I found this assignment to be fun as well as insightful. The show I chose to watch was VEEP. It is an HBO original series. I have heard about the show but never watched it before. I knew the main character was either the President or the Vice President of the United States but was not sure until I watched the show with the sound on. While watching the show with the sound off I was able to determine there was some sort of crisis going on. The characters facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language were that of frenzy, panic, and concern. However I was not able to determine the exact context of what the crisis was. Also I misinterpreted some of the interactions. Interactions that I thought were in the context of joking around were actually the characters not liking each other so the interactions were such and not meant to be a joke. I also misinterpreted the relationships between two of the characters. While the was sound off I thought they might have a romantic relationship going but when the sound was on I found out they were trying to build alliance to keep themselves from getting fired. While the closeness in sitting next to each and what appeared to be whispering was true the context was incorrect, the two were plotting to save their jobs not flirting or being romantic.
The aha moment I had was in essence that while body language, facial expressions, and gestures emphasize our verbal language, without being able to listen it is easy to draw the wrong conclusion and misinterpreted the information from body language and facial expressions alone. You need to be able to listen in order to gain the proper context of what is happening. This assignment really demonstrated the importance of listening and how without listening how the real context of our messages can get lost. Listening is key to competent communication.
Hi Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteyou are right; rather we speak or not communication is referred in so many other ways. The gestures alone can tell what a person thinks and feels. Yes ma'am listening skills is the cue for perfect communication!
-Talisha Ghansiam
ReplyDeleteRhonda,
ReplyDeleteI found that my interpretation of situation were not as I thought when I listened to the show I observed. I like your post and your sign. Good listening is key to communication. Not listen then responding can get you in big trouble. As we tell the children, put on your listening ears.
Hi Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteNice post this week! I too thought this assignment was very insightful. Being able to mute the words and just watch the body language is something that we almost never experience. I will certainly be paying more attention to those things next time I watch another TV show.
Great post Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteI agree, listening is the key to competent communication. Good communication requires the ability to listen. After doing this assignment, I have learned that the absences of sound can sometimes say more than words. I have also learned that the absence of sound can easily be misinterpreted.
Context is key...I could tell watching my show that there was some drama going on, but I was unable to tell what it was about. I don't think I could tell you what the drama actually was in the show I watched because it was all willy-nilly...I thought a soap opera would be a good place to see this non-verbal communication and I was right there was a lot of it, I just had no idea who the people were and why everything was so dramatic... Thanks for sharing your insight.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post and from reading this you make me want to watch the show. I guess that means I need to have HBO in order to do it but we will see. I try not to watch much television because it leads to me not doing more important things.
ReplyDeleteIn reading your post, I have to agree with the fact that even when we don't actually hear the words being spoken, we interpret what we think is going on based on facial expressions, hand gestures, body movement, etc. This is exactly how things are taken out of context as well as how rumors get started. I know after this class, I will definitely be more hesitant of assuming things until I know for sure.
Thanks,
Quintel