Non-verbal Communication (3rd Entry)

Finally, I get to blog about one of my favourite topics:

Non-verbal communication.

Why do I think non-verbal communication is such an interesting topic?

I think it's one of those things that are so crucial to our everyday lives but at the same time it's one of those things which we so use so frequently everyday that we begin to take it for granted. Most of us fail to see how essential this form of communication is to our everyday lives. Mostly of the time, we are probably unaware of the instances where we decide to communicate non-verbally.


Take the Baby Blues cartoon strip from this Saturday's Life section as an example.
The slamming of the door, kicking his shoes off (and creating a big ruckus in the process) and burping, were all Hammie's ways of communicating (non-verbally) with everyone else in the house to let them know that he had come home. Non-verbal ques such as Hammie's burp are examples of paralinguistics while body language such as the slamming of doors are examples of kinesics. These are all very simple actions, ones that we too probabably use everyday, and yet it serves to convey the desired message to the receiver, who then attaches a meaning to these non-verbal cues.

I think that the most amazing thing about non-verbal cues is how sometimes, the right ques are able to effectively convey not only messages, but strong emotions as well.


(i know this short film is almost 6mins long but DO watch it if you have the time I ASSURE you that you will not regret it!)

"Signs", one of the 2009 Cannes Lions winners, is a very simple and short film about communication. It is a silent film, so it essentially has to rely on mostly non-verbal actions and cues to connect with the audience. The director Patrick Hughes does a brilliant job in capturing emotions on film, making this simple short film so powerful. He makes use of almost all the types of non-verbal communication we covered in class last week. He makes use of kinesics, oculesics, paralinguistics, proxemics as well as physical appearances. We feel his loneliness at the beginning of the film, we feel his growing excitement as he begins to communicate more with the girl in the next building and when they begin the establish a connection, we feel his disappointment and sadness when he thinks he's lost her, and we feel his relief when he realises that that he has not lost her after all. At the end of the film, I think everyone goes "AWW..." and walks away feeling like the world is a better place with love in it. now THAT'S what you call effective communication.



"orange adultery"
(HAHAHA this one is one of my personal favorites)

The image above shows a series of photos which, when put together, tell a story.
(it might take you guys some time to make sense of the pics but I HOPE YOU EVENTUALLY DO HAHA)
I think this is a very good example (as well as a creative and non-conventional one) of non-verbal communication.
The inanimate objects (the fruits) take on specific roles as people. And the photographer gives them faces. It is through the time sequence that the series of photographs creates (chronemics) as well as the use of facial expressions and the use of space and distance (proxemics) that create a story out of the six pictures.


p.s. Feel free to share your views on the short film/comic strip/photo collage.
Do you think non-verbal communication is important in today's context?

Verbal Communication (2nd Entry)

(Article taken from the The Straits Times on Saturday, 19 Sept 2009)


The above article "Language won't be barrier at YOG" talks about how technological advancement is going to play a major role in breaking down language barriers in next year's Youth Olympic Games. Singtel has given us a glimpse of a unique multimedia service which is going to help althletes who speak different languages to communicate with each other. Aside from that, SingTel also plans to have a one-stop online portal where content from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, Flickr and YouTube will be intergrated.

In COM 101 class this week, we took a look at verbal communication and the importance of verbal communication in today's context. Language is an essential part of verbal communication as it is a vessel for meaning and a primary tool for direct communication. Verbal communication allows us an avenue to convey our ideas, opinions, emotions and feelings.

However, we live in a world which promotes a huge array of languages. While speaking our own native languages in our own countries will not hamper our interaction with the people around us, it obviously acts as a huge barrier when communicating with people who do not speak the same language.

Competitions such as the YOG act as an international platform for young athletes all over the world to come together because of their love and passion for sports. It would be a real shame if these people, who had so much in common, were unable to communicate with each other and share their own personal experience because of the language barrier.

This particular article caught my attention because it serves to remind us how the advancement in technology has truly gone a long way in expanding our horizons and opening new doors and worlds to us. In the past, our knowledge of cultures and societies outside our own were very limited. Now, with the growth of technology and new media, we have everything at the tip of our fingers. The language barrier no longer poses a major obstacle for communicating with people who live on the opposite ends of the world.

HI EVERYONE (:

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my communications blog for the rest of the sem.
PLEASE feel free to comment/rebutt any topic/issues raised here.
Your constructive criticism will be very much appreciated!


Love,
Alicia

Are our expectations of our beauty queens too high or are our standards really slipping? (1ST ENTRY)

http://blogtv.channelnewsasia.com/missed/id_MDC090911-0000020.aspx
This is a link to a blog tv episode where the issue of whether singaporeans expect too much out of their beauty queens
(I would post the video here but there seems to be something wrong with the embedding code)



I think most of us would have heard about the so-called "controversy" surrounding this year's Miss Singapore World winner Ris Low. She has been slammed constantly and mocked mercilessly by the local media for her poor command of English. I think the reason for the harsh criticism she has been receiving from the general public is due to the fact that the general public is very particular about hte kind of image Singapore projects of itself as a nation. And these people are also very aware of the fact that the winner of the pageant, who will go on to compete in the Miss World competition, will be representing us as a nation on an international level.

Despite the treatment that she has been receiving from the general public and the local media, a significant number of people have stepped forward to defend Ris as well. They were quick to highlight the fact that she joined a beauty pageant, and that she did not deserve to be scrutinized by the public at this level.

While that may be true, the fact still remains that she will be representing Singapore at an international level. It is especially important for a nation like ours to be very selective in the candidate we choose to enter into competitions such as these. There are a very large number of people all over the world who generally unaware of the fact that Singapore exists. And to add insult to injury there are some who still carry the misconception that Singapore is part of China.

This makes it even more crucial for us to make sure that whoever we send out to represent us is someone that represents us as a whole. It is true that yes, she did enter a beauty competition, and therefore, she should only be judged based on her looks. However, in this case, looks, poise, speech and personality all come into play as well. Personally, I do not think that Singaporeans are being overly critical of this year's winner. If you look at this whole situation objectively, the whole reason that beauty pageants have the segment where the contestants have to answer impromtu questions is to ensure that the winner is not only beautiful, but relatively intelligent as well.

So what does all of this have to do with what we have been doing in COM 101 class over the past week? And what does this have to do with the Blog Tv link that I provided at the beginning of my entry?

Perceptions.

In the Blog Tv video, we get to see the perspectives of three different people addressing the same issue. All of them come from different backgrounds, and have been through different experiences, which has ultimately shaped their perception of what a beauty queen should be and what qualities and traits she should possess.

I do feel sorry for the poor girl who is getting trashed by the media now. But as we all know by now, the media is undoubtedly a double-edged sword. While it has proven to be a very useful tool to most of us, we are all very aware of the fact that the media can be vicious and ruthless towards specefic individuals when the opportunity arises.