Thursday, September 8, 2016
Observing Communication
I chose to record and observe one of the shows my husband and son enjoy watching. It's a show about mechanics who buy old trucks and modify them and then sell them as hot rods, monster trucks, etc… When I watched the show with the sound turned off I could tell which men appeared to be the employees and which man appeared to be the owner/boss based on the context of many of their conversations (ex. men working on the truck and the owner coming into the garage and inspecting the work). There were moments of humor demonstrated by smiles and laughter and moments of stress/distress and anger demonstrated by anger facial expressions, body language and the occasional throwing a tool. The show cuts from garage work to individual interviews with different employees and/or the owner/boss. During the interviews, most of the men were much less animated and it was more difficult to determine what the dialogue was about when compared to filmed segments of interactions of the men while at work.
When I turned the sound on and watched the episode I was able to see that I did make the correct assumption about the roles of the men in the garage (ex. employee vs. boss). I was also able to assume which employees appeared to enjoy their job and which ones appeared stressed and less interested in completing the work by a scheduled deadline. One of the things that I also noticed is that when watching the interview segments of the show, with the sound on I was able to get a much better understanding of the message the men were conveying. One thing that particularly stood out was the number of men who used sarcasm and dry humor that would not be picked up on based on non-verbal communication. I think that if I were watching a show that I knew well I would have been able to have a greater understanding of what the men were speaking about based on their personality and relationships within the show. I also would have had the knowledge base of the roles within the garage environment.
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Megan,
ReplyDeleteI commend you for watching a show like that, I do not know if I could get through a show about mechanics with no volume and really understand what is going on. But it sounds like facial expressions helped you out a lot in determining what was going on. Non verbal communication can be so effective when trying to interpret language.
Nonverbal Power and submissive roles were ones I noted throughout this week. As you describe the show, I think of the guy show on the one of the networks such as TLC or Discovery channel. I probably didn't guess right since I have not had cable in about 3 years. It wouldn't be my type of show, but I can image that would be a show my my nephew and his dad. It would be hard for me too trying to guess what they were trying to convey during the interview segments since they usually sit in chair with a spotlight on them and talk about their experience or issue. This shows how non verbal communication plays into effectively sending the message to the receiver.
ReplyDeleteThinking about shows that I watch that have confessional interviews they are very dramatic or the opposite very calm and if I didn't know the show well or had it on mute I would not understand what's going on. The thing about shows with confessionals they do help us understand what happened in that scene based on how they feel even though we could hear and see it. Which proves in communication that every one interprets things differently as well.
ReplyDeleteBody language and facial expressions also helped me with my assignment with the sound off. They are key indicators of how someone is feeling. People often tell me that I do not have to say anything because my body language says it all. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteBody language definitely helps when you cannot hear what they are saying, this really helped when I was watching the movie scene I chose. When the characters aren't really showing any facial expressions or body language it can be tough to interpret what is going on especially if you have not seen the show before.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteBody language definitely helps when you cannot hear what they are saying, this really helped when I was watching the movie scene I chose. When the characters aren't really showing any facial expressions or body language it can be tough to interpret what is going on especially if you have not seen the show before.