How technology is making the world a smaller place in terms of work

October 31, 2013 at 5:57 pm (Communication Problems, Social Media/Technology)

How is technology making the world a smaller place in terms of work?

The advance in technology has made us able to innovate without having to emigrate in means of globalization and domestically through companies and partnerships. Professor Fritz’s primary job is an example of this where she has not seen some of her co-workers for years or some at all.  This is a great example where technology is making the world a smaller place in terms of work where she is able to communicate effectively between brokers; prospects and colleagues to create detailed RFP’s.

The company I work for consists of about 200 employees in about 6 different locations. External communication is common with every employee through clients, prospects and strategic partners and there are many tools internally and externally that assist with this communication. Interactive client is a program that links a phone to Microsoft outlook enabling access to voicemails, call logs and faxes more easily. From my experience Microsoft outlook seems to be common with most companies where everyone that uses it can sync contacts, meetings and emails through various devices where everyone is familiar with the features.  HR departments use various programs like Paychex, a system on the Internet that direct deposits income and an employee has access to electronic records of their pay statement.  Your able to adjust hours, request permission for PTO and vacation days through your supervisor. For external use there are go-to meetings that mirror a person’s computer screen for assistance or presentation while providing multiple line conference calls and videoconferences. All of these examples have made it possible to work from home and has brought on the collaborative, agile, flexible workspaces within companies that allow employees to choose their workstations in dispersed locations within the company.

Search Engines and the Internet is another technological resource that’s made work a lot easier.  It seems like people joke around when someone asks a question they don’t know and someone responds just Google it. This is true because if an employee doesn’t know something common they can save the time and bother of a colleague by simply looking up a credible or non credible website that’ll provide them with the correct answer. Corporations are liable to include their fiscal reports on websites that are available to support a company or be analyzed for competitive reasons.  I use this example a lot when I need a phone number to call or I’m researching a geographically area in Kentucky or Illinois where I’ll use Google maps.  Healthcare industry and how there’s ever-changing programs in order to cut cost, constant studies in order to determine if these programs are working. There are whitepapers, daily articles, etc. that are key to be informed and apply these programs, techniques to hospitals, practices, health insurance companies. ACO’s are coordinating health insurance companies, doctors and patients to be interconnected while improving and these accountable care organizations have been made possible by advanced technology.

Social media like Twitter and Facebook are other examples that assist organizations to advertise or distribute their information. I’m going to refer to the National Journal Presentation for the 2012 Election, which was streamed through CBS, the Atlantic and the National Journal. In the presentation Adam Sharp of Twitter, explained how there was an Obama parody account that was created during the republican convention, which contained about 10,000 tweets and 20,000 followers by during the course of 21 minutes when Romney left the stage after speaking. Daniel Sieberg from google stated the innovative with social media and referring to twitter, there was a shift from a 24-hour news cycle to a 140-character cycle.  I do not use Facebook but do have a Twitter Account.  At first I used my Twitter Account to joke around with friends and followed random comedians, athletes and other parody accounts but this presentation made me look at Twitter as an opportunity from a professional standpoint and not strictly a personal standpoint where I can stay updated on current events. I still use Twitter for personal reasons but cut a lot of the nonsense out where I look at it as a resource rather than something to pass the time.

As I conclude, the research as made me realize how much technology has advanced.  More than I realize because I’m accustomed to it. I thought I had basic idea of what I was going to present about but the doors to many examples on this subject opened up as I started researching this topic.

 

Dan Christman

Works Cited

Ball, Molly, James Bennet, Ron Brownstein, Steve Clemons, Garance Franke-Ruta, Ron Fournier, Major Garrett, and Reid Wilson. “Twitter, Facebook & Social Media’s Impact, Election 2012.” N.p., 3 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Friedman, Thomas L. “It’s a Flat World, After All.” The New York Times [New York] 3 Apr. 2005: 1-7. Print.

