harder then to determine someone's personality from a "character-less" way of communicating - one without intonation, facial expressions or even jokes to really express his/her opinion.
(is this the sort of comments you want? and the way you write is amaaaazzzinnggg btw!)
Yes, I agree that nonverbal cues are very important in communication. Without nonverbal communication, I think many messages that are communicated will lack the impact and lose its meaning.
The thing about nonverbal communication is that many people don't realise that they are using it. So the result of the little actions thay display are very natural, and it helps others to perceive what the person is trying to convey, emphasize or even hide.
Haha, and nice use and analysis of the video there!
This was a rather strange video, but you made some very good observations about verbal and non-verbal communication. Excellent job of analysis Rena.
Sheri
Heya all~
Thanks for all your comments...
You guys have pointed out some other excellent examples of nonverbal cues there. Expressions and gestures are a part of our communication that is inseparable from our speech, isn't it?
And I think it's amazing sometimes, how people of different culture and language could understand each other just by the nonverbal cues that they use to communicate. I remembered going to HongKong few years ago and I can't speak Cantonese. So, I used 'ape language' when I was trying to bargain with the stall vendor... :)
I like the video,, it's funny..... :D
I agree with you that we need non-verbal communication too. We often communicate with our body (body language), I think our expressions can show the real meaning of what we are trying to say......
hmm...
i agree.... i think verbal n non-verbal cues combine one to another....
the most important thing when we say something is our expression, right?!! because with that expression, we know what they want to say n how their feeling....
^^
gud luck for the project,lena....!!
i like ur writing n analysis actually... he3...=)B
hey lena,
it's true that non-verbal communication is deeply intertwined with our daily lives. it is also very often that we use nonverbal cues to compliment our verbal cues. words may be deceiving.. they can be deceptive but i reckon that studying nonverbal cues a person portrays would def guide you to the true emotions the person is experiencing.
ps: i too love suugar.. so i'll wait up for your next entry this week.. hope it's as sugary as this one 0=)
well... i agree that non verbal comm is important in this life. Just imagine when someone is having a speech with a monotone expression,how boring it will be. Or a lecturer with a same tone of voice. I don't know how our life will be.
With non verbal comm also we can judge people emotion so that we know how to deal with different people.
By the way, it's a funny video.. "SUUUPIME".
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