Question

First, read the piece as naturally as possible, attempting to make eye contact with yourself in the mirror or looking into the video camera as often as possible.

Now, read the piece slouching in a chair while crossing your arms.

Next, read the piece while you stand perfectly straight with your arms behind your back and avoid any hand gestures.

Finally, read the piece with a big smile on your face.

When you have completed all of these readings, it will be time for you to reflect on your use of nonverbal communication during each of your readings. What facial expressions did you use? Did you use hand gestures or other physical actions? What felt natural and comfortable? What felt forced and uncomfortable? What can you learn from what you observed about your own nonverbal communication?

Answer 1

When I was reading as naturally as possible, and attempting to make eye contact with myself in the mirror, I felt that I used a lot of hand gestures along with the change in the frequency of my voice tone. for example - my voice tone becomes soft when I was using words that reflect understanding emotions and affection. I was very expressive with my facial expression also. I was interested in more reading.

When I was reading slouching in a chair while crossing my arms then I was kind of bored and restricted and also didn't showed much of the facial expressions. I guess this is because of my restricted hand gestures that had an impact on other non-verbal communication signals.

When I was reading while standing perfectly straight with my arms behind the back then I felt that I was uncomfortable and non-expressive with my facial expression. It was mostly of a single tone of voice with an alert posture.

Finally, I read the piece with a big smile on my face then I come out with many more expressions. Happiness boosts my confidence level but in that energy, I was using many hand gestures which were unnecessary and also I was too repetitive with my emotions and words.

In different situations, I came up with different mixture of non-verbal signals. When I was more comfortable and interested then I used the correct non-verbals but when I was forced and restrictive then it also reflected in my voice tone, body posture, and facial expressions. Non-verbal gestures are an important aspect in one's life where people can have an idea about a person's mood.