Message from the Author

My name is Dan Christman and I am a junior at IUPUC. I’m working toward a business degree with a focus in Finance. I work for SIHO Insurance Services as a provider relations associate. In my free time I enjoy planning trips throughout the United States and I’m hoping to plan something outside of the US here in the next 5 years or so. I enjoy camping, hiking and visiting family. I also enjoy other activities which involves my roommates’ Golden Doodle, Barley. Thank you for your time and feel free to contact me if you’d like to know more about me or have any questions.

Leave a Comment

How does a person create his or her own personal brand?

October 30, 2013 at 10:47 pm (Uncategorized)

           We are all familiar with certain brands and what they represent. Nike represents high quality athletic apparel and paraphernalia. McDonalds represents good, affordable, fast food. Disney represents success in all aspects of entertainment. These corporations have invested millions of dollars into creating and promoting their brand. What does your personal brand say about you? How much have you invested in your personal brand?

            Your personal brand is the perception of your appearance, character, and actions by co-workers, prospective employers, and business connections. Many different factors impact your personal brand.

            Appearance plays a role in your personal brand. How seriously would you take a financial advisor that wears dirty blue jeans and a baseball cap? Likewise, wouldn’t a landscaping contractor look out of place showing up for a job in a three-piece suit? These might be extreme examples, but you get the picture. In a business setting, a general rule of thumb is to always dress and carry yourself a level higher than your current position.

Appearance is not always about clothing or a haircut. Posture is also a part of your appearance. Slouching, walking around with your hands in your pockets, and putting your feet on the desk can all be signs of laziness or arrogance.

            Character is a vital factor in the development of your personal brand. The way you treat co-workers, the way your represent yourself in meetings, and the way you deal with other business connections impacts how you are perceived. Taking charge in a meeting may show leadership. Going overboard may show a tendency to intimidate or an unwillingness to acknowledge other’s ideas.

            Actions are the most important factor in creating your personal brand. Appearance, posture, and character can all be perceived as fake if they are not backed up by actions.

If you talk about conducting yourself in a professional manner, but fail to do so, you are not backing up your words with actions. If you speak loudly and take charge in a meeting, but shrink from the moment your brand can be damaged beyond repair.

            While trying to create your personal brand, it is important to take into account who you are and what you want to be.  Your brand must be created with a goal in mind. If you shape your brand towards a management/leadership role, but your goal is to work in a technical field, you may not get the opportunities you are seeking.

            So remember, the next time you get dressed for work, walk into a meeting, or address a co-worker consider the personal brand you are trying to create, and the perception you are building of yourself.

 

By Tom Svetlick – Business Major IUPUC

             

Leave a Comment

What is the idea behind an “elevator speech”?

October 24, 2013 at 2:53 pm (Uncategorized)

How many have actually delivered an elevator speech?  Winston Churchill once said, “I’m going to give a long speech today.  I haven’t had time to prepare a short one.”  An elevator speech is a 30-second to two minute promotion used by you as an overview to yourself, your company, or a product, service or idea that you are marketing.  Your speech may be the only chance you get to make a good first impression.

The term “elevator speech” represents the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary of a topic in the time span of an elevator ride.  In other words, an elevator speech is a short summary of the work that you perform, or a point you would like to make in the time it takes an elevator to go from the top floor to the first floor or vice versa.  If the conversation inside the elevator in those few seconds is interesting and valued, the conversation will continue after the elevator ride or end in an exchange of business cards or maybe a scheduled meeting. 

The purpose of an elevator speech is to have a prepared presentation that grabs the attention of a potential customer and that says a lot in a few words. 

 

How to create an elevator speech?

