Communication Individual and Group Skills

Communication

Individual and Group Skills

Nonverbal communication involves those nonverbal things that are in a communication setting that are generated by both the source- the speaker and his or her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver -the listener. Basically it consists of sending and receiving messages in a variety of ways without the use of verbal words. It can be both intentional and unintentional (Non-Verbal Communication Modes n.d).

Two aspects that are included in nonverbal communication are eye contact and posture. In the U.S.A., eye contact indicates: a degree of attention or interest, influences attitude change or persuasion, regulates interaction, communicates emotion, defines power and status, and has a central role in managing impressions of others.

Western cultures see direct eye-to-eye contact as a positive thing; while within the U.S. African-Americans often use more eye contact when talking and less when listening with reverse true for Anglo Americans. This is often thought of as a possible cause for some sense of unease between races in U.S.

Arabic cultures make prolonged eye-contact because they believe it shows interest and helps them understand truthfulness of the other person.

Japan, Africa, Latin American, and Caribbean cultures avoid eye contact to show respect (Non-Verbal Communication Modes n.d).

When talking about posture or how a person holds themselves it is important to consider the following things while taking into account cultural differences. Bowing while not done and even criticized in the U.S., shows rank in Japan. Slouching is considered rude in most Northern European countries. Placing ones hands in their pockets is seen as disrespectful in Turkey. Sitting with ones legs crossed is considered offensive in Ghana and Turkey while showing the soles of ones feet is offensive in Thailand and Saudi Arabia (Non-Verbal Communication Modes n.d).

Task 2

Humans have evolved to fear anything that's different from them. Without this fear, there would be no instinct to run, hide, guard or fight. Unfortunately, this evolution went awry somewhere along the way. Not only do most humans have an innate aversion or fear of wild animals, but also of their own species. This is why, say evolutionary biologists, racism is so prevalent. The inborn drive to stick with those who look just like you take over, and the primitive response of distancing one's self from that which looks different, often overrides reasoning and logic (Horton 2008).

A lot of the social analysis that focuses on the injustices and inequalities in U.S. has been influenced by the theory of Karl Marx and the Marxist tradition. Vital to Marxism is the understanding that capitalism is an economic system with two major classes. The capitalist class is known to own and control the means of production, capital, and is always trying to increase its profits. The working class, which is the biggest part of the population, sells their labor power, their capacity to work, in return for a wage. Racism in the United States is often seen as the methodical oppression of African-Americans and other people of color and the related ideology of white supremacy and black inferiority. These two aspects of racism have influenced the U.S. society from the early 1600's until the present (Bohmer 1998). It all comes down to everyone being different and people being unable to accept these differences.

I have often found myself when choosing people to date letting the fact of whether these people had any college education or not influence my decision on who to go out with and who not to. After evaluating that way of thinking, I have come to the realization that this is just silly and that this factor should not be something that I take into the equation when deciding who to go out with.

Task 3

Effective communication occurs mainly at an unconscious level and this is why the most effective communicators of all time often paid as much attention to how they were delivering their message as they did to the exact words that they were using. There are a number of strategies that a person can do in order to ensure that their communication is effective. These include:

1. Taking responsibility for the success of their communication. If the audience is not getting it, it is because you're not giving it in a way they can understand.

2. it's not about you. In order to communicate effectively, a person must learn to see the world for the other person's perspective.

3. If what a person is doing isn't working then they need to do something different.

4. Every action must have a positive intention.