This is going to be a very interesting topic for me as I will be discussing concepts related to my favorite television program.Any 'Miley Jab Hum Tum'(When we Met) fans out here?This serial is aired on the channel Star One and has been gaining popularity among the youngsters in India.The show revolves around the six main characters who try to fit in the college crowd.It is a journey of their insecurities,worries,achievements etc with love being the central theme of the plot.For those who don't follow the show, it doesn't matter as the concepts have nothing to do with the the story but a short video clip from an episode which was aired on 29th January 2009. The above picture shows the star cast of show.The name of the characters from left to right are Dodo,Nupur,Mayank,Gunjan,Samrat and Dia.
The watermark appears due to some technical problem.Sorry for the inconvenience caused.If you want to have a better view then click on the following link.
Non verbal cues allow us to refine or expand on verbal meanings(Thinking Through Communication- Sarah Trenholm). They are broadly categorised into eight types.So lets begin spotting the cues in the clip.
KINESICS(Study of Body Movement and Gestures).In the beginning of the clip when CJ(the girl in white top and brown pants) talks to Mayank(in the check shirt), she makes a lot use of her hands and facial expressions..These are known as Regulators which allows one to maintain,request or deny others to talk.Then in between when the girl in a blue dress is caught lying by Gunjan(in the pink salwar),you can see some guilt, anxiety and excitement on her face as well on Samrat's( in black and green shirt) face.This falls under Affect Displays which convey emotional states.Next comes PARALINGUISTIC(Study of Vocal Behavior).In the staff room when Mayank and Nupur(in the purple salwar) are in an argument, the professor interrupts them by shouting 'Enough'.This is known as Vocal qualities(changes in pitch,tone etc) in which we make judgements like the professor is angry or irritated.Again when the girl in blue lies to Gunjan,there is a sudden silence and Gunjan walks away.The interpretation is that she doesn't want to continue with the conversation.Silence is also a part of Paralinguistic which is often overlooked.
The third one is HAPTICS( study of touch).In one scene Samrats puts his hands over Benji(in the purple shirt with white stripes) while talking about Gunjan . Dodo(in the white shirt) also does the same in the canteen.This shows the affection and intimacy between them as friends.Then comes PROXEMICS(Study of space).During the clip you must have seen some people standing or sitting close to one another and some moving away when a person comes close to them.This is called Personal space which shows how close we prefer to be with others.
Now comes the most interesting one,PHYSICAL APPEARANCE(judging people based on their dress, hairstyle,body type etc).From the clip we can easily make out that characters like Gunjan and Nupur like wearing traditional clothes while the others are more fashionable and trendy.Each character in the show has a different dressing style to portray their personality.For example while Gunjan is simple, Dia(in a black dress) is flamboyant. Next is OCULESICS(Study of eye contact/behaviour).In most of the scenes you must have noticed people having eye contact with one another which indicates that they are more friendlier and sincere than those whose who avoid direct gaze.Eye contact is very important in communicating messages and maintain consistency.
CHRONEMICS studies the study of time.In the scene where the professor breaks the news to Nupur and Mayank about going to the competition together, they react by standing up but finally agree.They fall under the people who hold a Future work motivation orientation where they recognize the importance of meeting obligations no matter how difficult or uninteresting it is.Finally comes the studying the OBJECT LANGUAGE.The very fact that you can make out that it is staffroom or canteen is due to the position of chairs and their shape and size.In the staff room you must have noticed Nupur and Mayank sitting across each other.Now you must be wondering how does this come under objects.Well human structure is also important in communication.According to this cue ,the people who sit across each other means that they have a sense of competition between them.
It was interesting for me to spot the cues as I had never noticed them before.So even though there is a lot verbal communication taking place, without non verbal cues it becomes very difficult to put the message across..I intentionally did not put the subtitles because I wanted to know whether people who don't understand the language get the message or not.There can be misinterpretations according to the receiver's mental set.So put yourself in a similar position. Would you be able to understand a clip without subtitles if you didn't understand the language?So now comes the tricky question, which is more EFFECTIVE, verbal or non verbal communication?I think both complement each other and are inter dependent.Do let me know your views.
We all have heard the age old saying'Action speaks louder than words'...this blog just emphasises on this fact.
ReplyDeleteVerbal communications are incomplete without the facial expressions. For eg, u might be outraged at sumone's behaviour bout its very important 2 express yourself in the right manner. Its best to let people around you know about your feelings at that instant of time rather than leave anything 2 chance..be it happiness or anger..right??
People from all over the world are expressive.When someone talks he/she automatically has some body movements out of excitement,nervousness,etc.I personally feel making body gestures adds to the effect on your listeners! and talking of the scenes from the serial...i think the actors over-did them!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anupam and Ashirwad for your insightful comments.
ReplyDeleteFrom the comments it seems that both of you emphasize more on non verbal cues and gestures than verbal communication.I agree that we should be expressive in order to be effective in our communication but as I have said before both should complement each other.For example if a person says 'I am happy' and has a sad face, it will lead to miscomunication.