  1. Focus on the problem that you, your product, service or idea solves.  Ask yourself, what would I want to see or hear?  What would encourage me to find out more?  Write all of your ideas down on paper as quickly as possible, unedited. 
  2. Review your first draft for clarity, consistency and conciseness.  Ensure that nothing you say contradicts anything else, that it makes sense and that you sound sincere and knowledgeable.  Your potential customer must find what you say intriguing, but he must also trust you.  Once you have edited your draft start cutting out extraneous words.  Your goal is to say what you need to say in 100 words or less. 
  3. Comb through your speech and find the single concept most likely to grab attention.  Make the attention-getter your lead statement and said in close conjunction with your name.  An example is “ Hi, my name is Karen Dobbs.  My new vacuum helps everyone save an average of 15 percent on their cleaning time and costs less than a dinner at an expensive restaurant.  Please let me know if you would like to know more. 
  4. Practice saying your speech into a recorder so you are able to replay and hear yourself.  This will help you to get a natural flow.  Your goal is to make the speech as natural and as enthusiastic as possible.  You do not want to sound insincere.  The listener should feel that you have their best interest at heart. 
  5. Practice your speech on a live audience and refine it based on feedback. 

 

Elevator Speech Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

  • Make your elevator speech sound effortless, conversational and natural
  • Project your passion for what you do.  Be warm, friendly, confident and enthusiastic. 
  • Use easy to understand language and avoid the use of acronyms.
  • Take it slowly.  Don’t rush through the speech.
  • Maintain eye contact.
  • Incorporate examples and stories to help support your points.  Stories make your speech memorable.
  • End with an action request, such as asking for a business card, interview or meeting.
  • Practice your speech.

Don’ts

  • Don’t forget to update your speech as your situation changes.
  • Don’t hesitate to develop different versions of your Elevator Speech for different situations and audiences.
  • Don’t let your speech sound canned or insincere.

 

 By Karen Dobbs, IUPUC

Works Cited Page

http://www.ehow.com/print/how_4703148_write-elevator-speech-easy-steps.html

http://www.creativekeys.net/PowerfulPresentation/article1024.html

http://www.quintcareers.com/elevator_speech_dos-donts.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/elevator_pitch

 

 

Leave a Comment

Is texting and social media making communication too informal? How to know when punctuation and grammar really matter.

October 24, 2013 at 11:40 am (Communication Problems, Effective Communication, Social Media/Technology)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

How many of you text every day? Update your Facebook status? Tweet?  How often do you actually stop and think about using correct punctuation and grammar? Do you make sure that you are using the correct form of there, their, and they’re? Most often we do not think about using punctuation and grammar that we would in an English paper when we are texting friends or on Facebook and Twitter. We have unconsciously started to become too informal because of new technology that has been introduced to the world.

How do we know when punctuation and grammar really matter? Hopefully, we all know that it matters in the workplace.  As professionals, grammar and punctuation can represent how educated or uneducated a person is based on the use of language and sentence structure.  Receiving emails that do not contain the proper form of it’s or its, you’re and your, effect and affect, can be very embarrassing for the sender of the email.  It’s important to know how to use the correct form of a word because Word does not always catch these mistakes. It is crucial to make sure that in the business world we continue to use the correct punctuation and grammar because if not it could prevent us from being looked at for a promotion or being the lead on an important project. Knowing when to use those commas and colons is important!

Facebook, Twitter, and texting do not help matters when it comes to punctuation and grammar that matter. Social media sites and cell phones have made people lazy when it comes to using proper English, commas, periods, and correct use of verbs. Most often we do not even take the time type out complete words let alone worry about our punctuation and grammar. Even though typing “ttyl” for talk to you later at the end of a text message may be appropriate, ending an email with “ttyl” is not at all. This is too informal and some people depending on what generation they belong to may not even know what the acronym means at all. Even as a college student keeping up with the internet language can be tough. The informal writing habits that Facebook, Twitter, and texting have created are almost absurd because it does carry over into English class and other aspects of life where the informality is inappropriate.

A major concern is with those children who have been born and raised in the socially media savvy world of today. These children even before they enter into formal education have already been programed to the informal use of language due to all the technological devices that are out there. They see and hear this informal language and by the time they reach school age they have already been trained to see the discipline of proper English as outdated and tedious. However, what they are failing to realize is that they are being set up for failure. These students need to be able to speak and communicate in complete and coherent sentences to be able to get their points across in an educated manner. Without the instruction and use of proper English we will have a world where people can rarely compose a proper proposal or letter to effectively convey their ideas or desires.

