Week 9

This week we talked a lot about communications and how families solve problems. It was interesting to me to discuss this and think about how my family solved problems growing up. Some things that we discussed about communication is:
It occurs ALL the time. We cannot not communicate. We communicate through our facial expressions, our body gestures, our words, our tone, etc. It requires an exchange of shared meanings. It's not enough to just exchange verbal sounds or written symbols. Communication occurs through three channels- words, tone, non-verbal. Only 14% of our communication is through words, 35% through tone, and 51% through non-verbal. Isn't that crazy? 51% through non-verbal! In other words, make sure you are not saying one thing with words but saying something else non-verbally. Think about a conversation you've had recently with someone. How much of that conversation did you get through facial expressions, body language, or tone? When I think about it, I realize that I get most of the conversation from feedback and body language. If a person isn't really responding or paying attention why would I want to sit basically have a conversation with myself? I wouldn't. Since having this discussion I've been trying to really pay attention to what I'm saying non-verbally when I'm talking with someone. Hopefully I've improved.