King of the Hill 
I began watching King of the Hill without the volume to see if I could decipher what was going on. I found that my observation of the nonverbal communication was inaccurate. As I watched one man being escorted by another to this elderly woman’s office, his facial expression showed signs of nervousness about going to see her. The man goes home and sits down to have dinner with his family, but shows expressions of anxiety. He grabs both his wife and son’s hand and closes his eyes as if he was praying. The elderly lady was shown again in the lobby of the hotel speaking privately with another gentleman. Later the same woman is shown at a dinner with the same man who was now wearing a military uniform. Four guys were standing on the curve drinking what looked like cans of beer, as the elderly woman pulled up in a limousine and the man got out. It was obvious this woman had power because everyone seemed nervous and uneasy around her.
When I watched the television show with the volume turned up; I found that the lady was the governor of Texas. The guy in the uniform was her date and the guy that was being escorted to see her was his friend who name was Hank. Hank was being escorted because of security reasons. Hank was trying to get the governor to support his invention of a propane grill. He was praying with his family because he found charcoal on the floor by the refrigerator in his house. Hank thought that his wife did not support his dream of a propane grill and preferred charcoal. This worried Hank so he told his wife she had to choose.
Nadig (2010) “We all act and respond on the basis of our understanding, and too often there is a misunderstanding that neither of us is aware of” (para. 9). When I first watched the show, I thought because the woman represented power that maybe she was a part of the mob and that Hank had did something that she was displeased with. When I saw how nervous Hank was around his family, I thought he did not know how to tell his family about the trouble he was in and that he was praying that it would just go away without anyone finding out. When the lady showed up to dinner with the man in uniform, I assumed he was her husband.
Had this been a show that I had seen before, I would have known the characters and the roles they played. My assumptions would have been more accurate. This exercise reminds me of the cliché “You cannot judge a book by its cover”. Our minds tell us one thing and our ears tell us something different. This is why it is essential to listen to what is being communicated to us. According to Williams (n.d) “Delivering verbal communication involves trying to choose the right words and nonverbal cues to convey a message that will be interpreted in the way that you intend (para. 4).
Reference
Nadig, L. A. (2010). Tips on effective listening. Retrieved from http://www.drnadig.com/listening.htm
Williams, S. (n.d.). Listening effectively. Retrieved from http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/listening.htm
It is sometimes hard to understand exactly what a person means through their expressions. I guess because there are so many words that can be used but only a limited amount of expressions we can use. Sometimes we use the same expressions multiple times for different situations which can become confusing. I have watched this show many times and Hank sometime has what I call a "confusing" look on his face, this may be because he is confused, indecisive, or even angry.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important to be able to read body language/nonverbal because there are times when people would not express truth through verbal. It is imperative to be able to read without replying on sounds.
ReplyDeleteYou know it's absolutely right that “You cannot judge a book by its cover”, and without verbal communication we can be thrown off by what we THINK we are interpreting by a person's body language. But do you think it would have been easier if you weren't watching an animation? or do you think the results would've been more or less the same?
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