Blog #4

Just about everything people do on a daily basis can be considered nonverbal communication. Whether we are distancing ourselves from a crowd of people, rolling our eyes, using hand gestures while talking, or just briskly walking across campus to our next class, we are communicating to the people around us. It really is kind of crazy to think about; all of these actions and activities that we perform, sometimes unknowingly, on an everyday basis are actually a form of nonverbal communication. There are quite a few different types of nonverbal behaviors. Some of these include facial expression, body movements, physical characteristics, space, and touch. Take for example space, or Proxemic. Depending on how close or far away individuals are from one another can determine their level of comfort. Usually, the smaller the distance is between two people, the more intimate the person or the relationship between the two people is. A larger distance between two people would then usually portray a more public situation. It is the tiny things such as this that can be interpreted, or accidentally misconstrued, to help an individual better understand what someone else may be trying to communicate.

Nonverbal communication is a powerful tool. Simple actions can portray certain emotions, especially when someone does not verbally express how they truly feel. One sentiment that people can pick up on by the use of nonverbal behaviors is sadness. When someone feels down in the dumps, their posture may be a little bit more slumped over than usual, perhaps even lazy looking. Their facial expression is straight, and they may be looking down to the ground, trying to avoid any eye contact. Along with this lazy posture, an individual experiencing sadness will probably have a slower pace than usual, and therefore may distance themselves from those around him or her. Picking up on nonverbal cues such as these can really help to communicate with someone better, and possibly even save a life if they are feeling extremely low. While nonverbal cues can help with better communication, they can also be misread, which could then lead to conflict.

**Have you ever completely misread a nonverbal behavior? What happened?**

After reading the statement “the person who possesses and controls information has power,” I believe that a knowledgeable individual can easily manipulate others around them. With the right words, presence, and gestures, a speaker can easily influence an audience into believing just about anything. It is something that should not be simply underestimated. True and great speakers create revolutions, whether the revolution is for better or for worse. Take for example Adolf Hitler. It is pretty obvious that his time in history is not something we look back on with fondness. However, one is not able to deny the fact that Hitler was a great speaker. He was able to touch the souls and hearts of people, motivating them to agree with what he believed. To look at a brighter example, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to change the history of America with his well known and loved “I Have a Dream” speech. There are numerous other people that have changed the course of history with the use of powerful words that connect to the people.

**Has someone ever influenced you with the sole use of speech, regardless if it was positive or negative? Have you ever influenced someone else with the use of powerful words?**

Blog #3

One time my good friend Andy and I were working on a film project for our Electronic Field Production 260 class. After spending some time filming, we ran into what I would call “filmer’s block.” At that point we stopped filming and began bouncing ideas off of each other in order to try and figure out what sequence we should film next. I came up with an idea from a movie I had recently watched at the time, and was pretty enthusiastic about it. I started explaining my idea to Andy as he was staring at the list of guidelines for the assignment. As I was trying to explain the idea I had, I noticed it seemed like he was not really paying attention to what I was saying. He just continued to stare at the paper, merely nodding his head and giving that “uh huh” kind of reply.
At the time, I felt pretty pissed. I thought that it was a good idea, and he was not really listening to what I had to say. The listening barriers that were present during that particular situation were being both disinterested and distracted. Andy may have been distracted due to the stress from the assignment itself, as well as making him disinterested in it all together. After reflecting on this past experience, I will definitely encourage myself to listen more attentively to others. I will try to take an interest in the ideas that my peers have to offer, and also try to not become so distracted by any outside forces from the initial conversation.

I can recall one presentation that seemed really disorganized. One semester, I was enrolled in Introduction to Theatre and Drama. Every day, the professor I had always seemed to be disorganized when he would be giving us the lecture. Countless times, he would say “umm,” and slick his hair back. It almost seemed like the nervous tick of someone who was fully prepared for talking in front of the class. This lack of organization had a negative impact on my ability to understand and retain the material. During his lectures, my mind would wander to other thoughts and I would soon be conversing with my other classmates. Some advice that I would have given this professor would be to possibly prepare his notes for the lecture better, and to maybe practice before actually giving the lecture to his students.

