Introduction to communication concepts

¶ … nonverbal behavior has James made?

From the case study provided, there are various mistakes of James' own nonverbal behavior. Nonverbal behaviors such as emotions, attitudes and personality traits come clear from his conversation with Bob Croze. For instance, when Bob tells James that he was late and therefore he had already placed an order with one of James' competitors, James conveys his attitudes and expresses his emotions by increasing his voice in speed and pitch as well as, rising up ready to leave. This shows that James was not happy with Bob since he had placed an order with his competitor.

Cite at least 3 examples, explaining James' nonverbal behaviors and the messages they sent.

Expressing emotion (For example, James not happy with Bob, and so increases his voice in speed and pitch)

Conveying attitudes (For example, crossing arms and legs while talking to Bob)

Demonstrating personality traits (For example, accepting qualities, hence buttoning his coat and starting to rise)

What nonverbal cues in Bob has James failed to recognize?

The way a person look, move, listen, as well as, react tells the other person whether he/she is listening or not (Cherry, 2014). James fails to recognize some nonverbal cues such as gestures and postures conveyed by Bob. For example, Bob rubs his nose with his index finger and crossing/uncrossing his arms and legs and stroking his chin. This somehow showed that Bob was not confident of what he was telling James; maybe he had not placed an order with James' competitor. This is shown at the end of their conversation when Bob sits at his desk with his elbows propped and holds both hands together in front of his mouth, after he was told that Appleton's prices have just been lowered by 10 to 20%. Nonverbal cues should be used appropriately because when they match with the spoken words, they tend to increase clarity, trust as well as, rapport.

Cite at least 3 examples, explaining Bob's nonverbal behaviors and the messages they sent.

Conversely, Bob also conveys various nonverbal behaviors during their conversation with James. These include;

Timing and Space- When communicating with another person, there should be an easy information flow back and forth. As James enters the office, Bob does not give him time, instead he quickly approaches him that he was late and therefore, the order had already been placed with his competitor. I think this response comes too quickly and so does not give James a chance of defending himself to tell Bob why he was late.

Touch-People communicate a great deal through touch. In this case, when James enters Bobs' office, he finds Bob sited with his arms and legs crossed. Bob did not bother standing up to give James a handshake, instead James walked around Bob's desk to extend his hand. I think this was not appropriate because it made James to feel uncomfortable and so there was something wrong.

Rewrite the dialogue to show how you think James should have handled matters

When told by Bob that an order had been placed with another competitor, James would have not overreacted about it; instead he should have just understood everything. Crossing his arms and legs along with increasing his voice in pitch showed that he was pissed off, and therefore he thinks he was the right person to be given that tender. James tells Bob that they have lowered Appleton's prices by 10 to 20%, although he did not give Bob time to comment about it, and so he starts buttoning his coat ah he rise up to leave.