Words: 606
?Nonverbal Observation Activity ____________________________________________________________ _________ Prof. Michelle Coleman COM 111 – Interpersonal Communication Objective: In this nonverbal communication observation activity, you will become a “people watcher. ” You will watch two different people in two different situations. It is helpful for this activity if (1) you do not know the people you are observing, (2) if they do not know you are observing them, and finally, (3) you are not interacting with the people you are observing.
Disclaimer: Some of you may be uncomfortable observing people without them being aware of it, with that in mind, consider this: First, this is a very basic assignment, conducted in Interpersonal Communication classes across the country. Second, it is important sometimes just to step back and observe others. Finally, to watch how others communicate, engage, share, interact, etc. is important; it can give us pause about our own nonverbal communication behaviors, where our own strengths and weaknesses lie, and what we need to do to improve.
Nonverbal Communication makes up 75 – 95% of our total communication and we need to learn what it entails. Requirements: You will write a minimum of 2 pages (see the syllabus for font type, font size, and spacing requirements) discussing what you learned about nonverbal communication from each person and the assignment overall. You must use terms and concepts from your textbook and one outside source in your analysis. Encyclopedias, Wikipedia’s, and Dictionaries are not acceptable sources. You are expected to have MLA citations throughout your paper as you discuss specific terms and concepts.
This means the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis each time you discuss information from that source in your paper. Organizing the Paper: An introduction, which includes a thesis statement, summarizing what will be discussed in the paper in an opening paragraph The body, of the paper, covering the information explained below The conclusion, which summarizes the paper and what you have learned from Interpersonal Communication A bibliography, which is in addition to the minimum page requirements What To Do:
Do not just explain what nonverbal communication you observed, but you need to interpret what you saw, draw your own conclusions, and explain how you felt about what you interpreted from each person. Details are essential for this activity – you must fully explain yourself. Do not assume that your instructor knows what you mean simply because you state, “Joan had interesting facial expressions. ” Rather you must describe the facial expressions in detail, interpret them, use terms from your textbook, and explain how the concepts were used to communicate in each situation.
You must try to observe as much nonverbal communication as you can for each person; therefore, it is imperative that you read the chapter on nonverbal communication in your textbook prior to this section. When you are observing, begin by looking at the common forms of nonverbal communication (facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, etc. ) and then push your yourself to look beyond the common to the more complex forms of nonverbal communication (clothing, body language, proximity, territory, touch, paralanguage, time, environment, etc. ).
For this activity, you have to look beyond the basics of nonverbal communication. Grading the Paper: This paper is worth 50 points. In order to receive full credit for the paper you need to have the following: Correct use and application of the terms and concepts you are using Citations from your sources within your paper, used correctly in MLA format Specific examples that show your instructor that you understand the concepts Correct grammar and spelling, proper font sizing and spacing, and have reached the minimum page requirements A bibliography completed correctly, using MLA format