Blog #2

The first situation I thought of that can relate to this is not specifically a speaker, but a professor here at River Falls. To begin with, I work for TV Services here on campus. In the Agricultural Science Hall there is a Distance Learning classroom, and part of our job description at TV Services is to facilitate whichever day or night class one of us has been assigned to. Basically, I make sure all of the equipment in the room is working correctly. One semester, I was assigned to a Teacher Education class that met on Tuesday nights. I won’t deny the fact that I was pretty excited; what guy wouldn’t be excited to be in a room consisting of only him and thirty girls? With that being said, everything was good. At least, everything was good until the professor came in the room. Along with teaching on campus, this professor also teaches at a local elementary school. Her classroom at the elementary school consists of kindergarten through third grade.
Now I understand this class is meant to teach college students the ways of elementary education, but she interacted with them like she would with the little kids in her elementary classes. I can honestly say I have never seen this many college students and adults be treated like a group of four and five year olds. Don’t get me wrong, she is an extremely nice professor, but I just do not agree with her teaching style being so similar to how she would teach her elementary class. After witnessing this, I know that something I would do when speaking to an audience would be to NOT talk to them as if they were children. I would treat them with the respect they deserve as the adults they are.
Now throughout my academic career, I have seen and listened to numerous presentations; I’m pretty sure that will not be ending any time soon. From the presentations sat through, I can easily say that one type of verbal support that captures my interest is when the speaker uses descriptive words. If I do not know what the speaker is talking about, then I am not going to be very interested. By using descriptive words and taking the time to describe the little details in their topic, I can better understand where they are coming from and actually get into it. A type of speaker that can bore really fast is when they do not have any enthusiasm. If the speaker, the one who is trying to inform, persuade, or entertain me with a specific topic, is bored and disinterested, odds are I am going to become bored and disinterested. However, if the speaker is excited about what he is talking about, I will at least be more prone to pay attention in order to find out what is so great.
Along with the speaker being excited about the topic and giving plenty of details, the best verbal support that helps me understand the topic involves easy analogies and similarities. It definitely helps when the speaker compares the topic to other aspects of life. However, when the speaker is too wordy and speaks with long sentences, I find it a little confusing to follow along. Yes, I like details, but I also like a more simple speech rather than one filled with ‘big, eloquent words.’ Unlike a speech that contains a ridiculous amount of complex words, ones that hold rhetorical questions or just questions in general definitely leave a lasting impact on me. I love being left with a question that I can ponder for myself rather than just being given the answer all the time.
Since every speech that I hear will not leave a lasting impression on me, the presentations that I am most likely to forget easily are the ones that end abruptly. In short, the conclusion is very important. When it comes to knowing whether or not the source in a speech is credible or not just by listening is a little troublesome. You can’t really know for sure if the source reliable or not when you just hear it from the speaker. However, I would say that sometimes common sense can help with deciding if something is of good quality or not. Other than that, the only other way I can think of at the moment is judging if the speaker shares the information and source confidently or not.
After reflecting on these different verbal supports, I will focus on always keeping what the audience would like to hear in mind as I prepare a speech. In the end, if the audience is disinterested in the speech, you are pretty much just talking to a wall.

Blog #1

As of right now, the most embarrassing moment I can remember is from basketball season of my sophomore year in high school. We were well over half way through the game, playing against the Webster Tigers. A player on the opposing team was fouled while attempting to shoot the basketball. Since he missed the shot, he was given two free throw attempts rather than one if he had made the shot. However, I thought he DID make the shot he was fouled on, therefore giving him ONE free throw attempt. We proceeded to line up for the free throw attempts. Being completely sure that he had made the shot before, I got ready to rebound. The player attempted his first free throw, missed, and I grabbed the ball instantly and began to run down the court as fast as I could. About half way down the court I realized that none of the other players were following me. I stopped, looked back, and saw both my team and the opposing team laughing. They weren’t the only ones that were laughing either. I saw the people in the stands, the coaches, and even the referees were laughing. I was extremely embarrassed. If I could have, I would have bolted out of there. As I look back on it now, I just laugh about it. Obviously, at the time, I felt sheer embarrassment as I wondered “Why the hell did I do that?” Now, it’s just a funny moment to share with people as I look back at it.

Everyone experiences an embarrassing moment at some point in their life, and they will more than likely experience more after that. It’s basically a part of life. People just need to learn to laugh more and relax rather than take things so seriously. This idea could be used with people that have speech anxiety. Obviously just about everyone gets a little bit nervous about speaking in front of a crowd. We worry about if we will make a mistake, freeze up, throw up, or make a complete fool out of ourselves. Humans make mistakes. We just need to learn to laugh at them rather than dwell on the past. We just need to take a deep breath, relax, and get it over with.