What are your main take away lessons from the assigned reading this week? Describe and explain.

The week’s reading has some insightful lessons regarding nonverbal communication. Adler et al., (2014) assert that “you don’t have to be a trained actor to realize that there’s often a gap between what people say and what they feel.” This is usually noted while communicating with people. It is usually possible to identify that what they say is actually the opposite of how things are in reality. Like the concept of asking someone what is bothering them, but they insist “nothing”. It is usually easy to note how these people are feeling just by the way they carry themselves around even when there are no words involved. This aspect showcases the power of non-verbal communication.

Sometimes nonverbal messages are usually sent unintentionally. A good example is how people blush, stammer, sweat and frown without the intention of doing so. However, whether nonverbal communication is intentional or not it is usually used to form impressions about other people.

Nonverbal communication is always influenced by culture and gender. Some forms of nonverbal communication tend to be universal. However, there are differences in the way that people understand and use nonverbal behavior. When it comes to culture, the meaning of some gestures tends to vary from one culture to another. Less obvious cross-cultural differences can ruin relationships in case the conversing parties do not use some nonverbal communication prospects to imply something similar. When it comes to gender, Adler et al., (2014) assert that “it’s easy to identify stereotypical differences in masculine and feminine styles of nonverbal communication.” There are some differences in the way that women and men look and act. Research shows that women tend to be more nonverbally expressive compared to men, while at the same time they are better than men in recognizing other people’s nonverbal behavior.

Nonverbal communication serves the purpose of substituting, repeating, complementing, regulating, accenting, contradicting and deceiving. Types of non-verbal communication, on the other hand, include body movements, appearance, voice, touch and space among others.

How will they affect the way you communicate?

The insights from the reading are likely to affect the way that I communicate. I have to be keener while communicating with other people to help capture the general feeling in the air. This will be helpful in my endeavors as an educator as it will help me understand my students better. I will not solely rely on what they have to say. I will use the knowledge gained about nonverbal communication in order to understand exactly how the students feel even when they do not want to speak out on the issue.

Learning that nonverbal communication is likely to be affected by culture and gender will make me be quite cautious in its application. I will have to be understanding that someone might be implying something different from what I can deduce. Seeking clarification on some instances will be important in order to avoid misunderstands that would result in ruining of relationships.

In what ways do the concepts in the videos and readings relate to your professional life in education?

In the video Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model by Cameron Russell talks of how looks can be deceiving. This is because they have the potential of portraying an individual’s personality that is not real. Sometimes people use different looks to disguise how they are actually feeling. This is something that people do in life in order to try and convey a different message from how the reality is.

The video Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s was Affected by Alcoholism talks of how Sonia began to observe nonverbal communication from a young age. This had come as a result of being brought up by an alcoholic father, and she knew that things would turn to worse based on the nonverbal messages that she was getting from her father.  This is something that normally happens in life, and it is easier to tell that something bad is about to happen based on people’s body language. The problem is that people tend to ignore in the hope that everything will be alright.

The video on The hidden power of smiling shows how smiling is powerful. Smiling is a form of nonverbal communication that shows the emotions people are having as at that time. Ron Gutman reiterates that studies have shown people who smile a lot in their lives tend to live more than people who smile less. This is the same thing that happens in life. The people that always keep a smile on their face seem to lead a happy life as they are able to kick-out stress instigating hormones.

The human face- beauty on the other hand is a video on how people perceive beauty. By looking at the face, people can conclude whether the other person is beautiful or not. This is more based on the physical features of their face, plus expressions that they make. This is something that is prevalent in everyday life in all professionals.

The video Crazy, Stupid, Love #6 Movie Clip- Do you find Me Attractive? portrays a good example of how people say one thing yet they feel something different. Anna insists on not finding the guy being attractive, but her facial expression tells a different story. Her friend also thinks that what she is saying verbally is not true. These are things that I should be able to understand in my professional life as an educator in order to understand what my students want even when they do not want to say it out loud.

How to spot a liar on its part tries to show how an individual can detect if someone is lying to them. These things can only be detected through nonverbal communication. This is a good thing as it can help people gain knowledge on how to detect when someone is lying to them. In life, we are surrounded by people that have the potential of lying on different occasions. When we have ways of detecting such lies, it would go a long way in ensuring that people do not take advantage of us.

Reference

Adler, R., Rodman, G., & DuPré, A. (2014). Understanding human communication (12th ed.). Oxford University Press.c

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