The Importance of Verbal and Nonverbal Miscommunication

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Clear communication is key in life, in fact, it is essential. Communicating clearly can make the difference between telling someone verbally “I love it!” in a joyous tone when receiving a gift you enjoy or saying, “I…love ...it...” with a look of grimace, when you found out the present was a disappointment. Communication has two main factors: Verbal and Nonverbal. Verbal Communication is messages one uses to relay information to another person through words or language. This type of communication can be a face-to-face interaction or may use channels such as email or written letters to communicate a message. Nonverbal communication are messages that are not spoken but conveyed through one’s body language. Unspoken messages can include: facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures. Miscommunication is a daily occurrence in our society; it is when a message we are communicating, verbally or nonverbal, are not interpreted correctly. Secondly, miscommunication can also transpire when a phrase or words are ambiguous or may have different meanings in various cultures. In this essay I will discuss four different scenarios I have personally experienced when miscommunication occurred verbally and nonverbal.
From a young age I’ve always had an issue with comprehension and could not always understand certain expressions I would hear; I tend to take words in the literal sense. I recall when I went to dinner with one of my good friends and she told me, “See that girl over at the bar? She has a lot of junk in her truck.” I was baffled by this comment. I wondered how my friend knew what that woman had in the truck of her car. “Really?” I replied “Does she not clean out her car?” My friend started to laugh hysterically and explained to me ...

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...middle of our conversation my supervisor stopped and said, “Are you upset by these changes?” I was confused because I had not spoken a word, I only nodded with agreement to the new procedures. I quickly replied that I was not upset and asked her why she thought so. My supervisor informed me that since my arms were across it seemed like I was not interested to what she had to say. I was not aware that what I found comfortable came across as aloof or uninterested.
In conclusion, miscommunication can transpire when a phrase or word are ambiguous or have different interpretations in certain cultures. Misunderstandings may be due to messages we are conveying, verbally or nonverbal, that are not interpreted correctly. Unfortunately, miscommunication is an occurrence that happens frequently in our society due to the misinterpretations one may unintentionally be emitting.

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