Other Communication Styles

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today we're going to talk about a couple of different non-verbal communication styles.

First off, let's talk about physiognomics, and that is communicating through facial expressions, non-verbal communication by using our expressions on our face. So for example, if we smile, that means that we might be happy and satisfied, or if we raise our eyebrows, maybe we are confused or displeased with something that went on.

We also can use haptics, and that is non-verbal communication through touch. So we may pet an animal to show it comfort as in this picture, or put our hand on somebody's shoulder when we are trying to sympathize with them, or give them a hug to show that we are happy and to greet them when they come over to our house, for example.

Another form of communication non-verbal is through kinesics, and that's through body movement and gestures. So we may give a thumbs up if we are OK with something or it's good, or we may position our body in a way in which we are facing a speaker that we're talking to in a conversation.

Looking at these other non-verbal communication styles across cultures, it's important to know that, first of all, it's impossible not to communicate. This is because, rather, all non-verbal communications or symbols has a meaning in somebody's culture. It might not mean anything in our culture, but somewhere along the line, that form of non-verbal symbol means something to somebody, and it means that we are communicating to that person as it pertains to their particular culture.

So for example, I'm having a conversation with somebody and I start to dwindle my thumbs around, and I'm really not trying to send off anything, it's just something that I do, and I'm really listening to this person. But from their culture, that means that you're really bored and they want-- and you want that person to stop talking or to move on to another subject.

And their response to that is really emotional and instantaneous because they're not familiar with my culture and that symbol, and realizing that that gesture that I'm making, it doesn't really mean anything, but to them, it does. And so we send these unintended communication signals and it's interpreted incorrectly.

And that's because we view these non-verbal communication styles from our own culture unless we have specific training or cultural immersion. So it's normal to have those emotional and instantaneous feelings from non-verbal cues because we are viewing these from our own cultural perspective.

Let's look at our key points on other communication styles. We talked about physiognomics, so using facial expressions; haptics, using touch; and kinesics, using body movement and gesture as all forms of non-verbal communication. And we view our non-verbal communication from our own cultural perspective. And unless we have other training, we may interpret other people's non-verbal communication in an incorrect way.

And that's because it's impossible not to communicate. No matter-- if we think that we are communicating non-verbally or not, somewhere along the line, somebody's culture uses that non-verbal symbol as a way to communicate.

Here are your key terms before we go, feel free to pause and look at them a little bit closer. Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this, I hope that you've learned something, and I can't wait to catch you again next time.