Last semester I changed my major from STEM to Sociology with a minor in Communications.
And let me tell you it is singlehandedly the best decision I’ve ever made.
Within the classes I’m taking, my Communications class has been my favorite, and mostly because I am learning things that are actually applicable to my life.
My Communications class focuses primarily on the nonverbal aspect of communicating, i.e body language.
There are so many little things within how you look or how you don’t look when you are talking with someone else. If you don’t keep eye contact enough, or perhaps too much eye contact, gives off signals to somebody to make a decision about you.
More than 93% of the message is delivered through nonverbal cues, which is huge! If you appear uncomfortable in any way, you might be saying what you wanted to say, but the person you are communicating with is not receiving the message due to a discrepancy in your nonverbal communication.
While this all seems kind of obvious, I find it all very fascinating that without those nonverbal cues, our message can get all types of construed. Which is why communicating online or via text can be difficult.
We all know someone who is considered a “dry texter” because maybe they don’t use emojis or exclamation points, so you may think they’re upset with you. Or perhaps someone uses too many emojis as a crutch so they make sure they’re not coming off hostile.
Eliminating the face-to-face interaction can open up a lot of anxiety, especially talking with someone you have never talked to before.
It’s interesting to notice people maybe twiddle their thumbs or play with their jewelry while they’re talking because they are unknowingly communicating that they are nervous.
Learning this in class today really opened up my mind to be more aware of how I nonverbally communicate, and to examine when I see nonverbal communication in my everyday life.