Communication in Action

In an effort to truly understand communication skills, it becomes necessary that they are analyzed.  To help make that analysis I chose to watch a show that I have never sat and watch before.  It was the Big Bang Theory. Watching the show with the sound turned off was rather interesting.  Having no access to their verbal communication I had to pay keen attention to their non-verbal communication.  There were five individuals; four males and a female.  Based on my observations I assumed that the four males were friends.  To me they seemed like college buddies based on their attire.  The young blonde female I assumed lived in the same apartment complex with the guys and was a friend of theirs.  They all seemed to be friendly as they appeared to be comfortable around each other, often having conversations on the living room sofa together.   Some of their conversations seemed to be intense at times.  In one scene a young man sat on his bed in tears, the young lady sat beside him nodding her head as if in understanding of his verbal message, she also placed her arm around him empathetically. In response to her gesture of empathy he placed his head on her shoulder.  In another scene a young man attempted to kiss the lips of the young blonde woman.  She seemed to be rather annoyed as she pulled her arm back and stocked him in the eye; he then walked home with a Band-Aid and a black eye.  

Watching the show with the volume on, I realized that my assumptions were pretty close to the actual plot.  Two of the four men lived in the apartment and the young lady lived in the apartment across the hall.  I assumed they were friends and probably college buddies.  This assumption was partly correct as they were friends but actually working professionals and the young lady was a waitress.  I assumed they were having some funny but rather intense conversations based on their non-verbal cues and I was right. 

I believe my assumptions would have been even more accurate if I had been watching a show I knew well as I would have had some background knowledge.   Nonetheless, I attribute my assumptions being so close to years of watching television with the sound turned off as I shared a room with my sister who would constantly complain that the television was disturbing her.  This taught me to be more attuned to non-verbal messages, how characters moved, what they wore, the back drop, their facial expressions, eye movements etc.  However,  I have realized that in my verbal communication I tend to be caught up in listening to the verbal messages and is not very attuned to what the individual’s body language is conveying.  This also taught me that sometimes our actions speak louder than our words.