Chapter Analysis Essay

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Chapter Analysis Essay Latoria McCloud Ottawa University

Chapter Analysis Essay Introduction

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We use gestures in our everyday conversations, from making eye contact with fellow friends and co-workers, to smiling at each other to show excitement or being pleased and also different hand movements to say hello or goodbye. These gestures are forms of nonverbal communication, we use them all the time, and they can be misunderstood if not used properly. Our misinterpreted if used in different context to have different meanings. Body There are three different types of gestures eyes, face, and emblems. These gestures have a major role when it comes to the art of persuasion. They can be used in different ways and be more or less affective if they are or are not used properly. Youll fully understand how to use these nonverbal gestures, understand that they can help with the effectiveness of persuasion. The eyes are very powerful and can be used in many different ways. The eyes of men converse as much as their tongues (Gass & Seiter, 2011). Your eyes are a means of expressing interest, attraction, and intimacy, eye contact can be used to convey dominance, persuasiveness, aggressiveness, and credibility (Burgoon & Dillman, 1995). The next gesture is the face, the most used gesture on you face would be smiling. Its so simple the reaction that is given back to a person is amazing. According to Tidd and Lockard (2004) smiling waitresses earn more tips, therapists are judged to be warmer and more knowledgeable and also when you are being interviewed it creates a positive impression of yourself. Even though smiling can have a great affect on someone its not saying that smiling can easily persuade someone. It means that when you smile it has to be sincere.

Chapter Analysis Essay

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Lastly are the emblems which according to Ekman and Friesen (1969) these are nonverbal behaviors most likely hand movements that have precise verbal meanings. These hand movements are very important because they can be used with verbal communication or even alone and can help with your persuasion or even be a distraction if you use too much. Gestures are different in their own individual way and can affect the process of persuasion. When it comes to using eye contact and being persuasive its something you have to know how to use to your advantage. When you are communicating with someone and you arent making eye contact it gives the person the impression that you are hiding something our you cant be trusted. We need to keep in mind that everyday persuaders know the power of eye contact. (Gass & Seiter, 2011) This is what makes eye contact different from the other gestures because its well known that you look someone in their eyes to let them, them being whoever you are communicating with that you are being very serious and honest, you want them to trust what you are saying and with hopes you can persuade them to something else. Continuing on to the face, we all have felt the feeling of happiness and fulfillment when we are having a bad day, and someone just says something nice and smiles. It makes your day just a little better and you find yourself being nice to the next person. A study showed that after being smiled at, people were more willing to help a third person who dropped something on the ground. (Gueguen & De Gail, 2003) Even though everyone can threw a smile on their face it doesnt mean that the smile is all it takes. When it comes to being persuasive if you smile too much this can affect how authentic you are to a person, they wouldnt take you as serious. When you are using facial expressions you have to know when to turn up the charm and then turn it down and be serious having that equal balance makes this different from the others but can also affect your persuasion if not done properly.

Chapter Analysis Essay

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Lastly emblems this is different from the other gestures because this is something that can substitute for words. You see these used by different people like traffic cops, baseball catchers, referees, and even if you are death. This can affect your persuasion by using emblems along with pictures, most of the time a person can remember what was being stated to them if you use some emblems with it. Conclusion Ive told you all about how using these different gestures can help or harm your persuasion if not done properly. A lot of times we wonder why we need gestures when we are speaking or when we are trying to persuade someone. Now a days words along arent enough to persuade a person they need more contact or commitment to a situation to make sure they are making the right choice or even purchasing the right thing. Thus, gesture production appears to draw attention to or lend salience to perceptually present information. We disagree that gesture helps speakers make a decision on what to attend to and therefore what to say. (Ailbali & Kita, 2010) Even if that may be true we still need gestures to make sure that or point is getting across to our audience. Without the gestures the speech wouldnt go too far.

Chapter Analysis Essay References

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Alibali, M. W., & Kita, S. (2010). Gesture highlights perceptually present information for speakers. Gesture, 10(1), 3-28. doi:10.1075/gest.10.1.02ali

Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. S. (2011). Persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining. (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.