Importance of Non Verbal Communication

Discussion board assignment

Instructions: Analyze and reflect upon the following questions and construct a thoughtful answer that includes references to the course text. Watch the video provided about non-verbal communication and answer the questions below.

1. To what extent does intentionality matter in interpreting nonverbal communication? Are we constantly communicating nonverbally? Does nonverbal communication ever stop? Does there have to be a sender and a receiver? How should you, if at all, take a person’s intentions into account when you interpret his or her nonverbal behaviors?
    
2. What does nonverbal communication have to do with performing identity? How can you communicate both personal and group identity through each of the nonverbal elements?
    
3. Do you think nonverbal communication is inborn or socially learned? For instance, are babies attempting to communicate with their hands and facial expressions? Does crying constitute a form of nonverbal communication or is it simply a reflex action? How might you test your hypotheses?
    
4. What, if any, experiences have you had with nonverbal communication in intercultural encounters? Did you find nonverbal communication easier or more difficult to “translate” than verbal communication?

References

Video: https://youtu.be/HRl0dvPRkSI

Duck, S. & McMahan, D. (2018). Communicating in Everyday Life. 3rd edition. Sage. ISBN: 9781506315164