I guess I need more non-verbal clues…
This is one interesting thread. Before this post there were 6 views and no replies. Yet it shows the one I posted earlier and no OP. Magic? Gremlins? A message from beyond?
That is weird. 
Here’s the OP:
Sorry I can’t provide you all with any citations, because I don’t remember the sources where I read this from…supposedly 93% of communication is NON-verbal.
I do believe that actions do speak louder than words and how you say something is more important than what you actually say, but I find it hard to believe only 7% percent of communication comes from content. :eek:
I’m just curious how much you all rely on non-verbal communication (vocal patterns, body movements, facial expressions, and maybe even style of dress) and what specific non-verbal communication you pay attention to (for example, eye contact).
Conscious awareness is one thing; semi-conscious or sub-conscious is another.
I’m not all that aware of the non-verbal aspects in face-to-face conversations, but I am more aware of the tone of voice giveaways in phone conversations. I find it odd that those same clues I get over the phone aren’t as obvious in the face-to-face mode. Somehow all the body language and gesture and facial expressions serve to confuse me, I guess.
However, I do find myself judging actors and their performances more by the non-verbal. Isn’t that odd?
(Looks off into the distance.)
(Rubs chin with index finger for a long moment.)
(Looks down a bit, nods slightly a bit sadly.)
(Shrugs.)
(Walks off.)
-Ben
I work in Saudi Arabia. I speak no Arabic.
I live in Panama, I speak darn little Spanish.
I get by very well.
A teacher friend of mine told me about a student who had a non-verbal learning disorder. Apparently this was quite rare.
The girl couldn’t understand any communication that WASN’T verbal. Inflection, tone of voice, facial expressions, proximity, all meant nothing to her. Consequently, all instructions given to her had to contain no ambiguity, as she would follow them literally.
My friend wasn’t adequately briefed about this girl. So on the first day of class when she kicked another kid, he told her, “Don’t kick people.” She said OK, and then immediately (in full view of my teacher friend) went over and punched the same student!
Teacher friend was understandably shocked and exclaimed, “I told you to live him alone!”
She replied, “No, you told me not to kick him.”
The guidance counselors later explained the kid wasn’t trying to be a smart ass - she really was that literal. My friend says she had a huge vocabulary and command of language, possibly to make up for her lack of non-verbal understanding.
This was years ago, and he says this girl was his most challenging student ever. The point is, we use non-verbal communication a great deal, and this girl was good evidence that it’s difficult to function without it.
It would be difficult for me to pun a number on it, as this study you mention has. Is tone of voice a non-verbal cue? Is the pace of the delivery non-verbal? Do you count the ems and uhs and ahs when a person isn’t producing dictionary-defined meaning? And this is without various kinds (or lack) of eye contact, body motion, gestures, stance, or anything else. How does that study define “non-verbal?”
However, there has been case study done of certain kinds of aphasia, which may be akin to what Gassendi mentions. Check out The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks MD.
FISH