As I completed this assignment I have to admit it was a struggle. I have the shows I like and watch and the shows that don't interest me. With the way my cable is set up I was unable to record a show but I have something called on demand which allows me to watch episodes of shows repeatedly. So I began to complete the task for this blog, watching an episode of Cougar Town.
As I was watching I could not get over that in almost every scene there were glasses of wine. As one who does not drink this caught my eye. Additionally, the facial expressions at times said serious, agitated, happy, no expression gave me a feeling of disinterest. As I proceeded to continue watching I realized that I was also reading lips and with the words I was catching, I figured out what was taking place in the episode. There was a house for sale and a couple interested in buying the house and the group reflected back to when the character Courtney Cox played first moved into the neighborhood. However, I was not completely correct in all aspects of the plot, I thought the girl stretching was getting ready to work out, so watching it a second time with the sound on filled in the blanks and corrected my interpretation mistakes.
I also watched, to compare for myself, a show, The Big Bang Theory, I am familar with without the sound. What I found in doing this is for someone unfamiliar with the show, it could be interpreted as a serious show. However, it is a comedy and I find it to be hilarious. For me the serious facial expressions combined with what is spoken makes it even funnier because the spoken language is not meant to be funny but to the audience it is.
What I learned from this is how important the verbal communication when combined with the nonverbal communication can be. When I watched the show I was unfamilar with had I not been able to read lips, I would have had a completely incorrect interpretation of the show. The same could be said for the show I have watched, if I did not know it was a comedy, the scenes and seriousness of facial expressions are misleading. Nonverbal communication alone can provide one interpretation while verbal communication can provide another, but when combined together with the use of listening skills a complete picture is created.
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteWe must be very careful with our non-verbal communication skills. There have been numerous times I have been talking with friends and my body language told exactly what I was feeling. I am very careful about how I use my body now as I do not want to send the wrong message to anyone.
I have to admit I love the Big Bang Theory and I love to look at their facial expressions because usually they have very little, especially Sheldon. I like the way you stated that the use of nonverbal and verbal communication skills together completes the picture.
ReplyDeleteYes we really need to non verbal and verbal skills together to paint the complete picture. I also was able to read lips a bit and that was rather interesting, but happened only rarely.
ReplyDeleteI like who you wrote that the picture is only complete when you have verbal and non-verbal communication. Right now as I am typing I would count this as a verbal form of communication, but you have no idea what my non-verbal messages are. I can't count the number of times I was confused as to the tone of someones text message because I cannot see their face or body. We definitely need both sides to really get all the information.
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