It's not easy.

Non-verbal communication: we make use of it everyday. To communicate from afar, to emphasize on a point we are trying to make, to show how we feel towards certain things. It even helps us make some deductions of a person's character and attitude.


The video shows a group of models on the runway for renowned brand Herve Leger.

Around 2:50/6:29 through the video, a model fell on the runway but rose immediately and continued the show. She was very professional in the sense that there wasn't much changes in her facial expression; she looked as confident, sharp and fearless as before. Her appearance tells a lot about the her professionalism. We can hence deduce that that particular model is rather professional and serious about her job.

When she fell, we can tell that the audiences were shocked by the exclamation they made through paralinguistics, or the "O!"s and deep gasps. (I believe you exclaimed too :) ). When the model rose and continued her show, audiences clapped. Here, it is obvious, they were very impressed by her professionalism and were very encouraging. Kinesics, or body language of the audiences is what tells us about how they felt towards the model's fall.

Designers and models use a lot of non-verbal cues in their work. Objects (their designs) are how designers express themselves or their feeling and views of what a certain theme should mean. Models, through kinesics and their physical appearances, enhances what the designers are trying to convey in their designs.

Non-verbal communication through various cues can be useful in professions like designing and modeling. However, it only works if receivers can understand and interpret the cues correctly and positively. This means that erroneous interpretation would make that particular cue a futile one. If the cues are irrelevant, they are equally useless.

Check out the following videos:

(Hmmm..think you guys should start watching from 8:20/10:02 for this one)




The competitors were supposed to design based on the theme "Olympics Opening for Team USA". The judges were pretty pleased with some of the designs as they get what those designs were trying to convey in them; they reflect the designers' view about what the theme is all about. Non-verbal communication (via design(the object) and modeling (physical appearance/kinesics) is considered successful in these cases.

However, the judges were pretty harsh upon commenting some of the designs as they really couldn't make out what the designs were all about. In these cases, irrelevant physical appearances and objects are failed cues and hence, non-verbal communication was ineffective.

Although we, the audiences, might think that some of the designs looked alright and we might have understood the meaning of them, the judges just did not see them as we did. This shows that though non-verbal cues can tell us a lot about someone/something, it depend on how a receiver interprets them.

Non-verbal cues can be subtle at times and hard to catch on. Misunderstandings can easily occur should a non-verbal cue be misinterpreted.

Spoken words really speaks

Words are part of most people's everyday life; both yours and mine. Most of us communicate with others orally rather than in written mode on most occasions as it is a fast and efficient way of passing our thoughts. This is verbal communication.

Verbal communication expresses ideas, opinions, emotions, feelings and relationship in spoken words. It can be the most direct way of expressing one's opinions and feelings at the exact moment, and can yet be the most implicit one at times. It all depend on how you phrase what you intend to say and the tone that you adopt. Obviously, different sentence construction and tone leaves you with different results.

• You can have the positive ones like this:

Kate Winslet was so happy to receive the Golden Globe this year for Best Actress. If she had went on and gasped for the remaining 4 minutes or so, would anyone ever know who she really wanted to thank? We'll only know she's really happy and ecstatic. Leonardo DiCaprio and Sam Mendes might not know how much she really wanted to thank them. Her grateful speech won her thunder of applause. Verbal communication is at work.

• You can have negative ones like this:

Serena Williams, currently seeded World No.2 for women's tennis, was disqualified from the U.S. open and fined for the tirade. We know she was frustrated over the match as she had lost a couple of pretty crucial points. She made it clearer by scolding the line judge in the face, with rather impolite sentences and harsh tone. It's clear. She's unhappy. Direct but undesired outcome.
She got to vent her anger & frustration accumulated from the match through the series of scoldings though. She was disqualified, yes, but she got to let it all out. Maybe there's a little comfort there? In this case, verbal communication can be a form of stress relief as well.

Warning! Negative effects may ensue though. Try it at your own risk.

• Or you can have the unclear ones like this:

Did Mr. Obama really mean it when he said that? Or was he joking? It's really hard to tell, isn't it? He was giving his opinion when called West 'jackass'. But I suppose he ought to clarify himself a little given the fact that he's a President.

• There are advantages and disadvantages of verbal communication. However, if you do not speak at all, you'll probably end up like this:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6663629

Guys, you have to watch this (could not get the embed code unfortunately). It's REALLY FUNNY and kind of warm. Dad, Steve Monforto, caught a hard to come by foul ball hit by Jayson Werth during the Phillies match, passed it to his adorable 3 year old daughter, Emily, and........she throws it back down! Dad embraces her in his arms later on.
There was no sign of verbal communication between them; just a little high five and Steve passed the baseball to Emily. If he could have just said a simple 'keep it' or 'let's take it home', little Emily might not have threw the exclusive souvenir back. It's all good fun and laughter in this case but it is still a pity.
(Happy fact: each of the family members received personalised Phillies jerseys and Steve received a ball signed and presented by Jayson Werth later on.)

What if it was a situation like when you are hopelessly in love with someone but you just can't pluck up the courage or refuse to lose some 'face' and continue keeping mum about it? Or maybe when you choose to text him/her about how you feel towards him/her but there was some technical problem with the service resulting in the message not reaching the other party? He/She will never know how you feel. You might lose a love and a possible life partner.

YES. I know some of you might be thinking: 'such coincidence will only happen in TV dramas'. Well, you never know!


So you see, verbal communication is extremely important in passing on messages. However, one must also be aware of the words/language/sentence/tone of what one uses as he/she speaks. This is because the wrong usage of these might rouse misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the receiver. Moreover, like one of my classmates, Jeremy, suggested in his blog, good command of the particular language that one is conversing in is also essential in aiding his/her construction of a conversation and interpreting that of others', thereby reducing possible misunderstandings, confusions or conflicts.

In verbal communication, words and language are the supporting pillars; choosing them wisely will, doubtlessly, reduce the chances of unpleasant situations from arising. Don't you think?

Nothing beats Face-to-Face Communication

Pop quiz: What's the hottest networking medium in town?

If your answer is Windows Live Messenger, you are wrong. If it's Facebook, you are also wrong. Twitter? You are close, but still, nope.

Nothing beats face-to-face communication. It is ever the most-used form of communication across the globe; it's part of most people's everyday life.

When you go to school, you talk to your friends in class in the face; you are unlikely to call the person sitting beside you with your cell phone. It is totally silly and not to mention it's a really dimwitted way to spend on bills.
When you are ordering your lunch at McDonald's, I don't suppose you'd go to the counter and chat with the cashier through W.L. Messenger telling him you want a Filet-o-fish meal. It doesn't make sense to do that, isn't it?
We do not attend job interviews by means of Facebook; it's basic respect for our employers, the job and also ourselves to be interviewed in person.
We certainly do not tweet about how bad our flu is and expect our doctors to attend to us, via Twitter; we'd go to the clinic under normal circumstances.

Yes, Messenger, Facebook & Twitter are really very popular nowadays and there is no denial that these networking services have indeed brought about plenty of convenience for most people. However, messages passed around by these means may not be as clear and precise as those in F-F communication. In a F-F communication, one get to see the other party's facial expression & body language, thereby getting a more vivid idea of what he/she is trying to say.

Most importantly, F-F communication is able to creat a real connection between the interacting parties. This brings friends and family members closer together which is really essential to maintain relationship. I believe most people would rather meet up for drinks or party with friends/coworkers after school/work than drinking/dancing alone and laughing to the computer.

Isn't real, genuine friendship and family ties what most people yearn? If so, nothing, nothing beats face-to-face communication in achieving that.