Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

The Misinterpretation of Non Verbal Communication

Good Essays
278 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Misinterpretation of Non Verbal Communication
There are times in every person’s life when they encounter a certain conversations or events that they wouldn’t like to indulge in. You can tell by their facial expressions or by their sudden change in posture or composure. Sometimes those looks and shoulder slouches can be misinterpreted by your boss, friends, family, or your partner. With the help of studying non verbal communication, I have begun to improve my own non verbal communication skills as well as the interpretation of the non verbal communication of others.

If you have had the privilege of interacting with me, you would agree with the statement that I have a vast range of facial expressions. From frowns, smiles and sarcastic eye rolling, I have a few for every occasion and conversation. By studying for quizzes in speech class, I came to realize that the use of oculesics and adaptors can be misinterpreted by your audience if they are used incorrectly. For example, while I was having a conversation with my best friend Jessica, she disclosed an event that happened to her and my facial expression and body orientation relayed to her that I didn’t want to hear what she was telling me. What I perceived from her body language and looks of hurt and disgust was that I offended her and I quickly apologized. My use of facial expressions may have seemed harmless to me but, when taken out of context, portrayed me to be disrespectful and non caring.

The use of gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact are essential in communication. Therefore, I have learned that they must be used correctly to prevent confusion and to have a great conversation.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hcs 131 Employee Memo

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It has come to my attention that not everyone understand the principles of verbal and nonverbal communication. There are many different uses for communication when you are with someone. When communicating with anyone you use language, body movement, face gestures, and you can use communication through technology. It is important to understand that when we are communicating with verbal communication this can involve a great deal of the spoken word.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.…

    • 1803 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nonverbal communication plays an essential role in any conversation. Individuals who are aware of nonverbal actions during conversations can more effectively interpret what is being communicated.…

    • 1410 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unit 501

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Non-verbal communication skills are important in reassuring a situation, i.e. body language can be the difference between someone feeling comfortable and at ease and feeling intimidated or threatened.…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nonverbal communication plays an integral role in the overall communication strategies of humans, and being cognizant of this fact can give one the upper edge in communicating in…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Importance of Body Language Body language, communicating through gestures, is often the key to a meaningful conversation. These gestures that we apply in our conversations often help us to get our point across, or to show someone something that we just can’t describe in words. Sometimes we communicate this way without even realizing it. Many gestures we perform on a daily basis affect the outcome of a conversation such as a person becoming needlessly insulted, divorce, and how people perceive someone.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Communication is always occurring whether anyone is speaking or not. There are two ways that people can communicate; verbal and non-verbal. There are three functions of verbal communication—task ordering, process orientation, and narrative. Communication is not only spoken language as in verbal communication but it also involves non-verbal which includes facial expression, gestures, making eye contact, and hand movements. This paper will describe the differences and how people communicate. Also it will converse the challenges that arise when communicating with different genders and cultures and how one can communicate more effectively in a diverse environment.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    p1 effective communication

    • 1111 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Non-verbal communication refers to the messages that we send and receive without the use of words. Non-verbal communication involves things like your facial expression, for example whether you are smiling or frowning. It also involves things like eye contact, gestures, proximity and posture. For example, leaning forward can show you are interested, maintaining eye-contact can also show you are interested and paying attention to the other person. Within health and social care it is important to be aware of non-verbal communication and the effect that it can have on different people. For example,…

    • 1111 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Face expressions, body language, posture, dress style are silent messages we send to others, sometimes not what we intend, but nonetheless. First impressions are quite important; it is also good when you can support the first good impression with appropriate knowledge, experience and ability to get along with people. The old saying is “Look for the job you want, not for the one you have got”. Mostly nonverbal messages we send reveal our identities, the way we want people to see us, it is mainly communicating emotions. It also tells us in what relationships we are to the people we communicate with. If I would talk to a friend about personal matters I will sit either next to her or across her sipping my coffee, relaxing while would I speak to my boss I would choose a proper distance, proper attire and official demeanor. Also we should always be aware of cultural differences when communicating through gestures, signs or behavior because what is norm for one group of people may be looked at as disrespect to others.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eye Behavior

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Facial expression is a very important component of human communication. Of all the functions of the face, eye behavior is unquestionably the most important tool in communication. Eye behavior serves a variety of purposes. It regulates conversations, shows interest or involvement, and establishes a connection with others. Specifically, the eye gaze is one aspect of eye behavior that plays a significant role in the communication process. It can make or break a conversation. In order to further understand the effects of the eye gaze versus the lack of eye contact, I participated in conversation with three people, using two types of eye behavior. In one situation, I gazed in the eyes of the individual. In the other situations, I completely avoided looking at the person all together.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Non-verbal communication play very powerful part in daily life. According to expert, a substantial portion of our communication comes in form of nonverbal (Cherry, 2014). Meanwhile, according to Kendra Cherry (2014), she listed nine type of common nonverbal communication which is Facial Expressions, Gestures, Paralinguistics, Body Language and Posture, Proxemics, Eye Gaze, Haptics, Appearance and Artifacts. This type of nonverbal communication can found and we do it without we even noticed about it.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nonverbal Observation

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this nonverbal communication observation activity, you will become a “people watcher.” You will watch two different people in two different situations. It is helpful for this activity if (1) you do not know the people you are observing, (2) if they do not know you are observing them, and finally, (3) you are not interacting with the people you are observing. Disclaimer: Some of you may be uncomfortable observing people without them being aware of it, with that in mind, consider this: First, this is a very basic assignment, conducted in Interpersonal Communication classes across the country. Second, it is important sometimes just to step back and observe others. Finally, to watch how others communicate, engage, share, interact, etc. is important; it can give us pause about our own nonverbal communication behaviors, where our own strengths and weaknesses lie, and what we need to do to improve. Nonverbal Communication makes up 75 – 95% of our total communication and we need to learn what it entails.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Non verbal communication entails communicating by sending and receiving wordless messages. These messages usually reinforce verbal communication, can stand alone, and convey messages on its own” (Nayab, 2011). The reinforcement for non-verbal communication is obtained by body movements, hand gestures, facial expressions, tone of a voice and a touch. Amongst all of the reinforcement facial expressions is the most prevalent, since a smile or a frown can ultimately convey a message more than words can. A smile invites a person in, for example when you smile at someone that person feels at ease and wants to communicate more. On the other hand if the person is frowning this is a message to stay clear from that person, since it appears that something has made them mad. A firm handshake shows confidence and a neat appearance shows that the person respects themselves as well as others. This is usually apparent when a person is interviewing for a job, having a business meeting with potential clients, or just having dinner with the family. A simple pleasant tone can express joy or pleasure, such as laughing at a joke or talking with a small child. On the other hand a strong aggressive tone can display anger or displeasure, such as yelling at an employee for lack of job performance, or at a teenager for staying out past curfew. Another non-verbal communication that shows a person whether to approach or stay back is the way a person’s body movements are. In certain situations if a person is nervous he/she will move constantly and…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays