Chapter Two - Sending Verbal and Nonverbal Messages

1. Chapter Two -Sending Verbal and Nonverbal Messages • Public Speaking - Unit Two

10. Messages ideas and feelings that people send or receive when they communicate

11. Verbal Language a system of spoken and written words

12. Nonverbal Language communication without words

13. Cues signals of nonverbal communication including body language, appearance, and the sound of the voice

14. 4 Functions of Nonverbal Language • To complement verbal messages • To emphasize verbal messages • To replace verbal messages • To contradict verbal messages

15. Characteristics of Language: • Language is a System. • System - a group of elements that work together • Language system consists of 3 subsystems: sounds, words, and the way they are arranged. • All 3 must be blended together to make a language.

16. Characteristics of Language: • Language is Symbolic. • Symbol - something that stands for something else • Words are symbols for ideas, actions, objects, and feelings.

17. Characteristics of Language: • Language is Conventional. • Conventional - accepted by a large number of people

18. Characteristics of Language: • Language is Learned. • Children learn symbolic meanings first. • After children learn a rule, they generalize that rule, applying it to all cases even if it doesn’t apply. • Children understand more symbols than they use.

19. Characteristics of Language: • Language Changes • English language is constantly changing

20. Understanding Shades of Meaning… Denotation - the dictionary meaning 0f a word

21. Understanding Shades of Meaning… Connotation - the hidden meaning of a word including the powerful feelings and associations that the word arouses • The feelings that you have about a word may depend on the experiences you have had. • positive, negative, or neutral

22. Adapting Language to Specific Situations… Standard American English – language that follows the rules and guidelines found in grammar and composition books • Because SAE is widely used and accepted, it allows people from many different regions and cultures to communicate clearly with one another.

23. Adapting Language to Specific Situations… Jargon, Slang, and Dialect are all a sublanguage. • Sublanguage - a subsystem of an established language • Jargon - the specialized vocabulary that is understood by people in a particular group or field. • Slang - recently coined words or old words used in new ways. • Dialect - a regional or cultural variety of language differing from standard American English in pronunciation, grammar, or word choice

24. Adapting Language to Specific Situations… Sharing Language with Your Audience • The less well you know people, the more important your words become in establishing shared meaning and understanding.

25. How to Use Language to Present the Best Possible You: • Use words carefully. • Understand the connotations of words. • Use language that is appropriate to the communication setting. • Improve your language.

26. Understanding Nonverbal Language… Nonverbal language uses all the elements of communication except words. • A person conveys messages through cues (body language, appearance, vocal sounds). • Others interpret these signals as indicating particular meaning. • Perception Check - a verbal response stating one person’s understanding of someone else’s nonverbal behavior

27. Analyzing Body Language… Facial expressions • Have a variety of meanings • Can help to show a person’s feelings, either as a substitute for or as a reinforcement of a verbal message • Can emphasize or contradict verbal language • Masking—adopting facial expressions normally associated with one feeling to disguise other, true feelings

28. Analyzing Body Language… Eye Contact • Can indicate honesty, sincerity • Can demonstrate the intensity of interest that the speaker or listener feels about the communication between them

29. Analyzing Body Language… Gestures • Can replace words in certain messages • Can emphasize meaning of verbal language • Can add to meaning when a speaker gives descriptions

30. Analyzing Body Language… Posture • Can convey attitude, such as confidence and poise or dejection and weariness

31. Analyzing Body Language… Movement • Can enhance the impression you want to make or the message you intend to convey

32. Evaluating the Message Your Appearance Sends • Appearance can be interpreted by others as a clue to your interests. • Appearance can be interpreted as expressing a person’s attitude toward another person, especially when a specific kind of attire is expected. • Appearance can be interpreted as a sign of a person’s self-regard.

33. Analyzing Paralanguage… Paralanguage - a type of nonverbal communication that involves using voice variation and extraneous words and sounds to communicate

34. 3 Types of Paralanguage: • Sound of speaker’s voice • Pitch, volume, rate, quality or tone • Speaker’s use of pauses • Indicate uncertainty, create suspense, emphasis • Speaker’s use of extraneous sounds • Vocalized pauses (“uh,”“well uh,”“um,”“you know”) that contribute no information to verbal message

35. Identifying How Environment Affects Communication… Environment includes all features of the immediate surroundings

36. Identifying How Environment Affects Communication… Color People often respond to the subtle effects of color in their surroundings

37. Identifying How Environment Affects Communication… Lighting can affect an audience’s behavior and mood in various ways

38. Identifying How Environment Affects Communication… Sound compliments other forms of nonverbal communication

39. Identifying How Environment Affects Communication… Space – the space around you may include large, permanent elements, smaller structures, movable elements, and the personal spaces that people regard as their territory • Intimate Space – up to eighteen inches • Personal Space – eighteen inches to four feet • Social Space - from four to twelve feet • Public Space – beyond 12 feet between you and others

40. HOW TO USE NONVERBAL EFFECTIVELY1. Use body language that supplements what you want to say.2. Make sure your appearance is in keeping with what you want to accomplish.3. Make sure that the sound of your voice is in keeping with your message.4. If possible, create an environment that is suitable for the kind of communication you want.

41. SUMMARY • Sending verbal and nonverbal messages involves both verbal and nonverbal language. • Your language choices reveal a great deal about you. • 1. Understand verbal language. • 2. Understand shades of meaning. • 3. Understand nonverbal language.