Communicating With and Without Language

By

Lawrence A Bradshaw II

COM101
Carol Gray, M.S.

At

Grand Canyon University

Over the course of three days, a lot can happen. Things to be done, things that get done, and everything else in between. During that time, a person’s mood can either be swayed or swing from one direction to the next. There are a lot of factors that can influence those changes. Among the company the person keeps, health, time of day, and even appetite can greatly set the tone for ones perceivable communications: verbal or otherwise. While examining the past weekend, I found myself to fall victim to those aforementioned clauses. Here, we will take a moment to dissect the changes and how they affected communication. Friday: I start my day at 6am. I had not been feeling well, but I continue on with the help of my painkillers. At work, I communicate with a variety of different people. Whether in my office, or on the telephone, there is a vast assortment of personalities to contend with. As the day winds on, I feel myself bogging down. As I walk back and forth between the printer and my desk, the non verbal cues begin to speak louder than my words. People begin to ask “are you ok?” and “you don’t look so good”. Even simple communications with others becomes taxing. It was like watching drink: it starts off slowly, but then time takes its toll. By the end of the day, my interactions with others were kept to a bare minimum. By that, I meant I only spoke when spoken to. I made little to no outgoing calls, opting only to respond by email or fax. What few conversations that did transpire, my body language was saying “hurry up and spit it out” while my mind was thinking “this is very intriguing”. Partially divulging contradictory cues. When one is ill, they often times have little to no control of what the body is doing versus what