Communication Stragies

I think that we all make adjustments when we communicate with people, when I am with family and close friends, I touch a lot and we laugh a lot, if I am with other’s I don’t use nearly as many nonverbal skills.  Body language is a part of who we are so that does not change much.  If I am with people who may not use very colorful language I try not to also.  I try to consider who I am talking to and how what I say will affect them and as we say in church, “guide yourselves accordingly”.

When I am with younger people, I may have to speak the language that they speak, it is like living in another culture (third culture) when talking to them.  Surprisingly to me they place labels on everything, their music, and the different types of people, the clothes that people wear, and even the places that they visit on the internet. In this case I have to adapt to the topic, ask for clarity, and sometimes for a description of what we are talking about. When I am with family and we have the whole range of ages, we make sure that everyone is following along with eye contact and questions, and touch.  We make sure that we are listening and paying attention to each other does not mean that we are talking one at a time. The last strategy that I try to make sure that I use with everyone is eye contact; it is important to me that people feel they are being heard and that what they say is important to me.  So I concentrate on what is being said to me and the body language that goes along with it.  

Can I read what you are saying?

Blog Week 2

            I chose to watch House of Lies, a show that comes on Showtime that I had been meaning to watch.  I watched the show with the sound off the first time, and observed the body language between the characters. Two characters walk up to each other and they look like they are friends but may have had a falling out and are trying to get pass the problem.  They walk into a building and are talking to each other walking close but no touching.  Two other people join them and they look as if they are teasing them, and Don Cheadle takes control and looks like they are called to a meeting. The group shares hand signal like their own type of jargon.  Later on they have what looks like a conference call that is not going well, lots of hand signals and facial expression (looks like they get each other.  So they have a form of emblems that works for their group. The spacing that they keep among each other is close, one that looks like they have been working together for a period of time.   Don Cheadle meets with a young man and they look like they are having a hard time connecting. He looks on the young man with pride and love, but with a look of I don’t know what to say to you or how to connect with you.  They seem to have found their way by the time the show is over.  The team looks like it has figured out what their problems are also, but the two characters that it started with still look like they have issues to work out. The two characters that it started with are Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell.

            The conversation that was going on what not what I thought was being said, there was talk of them having a problem and work mixed in with a personal relationship that may or may not have taken place.  The conversations were way more personal than I thought; the closeness of the group was a good read.  The acting is really good on the show the language is strong, but the show is well done.  There were some parts that I was unclear on with the sound off, but the body language and the facial clues were very helpful in following the show.

            I think that when you are a close team you can make even difficult things work out.  It is important to develop a sense of one to make a team work. It is also important to listen to each other.

Great communicator

I love to read and to me there is nothing like a great novel.  Brenda Jackson is my all-time favorite author.  Her stories are full of life, I can just see the places she describes and have to always remind myself that her characters are just that people from a book.  I always say I wish I could write like Brenda Jackson. When I need an escape from the real world but still want to believe it is real I pick up one of her books.