At four on a Thursday afternoon, we observed two
people at the Coffee House for twenty minutes. We were observing
them to see what role nonverbal communication played in everyday life.
The observed were both female students attending UC Davis and soon to be
graduating seniors. In this paper we will refer to these two people
as Shannon and Christy. At first, Shannon and Christy started
their conversation with small talk. Shannon would look away as she
was eating her salad while, Christy looked straightforward at Shannon,
with her legs crossed and eating. Soon, the girl’s conversation headed
towards academics. As Christy talked about the classes she was taking,
she used her hand to make gestures. Shannon then told Christy her
schedule and how much work she had to do. She also discusses her
Spanish class and spreads her thumb and finger one inch apart to show how
much work she still had left to do. Christy nods, and replies that
she also has that same amount of work and spreads her thumb and finger
an inch apart. As Christy listens to Shannon, she leans in and nods.
Shannon then asks Christy when she is graduating. As Christy is about
to reply that is she is going to graduate in June, Shannon interrupts and
Christy nods her head. The conversation then shifts towards
new ground because another female had entered the scene. At once,
all three start to exchange greetings and then the talking speed is slower
and the pitch becomes higher. Shannon could not remember the new
female’s name so she laughs. A few minutes afterwards, Shannon,
Christy, and the other female exchanges pleasantries and then the third
girl leaves. Shannon then goes back to talking about academics and
time management. As Shannon talks, Christy plays with her hair and
places her hands on her temple. Christy then abruptly says that she
has to run. Shannon’s eyes get big, and she says, “Okay. You
take care.” Christy then nods, gets up and replies, “You take care,”
and then leaves.
Observing Shannon and Christy, we concluded that
nonverbal communication plays an important role in communication.
Throughout the observation, nonverbal communication was used in many different
ways. As Christy talked about her classes, she used hand gestures
to point out how hard her classes were. By spreading their thumb
and finger an inch apart, Shannon and Christy emphasized that they both
had that much work! Spreading their thumb and finger apart emphasizes
the workload they both had. It also made a bigger impact in communication
then just saying, “I have a lot of work.” By spreading your finger,
you’re showing exactly how much work there is. When Christy was leaning
in while Shannon was talking, tells Shannon without any sound that Christy
is listening and that Shannon has Christy’s complete attention. By
nodding her head, Christy shows Shannon that she understands Shannon’s
situation with academics and time management. Recall that Christy
had laughed when she could not remember the other female’s name.
The laughter was a cover up to lighten up things so that the other person
would not be offended. In the observation, Christy had placed her
hands by her temples. This movement signifies that Christy is thinking
and paying attention to Shannon. At the end of the observation, as
Christy abruptly says that she has to run, Shannon’s eyes had gotten big.
The enlargement of Shannon’s eyes says to anyone who is watching her that
she was surprised. In conclusion, nonverbal communication plays a
big role in communication.