And ashirwad why do you think that the actors overdid it?I think they act quite well and portray their personality in an apprpriate manner.I think I am a bit bias over here.Nevermind.
It is common that we use non verbal elements of communication in addition to verbal communication as these may add emphasis or shades of meaning to what people say. We may reveal all kinds of things about ourselves that have nothing at all to do with the words we are uttering by manipulating the nonverbal elements of our message.It may be expressed consciously /unconsciously and it includes the pitch,volume and intonation of speech. It's clear that even infants have a great range of nonverbal behaviors - as they smile, crawl, and laugh their way into our hearts. So non verbal communication plays an important role in expressing ourselves..
ReplyDeletecommunictaion is a very important soft skill..that unfortunately lacks in many people...many times what we convey doesnt get through to the reciever the way its intended to, because of the body language or gestures..in management we consider communication unsuccessful unless the content is complimented with the right tone, and body language...otherwise it could simply be misleading..also while communicating its very important to analyse the reciever, if he'she happens to understand the language of the content then stress should be given on the tone and content...if not so then the hand movements and expressions convey the msg more effectively....so to sum it up i belive communcation is a managerial technique..with a proper balance of verbal and non verbal tools..
ReplyDeleteThank you Shilpa and Aksnsubi for the interesting comments.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot solely depend on verbal communication or non-verbal cues.As aksnsubi has pointed out, there should be a proper balance between the both of them for effective communication to take place.Shilpa, indeed infants have a great range of non-verbal communication but then at times it becomes difficult to understand what they are trying to communicate.So this is great example to show how verbal communication and nonverbal cues go hand in hand.
I have never given so much of emphasis on non-verbal cues as I do now. Learning communication as helped in broadening my horizon.I am enjoying it as it helps me to analyse movies and serials from a different perspective about which I was completely unaware of.It has been an enjoyable experience so far.
It is common that we use non verbal elements of communication in addition to verbal communication as these may add emphasis or shades of meaning to what people say. We may reveal all kinds of things about ourselves that have nothing at all to do with the words we are uttering by manipulating the nonverbal elements of our message.It may be expressed consciously /unconsciously and it includes the pitch,volume and intonation of speech. It's clear that even infants have a great range of nonverbal behaviors - as they smile, crawl, and laugh their way into our hearts. So non verbal communication plays an important role in expressing ourselves......
ReplyDeleteits very obvious that both verbal and nonverbal communication are indispensible parts of communication;they go hand in hand. however non verbal aspects do add a lot of charm to conversations. a smile or a wink works better than words i guess. yes sruta, even i would choose to give slightly more weightage to non-verbal communication. and hey, i wonder how early men used to converse or communicate.they sure would vote for the non-verbal option.
ReplyDeleteThank you Divyansh and Sushree for the comments.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Divyansh also gives more importance to non verbal cues.Sushree has raised a valid point by talking about the early men and their role in communication. It is evident that they must have given more emphasis to non verbal cues but the very fact that so many languages have evolved speaks in volumes that only non verbal cues is not effective. I still stick to my opinion that Verbal and non verbal communication are inter related and give equal weightage to both of them.
I am really impressed by the way the actors in the serial have done those scenes...seems so natural.
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly,facial expressions,hand movements and stuff are as important as verbal communication skills.You make your point more emphatic by one wave of a hand.yeah!
and its true that No weapon can stab the heart with such brute force as a full stop put just at the right place.
So,we should take care of what we speak and how we speak.
Thank you Aniruddha for your comments....
ReplyDeleteI love this serial and always follow it.I had never imagined that I would be able to apply communication concepts to analyse it.I am so glad that this module has helped me broaden my horizon.I completely agree that we should take care of our speech and action as they complement one another.
Miley Jab Hum Tum...ahhh....love this show...
ReplyDeleteThe series has appealed and has influenced the Indian youth to a great extent...
i don't think the actors are that good at their craft that "non verbal cues" are enough to understand the scene....besides it is an INDIAN TV SERIAL.... YOU NEED TO FOLLOW IT EVERYDAY!!!!
i understand Hindi to some extent and know for a fact that if i didn't or if there weren't any subs, understanding this clip would be IMPOSSIBLE...maybe more experienced actors would be able to portray the scene better...
hence, for me the verbal aspect of communication hold weight...
however the manner in which you have described the non verbal communication from the video is commendable....
Speaking about non verbal communication...the "look" of each character is the only plus point in this show...from the college romeo SAMRAT...to the simple naive GUNJAN....the casting department hit the nail...SPOT ON!!!
Thank you Deja va for the interesting comment.
ReplyDeleteI think the actors have done a good job as far as the non verbal cues are concerned.May be I am a bit biased about it.Haha.
Even I just love the way each character has been styled in the movie.I agree that without subtitles it will be difficult to understand some scenes.Thus, I feel that both verbal and non verbal cues should complement each other for better understanding of the message.