Non Verbal Communication

[Chance1234]

Hope you dont mind me posting this topic, was reading the welcome post and It says discussion of words etc etc. But personally i believe that we communicate a lot more non-verbally. Currently putting together a site which will go into a great deal of it

http://www.5ylac.s5.com/123/index.htm

under construction and light hearted.

just wondering what anyone else's thoughts are on NVC.

Filmmaker, gentleman and Ambasador for London to the sticks.

http://WWW.5YLAC.S5.COM

 

[sleipnir214]

If I remember correctly from the one communications course I took in college ["Introduction to Public Speaking" -- if speaking in public doesn't bother you, it's a fun course because you get to watch your classmates demonstrate the most amazing array of panic reations], most communications theorists will agree what the total information transmitted through body language and inflection together is at least equal to the information transmitted by the words themselves.

NVC, however, is very inexact. Most of the information is really meta-information which is there to shape the information transmitted by the words.

That's not to say that someone with talent can't glean a great deal from NVC. The so-called psychics on television shows and con man are a examples -- they are masters, whether consciously or not, of gathering and interpreting accurately the information transmitted by NVC. The technique is called by stage magicians "cold reading".

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[SQLSister]

Nonverbal communication is certainly a good part of face to face interaction. But it isn't infallible. We tend to trust our reading of it, yet I saw somewhere (it was months ago so I don't have the link) that people didn't do very well in a test of which smiles were phony. If we can't tell a phony smile, what other body language are we misreading?

And some people are very good at projecting phony body language (we call them sales people!) because they know how it is read.

On the other hand, every time I've met someone and his body language told me he(she) was a slime; I have turned out to be right!

 

[Dimandja]

SQLSister: "If we can't tell a phony smile, what other body language are we misreading?"

Actually, the techniques called "cold reading", rely on "involuntary" expressions more than on assumed or easily learned ones such as smiling. It's difficult to pretend breaking out into a cold sweat, for example.

Dimandja

 

[Chance1234]

theres bit on my site in regards to eye accessing cues, which are horribly reliable.



Filmmaker, gentleman and Ambasador for London to the sticks.

http://WWW.5YLAC.S5.COM

 

[TheVampire]

Actually, the techniques called "cold reading", rely on "involuntary" expressions more than on assumed or easily learned ones such as smiling. It's difficult to pretend breaking out into a cold sweat, for example.

I knew a person that could cry at will, make goosebumps appear on their arms, and also barf at any time ( which could be amazingly funny in some situations ). Never seen someone who could sweat on command though.

But to stay OT, NVC is important, especially when dealing with people that you are meeting FTF for the first time. They may not even realize it, but they are interpreting your body movements and posture and forming their opinions of you. Like sleipnir214 says, it's really meta-information that they are getting.

Expert poker players are also very good at reading people.

Robert

 

[rosieb]

I was taught that, of any public presentation only 10% of the content is retained (max). So NVC is the key to how it is perceived/valued/retained.

Conscious manipulation is dangerous, unless done well, it can be horribly obvious and a real turn-off for the audience. But there are general techniques which work well; eye contact, mobility, expression etc.

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[Chance1234]

another good point by rosieb , I think the key is subtle , subtle , subtle.



Filmmaker, gentleman and Ambasador for London to the sticks.

http://WWW.5YLAC.S5.COM