NONVERBAL COMMUNICATON (COMM 3409)

1. Take a quiz to discover the world of no words! NONVERBAL COMMUNICATON(COMM 3409) Department of Communication Studies University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Prepared by Dr. Susanne Jones Ford Hall 278

2. What basic emotion is expressed on the face of this baby? • a positive emotion • a negative emotion

3. What basic emotion is expressed on the face of this baby? • a positive emotion • a negative emotion While we’re not always able to determine people’s EXACT emotional expressions, we can always tell whether people’s BASICALLY express positive or negative emotions.

4. How much of all communication is nonverbal in nature? • 40% • 50% • 60% • More than 60%

5. How much of all communication is nonverbal in nature? • 40% • 50% • 60% • More than 60% Believe it or not!! Some communication scholars actually claim that about 85% of what we communicate is nonverbal-We might not always be successful in communicating nonverbally as this picture suggests, but you should take a class to find out just how far-reaching nonverbal communication actually is!!!

6. When people invade our personal bubble (our personal space), we • fight to protect what’s ours. • run for our lives.

7. When people invade our personal bubble (our personal space), we • Fight to protect what’s ours • Run for our lives Because we don’t have many natural defenses, we tend to flee the situation—or at least we should! Things are different when someone invades our territory (e.g., home). We tend to fight what’s ours.

8. Physical attractiveness • Is not nearly as important as psychological characteristics (e.g., trust) when we select a mate. • Is guided by many evolutionary principles. • Is usually only secondary when we select a mate. • Is influenced by many nonverbal features.

9. Physical attractiveness • Is not nearly as important as psychological characteristics (e.g., trust) when we select a mate. • Is guided by many evolutionary principles. • Is usually only secondary when we select a mate. • Is influenced by many nonverbal features. Much of what strikes us as physically attractive in a potential partner is based on evolutionary principles. Take facial symmetry, for instance……

10. The more facially symmetric a person (equally proportional facial halves), the more attractive we find that person—think of Christopher Walken and Russell Crowe—there you have it. By the way…Walken ROCKS!!!

11. Gestures, such as giving high fives or OK signals • have the same meaning across cultures • have different meanings across cultures • often have multiple meanings • need to be learned

12. Gestures, such as giving high fives or OK signals • Have the same meaning across cultures • Have different meanings across cultures • Often have multiple meanings • Need to be learned Many gestures are culturally-specific and need to be learned. So, watch out when you travel to distant waters. The OK signal actually has an obscene meaning in Greece and connotes worthlessness in France (Axtel, 1991).

13. How good are we at DETECTING a Liar? • We almost always correctly detecting a liar. • We are only as good as chance. • We are better at detecting a liar when we know the potential liar really well

14. How good are we at DETECTING a Liar? • We almost always correctly detecting a liar. • We are only as good as chance. • We are better at detecting a liar when we know the potential liar really well ‘tis true—we are usually pretty bad at detecting liars, but when we know the person well, we notice behavioral deviations much more easily. Actually…did you KNOW that the voice is the single best indicator to detect a liar!!!!

15. What are the six universal emotions almost always immediately recognized? Check out the following pictures and guess the emotional expressions Click to see whether you were right….

17. Fear!!

19. Happiness

21. Disgust

23. Anger

25. Surprise

27. Sadness

28. As you can see, the world of Nonverbal Communication is broad and mysterious. We can hone our abilities to communicate more competently by learning more about nonverbal communication!