Being aware that we do unconsciously use more informal writing habits because of social media and texting may be half the battle. Knowing and passing on the importance of proper grammar and punctuation to the younger generations, may help sustain the importance this type of English has in the global world and hopefully will help us remember to use correct forms of communication.

By: Ashleigh Shouse IUPUC Business Major

1 Comment

Miscommunication That Can Lead to Malpractice in Hospitals

October 17, 2013 at 5:32 pm (Communication Problems, Conflict, Diversity in the Workplace, Effective Communication, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Did you know that the leading cause for malpractice in hospitals is miscommunication?

According to the research that I have done, there are five key risk factors as to why miscommunication can happen in hospitals; Culture/ Ethnicity, Beliefs, Literacy, and Gender.

Culture and Ethnicity are major reasons why there is miscommunication in hospitals. “In 2008, according to the U.S. Census, nearly 20% of people living in the United States spoke a different language.” (Quan. Introduction) Though, that does not seem like a lot of people, think of how many people speak a foreign language in today’s world. This is a problem for hospitals and medical professionals because there is a language barrier between the two. If you have a Spanish speaking patient, and an English speaking doctor, chances are there is going to be some type of miscommunication. This is where it is necessary for hospitals to have language translators. Whether it be the medical staff learning the major languages that are in the United States, or by hiring immigrants who know English well enough that the medical staff can understand what the patient needs or wants.

Socioeconomics is another risk for miscommunication in hospitals that can cause malpractice. A patient’s beliefs can determine what a doctor can and cannot do for them. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions, this can cause a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding for hospital staff. Even if it means, letting them die, the doctor has to respect the patient’s beliefs. Ways that this can be dealt with is for the doctor to understand the culture itself. If the doctor is trying to give the patient something they do not believe in, that is going against who they are. Medical staff should always be understanding and caring even if what the patient believes in hurts them more than helps.

Does every patient understand medical terms? More than likely, absolutely not. If every patient understood medical terms, they would not receive a prescription, and wonder, “Now, what’s this for?” This is where miscommunication falls into place. When patients do not know their medical terminology, and do not ask the doctor questions when it is appropriate, things can get sticky. Not knowing what you are taking, can hurt you rather than help. A solution for this maybe to require students in high school to take classes to understand these words. An etymology class would be great for this. Advisors at my high school suggested this class for students who planned on going into the medical field.

Many people do not understand that there is a difference between sex and gender. Sex refers to biological, or what you are born with. Such as, your external sex organs. Gender is the characteristics that a society or culture defines as masculine of feminine. When a patient is a male, but dresses as a female, this can cause miscommunication between the patient and staff. One, they do not know what to call this patient. And, if they did not know what sex the patient was and gave him a medicine they would typically give a female, this can lead to a problem. In order to understand these kinds of people, is to actually get to know them before prescribing them medicine. Even if the patient checked off on the patient form that he was a she, it is still important to figure out who the doctor is really dealing with.

All of the things that I have talked about lead to the malpractice if miscommunicated. My suggestions will hopefully, one day, be a thing in the past and we will not have to worry about miscommunication between patients and medical staff.

Works Cited Page

http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=HHNMAG/PubsNewsArticle/data/2006August/0608HHN_gatefold&domain=HHNMAG

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/gendermed/sexandgender.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah’s_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions

https://www.ecri.org/Forms/Documents/Communication.pdf

http://healthlaw.org/images/stories/High_Costs_of_Language_Barriers_in_Malpractice.pdf

Leave a Comment

Bias on the news and the Internet – what is the impact on society?

October 10, 2013 at 5:25 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

There is a funny phrase that has become fairly common in American society that states, “They can’t put anything on the Internet that isn’t true. Who told me? The Internet.”

