w4 nc

Week 3 Discussion 1: Initial post due Wednesday 

Students are to observe two or more adults unknown to the observer. The student must not be able to hear the subjects being observed and those being observed must not be wearing a uniform of any kind as this would provide information about their occupation to the observer. Students must describe the environment and the people being observed, i.e., age, gender, dress, etc. Discuss the nonverbal communication, i.e. eye contact, body position and any other nonverbal behavior. Provide your interpretation of the relationship between those being observed. Be very discrete and do not have a conversation with those being observed. 

     Requirements (please read)

 For each discussion, you are required to write an initial post (300 words)

Reply to classmate. 

Secondary post (200 words)

 According to Thompson, Ebner, & Giddings (2017), any communication involves both verbal and nonverbal elements. During a conversation, people often focus on the verbal cues and neglect the non-verbal elements (Feldman & Rime as cited in Thompson et al., 2017). In my opinion, any message can be conveyed through the use of facial expressions, body language, and gestures. Other elements that have an influence on the direction of the conversation are gender, age, dressing style, and so on. 

A very amusing and interesting incident, I had come across recently, which I can exactly relate to the subject matter of this week’s discussion. I was looking for a dinner table set for my home, and while deciding between the many models on display, I noticed a rather not very pleased customer in her mid 40’s, who kept stroking her chin every few minutes, finally decided to walk away from the shop. I also noticed another customer, who was observing the lady, approached her and opened a conversation. Now the lady’s posture has dramatically taken a U-turn and listening to another customer with her head tilted to one side. Though I could not exactly listen to the conversation between the lady and the other customer, I could see the lady had decided on her product and proceeded to the billing counter. Then I turned to the other customer who could help the lady decide on her purchase, to my pleasant surprise, he proved to belong to the management, and that made me understand the whole situation. All the while, I was wondering, why he was more eager to sell the product than the salesman present at the counter. The employee who had been acting as another customer perfectly closed the deal; however, he used his tactics in a slightly different way. 

The above incident reminds me, how the employee had estimated the lady’s purchasing power, used his verbal and nonverbal cues, his position, and his interests in negotiating with the lady.