Bcom 275 - Demonstrative Communication Paper

Week 2 Assignment: Demonstrative Communication Paper

Karin Krause

BCOM/275

January 17, 2013

Richard Orono

Demonstrative Communication

Communication could best be explained as the passing of information, ideas or messages between senders and receivers. While seemingly a straight-forward process on paper, the skill to communicating effectively is complicated due to multiple messages which are conveyed in methods other than the spoken word. The reality of communication is people convey messages with everything from eye contact and body movement to facial expressions and vocal tone when communicating. In fact, according to Mehrabian (1981), over 90 percent of communication is passed through nonverbal methods. Thus, making the talent to correctly read and interpret non-verbal communication crucial to both the sender and receiver since this skill can literally be the difference between success and failure of communication.

With multiple communication levels, normally occurring simultaneously and almost instantaneously, the sender and receiver both must pay close attention not only what is said, but also how it is said and other non-verbal cues to ensure a clear understanding of the messages that are meant to be conveyed. Besides focused attention on eye contact, body movement and vocal tone, other forms of nonverbal communication include facial expression, gestures, touch and space (“Nonverbal,” 2012). A lack of attention or misinterpretation of any of these non-verbal cues could cause a communication breakdown due to ineffective or negative message delivery or receiving, either intentional or unintentional.

For example, let’s look at how unintentional body movement and gestures can demonstrate how communication efforts can be negative for both receiver and sender. Several newspaper coworkers arrive to work at the same time. As they are walking toward the office, one person, an assistant editor, begins casually discussing an issue with meeting deadlines for the monthly publication. During the conversation, she noticed one of the journalist crossing her arms, giving brief responses, and starting to walk faster. Initially, the nonverbal exchange could be interpreted negatively with the assistant editor growing irritated and feeling not heard due to interpreting the journalist’s actions as avoidance techniques. The reality of the situation was actually quite different. The journalist was so distracted by the fact she was cold that she neglected to truly attend the conversation. However, due to communication failure on the journalist’s part, that she was physically uncomfortable, the journalist will now need to explain the unintentional rude behavior and let the assistant editor know there was no