Since the year 2000, there was a 566.4% increase in Internet usage. That equates into roughly 2.4 billion users from all over the world, with eight new users every second. Next to that, there are roughly 1.4 billion users on Facebook worldwide and not all are individuals. Some are large corporations, news outlets, religious organizations, and so on and so forth. That is 11% of the world’s population and that is just Facebook alone.

The amount of information we receive daily from our Facebook feeds, Twitter tweets, and Pintrest pins is truly amazing. With access to the Internet anyone can broadcast their views and beliefs and anyone can project their version of a national news story. So how do we see through all that distraction? With so many competing views, the central message becomes convoluted. For example, Fox News and CNN compete daily to provide their own, ‘fair and balanced news’ to the hungry masses. It is no longer as easy as reading the Wall Street Journal or watching your local news channel after dinner.

For the common reader the question becomes, “how do we know which news source to believe?” Everyone wants to get his or her own message across, and what this becomes, is not an easy question to answer. This is because what Fox news reporters might say may differ heavily (and it usually does) from the content-based website of Reddit. Our favorite source-gathering site Wikipedia, on the other hand, hosts over 17 million different articles, which are modified by users to anyone curious enough to dive in. Even our favorite search engine Google offers daily news, albeit gathered from multiple news sources.

Biased opinions on the news and Internet do an excellent job of creating argumentative ‘sides’.  Everyone has a right of speech here in America and everyone has the right to broadcast his or her views. Anybody can log onto CNN and strictly follow the flow of news that is being ejected at an alarming rate. Your choice of what you view and post on the Internet is strictly yours.

Let’s look at the most recent and controversial government shutdown as a textbook example. A highly conservative based news outlet such as Fox News will explain that this stalemate lies with Obama and his liberal agenda. Fox would exemplify Republicans as the ‘white knights’ of congress fighting to uphold democracy. While Reddit, a mostly liberal user-posted-content website, takes a different stance. Broadcasting the opposite, claiming that the actions of the Republicans are destroying what America was founded on. Of course it is all much more complicated that that, but the differences are there. We take this information from all sources and post them publically to our friends, family, and coworkers. The results we find are typically Internet arguments, which in turn become pointless shouting matches over why/why not Obama should be impeached.

It still goes deeper than that. Americans have a pretty good understanding that a lot of the news we ingest is biased in some way, shape, or form. As stated in an article from the University of Michigan’s The Medium, “On the Internet, there is little control over what gets published” (umich.edu). On the Internet there is no limitations to time or space so, we can find well-written and polished articles there. These provide so much more information than a 30-minute wrap-up with a few sound bytes. On the Internet we get the ‘full story’ or so we are led to believe. Hidden in the text, between the lines, we can find agendas and propaganda; and I don’t say that in a bad way. It is a brilliant tactic that the Internet provides for reporters who can write a clean and refined story and still ambiguously pepper it with anti-liberal ideals. As viewers it is important for us to understand the news we are reading, where it is coming from, and the purpose it is trying to achieve.

So how do we detect this bias? Well simply put, the same way we would check the bias of any other news source. We analyze the sources of the article. We should check if the sources are two competing views or if they are strong-sided. Diversity is key in an unbiased article. The article must exhibit both sides of an argument. Watch out for double standards by researching opposing views or different examples of a situation. Loaded language is huge in reporting; the difference between the words devastated and damaged can carry a different weight. Biased articles are easy to spot once you know where and how to look into them.

News on the Internet has a huge societal impact on us. People who share our views and beliefs no longer surround us; in its place, we can now make two clicks and find an atheist’s argument for morality or a conservative case against abortion, and the world becomes ever more interconnected. The question for the individual experiencing this plethora of information is not, “How do I avoid all this information?” but instead, “How do I construct a viable view from all that is offered to me?” The information is ours for the taking, but we must decide on how to utilize it.

