The Intricacies Of Listening And Nonverbal Communication

When thinking about interpersonal communication, listening and nonverbal communication is not the first aspects to come to my mind. Yet listening, with the help of nonverbal communication, is absolutely crucial for effective interpersonal communication. How one conveys a message is important, but can be ineffective without proper listening skills. Consequently, I was the most intrigued when learning about the intricacies of listening and nonverbal communication.

Listening is such a basic action it can easily be overlooked by the other parts of interpersonal communication. It should be noted that hearing and listening are commonly misunderstood to have the same meaning, when in fact they are distinct. Hearing is automatic, but listening is not.

I am well aware that my listening skills are not as polished as they could be so improving them would be a step to being a better interpersonal communicator. Cell phones are wonderful tools, but they can bother me in some instances. When I look at a table full of people staring down at their cell phones without uttering a word to each other, it makes me worry about my generation. The sad part is I cannot deny I have participated in situations like that. Today it feels like we are surrounded by thousands of distractions, cell phones being just one of the many culprits. This makes listening to others difficult. If a person gives more attention to something other than the person next to them, whom they are communicating with, then is the effort of communication with that person actually worth it? Time spent with others should be valued. For this reason, I try my best to not pull out my phone, especially while eating with

I know I tend to forget. I think nonverbal cues can be misleading sometimes so increasing my awareness of my own nonverbal cues may remind me to pay more attention to other people’s nonverbal cues. I had not considered clothes as nonverbal cues, but I have always tried to wear decent clothes when in public. I occasionally dress up a little more than usual for class. Not only do clothes affect how others perceive you, but I believe clothes affect how you act as well. If I wear sweatpants and a hoodie, I feel much more likely to slouch in my chair compared to wearing a button down shirt and dress pants. I like to cross my arms and legs because I find it more comfortable, but I am aware that it makes me look more closed off. In more professional or even just social situations, I have been trying to avoid this and maintain more open body positions. Since I feel like I tend to be fairly oblivious to nonverbal communication, it was interesting to learn