For this discussion, you are going to observe a conversation between two people and comment on both their verbal and nonverbal behaviors during the interaction.
First listen to either a conversation you observed outside of your home, such as at school, a grocery store, an elevator or on a bus. Do not make it obvious you are listening to their conversation, just casually observe. While you are observing, try to answer the following questions and report back about the conversation in your original post.
- What do you think the relationship between the two people was?
- What do you think they were discussing?
- What nonverbal actions occurred in the interaction?
- What paralanguage did you pick up on and how did it influence the conversation?
Keep in mind these responses will all be conjecture because you will not know what the true answers are. The point is to see what information you can obtain by simply watching people converse.
Answer preview
The paralanguage that I picked up from their conversation was that the man spoke too loudly, which is an indication of aggressive communication. It seemed quite insensitive to me since it made the woman feel as though she was under attack. The woman would respond in a high pitch voice, which depicted the intensity of her emotions. They were both speaking at a high rate, which was an indication of being upset and angry. It negatively influenced the conversation because they did not reach and understanding since the man took off despite the efforts made by the man. It created an atmosphere of general feelings of tension as they did not have open, honest communication.
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