The Internet is possibly the greatest resource we have. Two clicks with the mouse, a keystroke, and we can find almost anything we can imagine. The Internet has a dizzying amount of content and has enhanced the way we digest news. We can find a story that provides good insight into LGBT rights, then turn around with a Google search and find its counterargument. Even still it does not stop there, we can then log onto one of the hundreds of social media networks and find our friends, family, and coworkers and view their opinions and their friend’s counter-opinions and so on and so forth into the opaque vastness of the World Wide Web. The possibilities are endless.

Works Cited:

http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

http://www.umich.edu/~newsbias/medium.html

http://fair.org/take-action-now/media-activism-kit/how-to-detect-bias-in-news-media/

2 Comments

Baby Boomers vs. Generation Y

October 9, 2013 at 3:49 pm (Diversity in the Workplace, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , ,

Who are the Baby Boomers and Generation Y? The Baby Boomer generation is anyone born between the years 1946 and 1964, while Generation Y is anyone born between the years of 1982 and 2004. These two generations have many differences and similarities between them.

There are many differences between the Baby Boomers and Generation Y.  Some of the differences are: their work habits, doing what they are told, accepting what they have, punishment, attention spans, trust in others, and many more. Baby Boomers have a better work habit than Generation Y. This is because people in Generation Y feel they are entitled to everything, while Baby Boomers work for everything they have. Baby Boomers are independent about how they live their lives. They don’t want to depend on others for support, since that is how they were raised by the generation before them. Generation Y does not work hard to get what they want; they believe it should be handed to them. Baby Boomers also live with what they have, while Generation Y wants more. Baby Boomers work hard for what they do have and they are content with it. They realize if they want more in life they will have to work hard to get it. Generation Y does not feel the same way, since they feel like they are entitled to things and they always want more. As they want more though, they are not willing to work any harder to get it.

Another way Baby Boomers are different from Generation Y is how they act. Baby Boomers are more willing to do what they are told. They do not act outside of the law or societal norms. This may happen because of how they were punished. If a Baby Boomer did something wrong their punishment was normally some sort of beating (slapped on the bottom, hand, or mouth). This type of punishment taught them not to act out, since it only took once or twice of being slapped to realize it was not good to do that. Generation Y punishments consist of being sent to timeout. This type of punishment allows them to push the limits more and more, which does not allow them to learn from their mistakes. This causes them to be more rebellious. Since there is no real punishment they will act out more than the Baby Boomer. When protesting against something, Baby Boomers are more proactive. They will go stand on the street or march for what they believe in. Generation Y tends to use the media to protest, by updating statuses or using Twitter.

The Baby Boomers are more trusting than Generation Y. An example of this is meeting someone at a certain location at a certain time. When a Baby Boomer makes plans to be somewhere, they arrive on time, if not early. Persons of Generation Y tend to be late. This is mostly due to the extensive use of cell phones. Baby Boomers did not have cell phones when they were growing up, so when they said to meet somewhere at certain time, they had to be there. Nowadays when a person is running late, all they have to do is text or call someone to make last minute changes. This is making trust less important to Generation Y. Dating has also changed between the Baby Boomer generation and Generation Y. When Baby Boomers met someone it was in person. Now Generation can meet someone on the internet, through social media.

While the Baby Boomers and Generation Y are different in many ways, they are also similar.  It may not seem like Baby Boomers are tech-savvy, but they are learning how to use the new technology that is out today. Generation Y has an advantage of growing up with some of the new technology, but the Baby Boomers have taken the time to learn how to use it. Baby Boomers and Generation Y are also similar in saving money. They both understand the value of having money saved to help pay off debt, or to have money for the future. The Baby Boomers as well as Generation Y are also inventors and entrepreneurs. There are as many things being invented today as there were in the late 40’s and early 60’s. This is one thing that will always be the same between the generations.

While there are many differences between the Baby Boomers and Generation Y, there are also similarities as well. Some of the Baby Boomers are the parents of Generation Y children, so their own values and teachings will rub off on their children.  As times change though, so do the ways a person lives; this is why we have many differences and only a few similarities throughout the different generations. This continual change makes one think what the future generations will be like.

By: Randall Eckelman, Business Major-IUPUC.

Work Cited:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-finkelstein/are-millennials-from-merc_b_3598578.html

http://elitedaily.com/life/the-20-differences-between-the-baby-boomers-and-generation-y/

1 Comment

Discuss the importance of body language as an aspect of communication

October 2, 2013 at 9:11 pm (Conflict, Effective Communication)
Tags: , , ,

Discuss the importance of body language as an aspect of communication

Blowing a kiss, waving, winking, giving an OK sign, thumbs up or thumbs down, giving the peace sign, and staring- all ways of communicating. Words weren’t spoken, but actions were noticed. These channels of communication are called body language or nonverbal communication. Everybody uses body language. As soon as we are in contact with others, we are communicating.

Body language is used when words are inadequate. We don’t tell each other that easily how we feel about each other, or how the words of a message need to be interpreted. In order to make the meaning of the words more clearly we use body language.

Body language is used to express feelings. It can be very difficult to lie or cover up through body language. People can give away their true feelings by not being aware of their body language. For instance, if we don’t like someone, it may be difficult to say that directly to the person. Instead, we can make it clear either intentionally or unintentionally through body language.

Kinesics is the study of motion and how people use them to communicate.

Kinesics follows into five categories:

  • Emblems– directly translate words or phrases. Examples are an OK sign, hitchhiker’s sign, and a “come here” wave.
  • Illustrators– cues that accompany and literally “illustrate” or add meaning to verbal messages. Examples are pointing when talking, hands far apart when talking of something large, and circular hand movements when talking of a circle.
  • Affect displays- facial expressions communicating emotions and feelings. Examples are pouting, winking, and eyebrow movement.
  • Regulators– cues that monitor, maintain, or control the speaking primarily of another. Examples are head nods and body shifts.
  • Adaptors– behaviors that satisfy some need and help you adapt to a situation. Examples are scratching your head, restless movements, and personal nervous actions.

The most revealing feature on your face is your eyes. The eyes are the “mirrors of the soul”. Smiling can give insight into how someone is feeling. A smile can have multiple meanings.

Physical appearance plays a role in our evaluations of others. Physical characteristics get noticed by other people. People might express themselves in terms of body language, like staring at an attractive person. Body artifacts, such as clothing, body piercings, make-up, and tattoos also get noticed by other people.

Haptics, or touch communication, is the most primitive form of human communication.

Touch can send different messages:

  • Positive emotion
  • Playfulness
  • Control
  • Ritualistic- which is a handshake to say hello or goodbye
  • Task function- a dentist or hair stylist
  • Hybrid function- to greet a person or show affection
  • Accidental- done without apparent intent

The elements of your environment can affect how a person feels and acts which contributes to body language. These elements include: sounds, smells, colors, temperature, architecture, designs, lighting, and furnishings. An example is the dentist office. The environment in the dentist office affects my body language. The elements of sound, smell, and furnishings affect the way I act and feel. I have a terrified and anxious look on my face until I leave the dentist office. While I am in the dentist chair, I tightly grip the chair arms. The dental assistants know from my body language how I feel about going to the dentist.

Body language is extremely influential in everyday life. It influences how relationships are established, maintained, and dissolved. It influences marital satisfaction and stability. Body language can help in the diagnosis of health-related problems, such as autism and how babies show emotional distress.

Body language can also by very distracting. When a person is communicating with another, they may tend to focus more on your nonverbal displays than on what you are saying. This will likely have the meaning to be unclear or little meaning will be exchanged in the interaction. Remember to keep in mind the relationship between verbal and nonverbal messages, “actions speak louder than words”.

Jill McClure, IUPUC student

Source:  West, Richard and Turner H. Lynn. Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making choices in changing times. 2nd ed. Massachusetts: Wadsworth, 2006. Print.

 

Leave a Comment