This is a reproduction of the first blogging assignment:

The reflexive cycle uses the principle of reflexive thinking. Reflexive thinking as we have learned considers how our behavior appears and affects others. There are five steps in the reflexive cycle. They are: 1. Inventory self, 2. Change self, 3. Inventory others, 4. Transact with others, 5. Reflect, asses, and re-inventory self.

         How does this all apply to nonverbal communication? Well we can use it to change the kind of nonverbal messages we send to others. Say for instance I am constantly winking at girls to let them know I am interested in them. I keep doing it and it does not work. What I should do is inventory myself and see what behaviors it is that I have been using that do not work for me. Next I change myself and decide not to wink at girls anymore since it obviously has not been working for me. After that I start to look at others and inventory what nonverbal behaviors and messages they are sending to me. Through this I can see what does and does not work and how others are receiving and interrupting my nonverbal messages.

After the first three steps I follow up with the fourth step and begin to transact with others. I have changed my behaviors, analyzed others nonverbal cues and can now transact with others using different forms of nonverbal communication. Finally I can take a step back and see how everything worked out.

         The reflexive cycle is vital component to nonverbal communication. It has inspired many researchers into analyzing the many types of nonverbal behaviors, displays, cues, and other things. It can be used for other things rather than nonverbal communication. The reflexive cycle’s versatility and easy step-by-step procedure make it something that we should all use.  

The voice I decided to analyze for this post was none other than the great Christopher Walken. This is an actor we have all been exposed to at some point in our lives. If you have heard him for yourself, then you certainly have heard someone doing an impression of his distinct voice. In fact, that is the best way to describe the voice of Christopher Walken. Distinct. To my knowledge there are no other voices that can match that of his.

Mr. Walken has what I would describe as a deliberate voice. While everything that comes from his mouth is natural he does seem to speak in a deliberate fashion in order to make know his uniqueness. At first he comes off as rather monotonous without much variation in his pitch and rate. When he speaks in acting roles he does make sure to vary his pitch quite frequently to portray the emotions his characters are supposed to express.

He has very good articulation and keeps you enthralled in his speech with the pronunciation of his words. Each bite of speech is clear and audible and there is rarely a question as to what exactly he said. This clarity in articulation gives the receiver complete understanding of what Christopher Walken says to them.                     

I would even go as far as to say he has developed his own accent. I know for sure that I cannot place his speech in any other type of accent that I have heard before. There is some form of raspiness in his voice, but its subtlety makes it liquid against his overall tone. There is no nasality and he only sounds breathy if his role requires it.

He will at times take pauses in speech similar to that of William Shatner, but this is what actually makes his voice unique. In fact it is this very fact that causes many people to impersonate Mr. Walken. These pauses are typically filled with a slight stutter of “uhhh” or “mmm” which just simply indicates that he is thinking of what to say next.

Christopher Walken has one of the most distinct voices in Hollywood. It has given him many influential roles and has been course for much laughter on his behalf. He is someone who will continue to captivate us with his uniqueness for a long time to come.

I used my friend Chris to explain to me what his trip to Miami Beach was like for spring break.  He started off telling me where exactly he and his friends were going to, and how they were going to get there. During this time he was not making exact eye contact and at some points looking puzzled. From this I gained that his facial expressions showed that he was trying hard to concentrate on what exactly he wanted to tell me. Perhaps by staring off into space he was conjuring up an image of traveling to Miami.

           

After that he began to tell me about what had occurred in Miami. Most of what he said was rather dull matter of fact information that he sounded disinterested in discussing with me. However his tone of voice was masked by what his face was telling me. More direct eye contact was made showing he had an interest in interacting with me in the discussion. Also slight head movements and quick micro expressions gave away that he was more distracted trying to recall what happened instead of trying to tell me what had happened.

When he told particularly exciting and engaging accounts of his spring break trip it was quite evident in his movements. He would add more hand gestures into his stories which were accentuated by a smile or a look of excitement. This would indicate to the people around us that he was telling a rather exciting story, even if they did not know or could not hear what we were talking about.

There were times when he (or mostly myself) would have to pause to laugh. His laughs were very genuine because they involved the eyes, which as we all know is the biggest indicator if someone is giving a genuine smile. If at any point he was faking a laugh or showed that he did not want to talk about anything then it went unoticed by me.

It would be harder to notice his micro expressions during a conversation rather than looking at them during a videotaping of the conversation.

Body language analysis

I’m sitting here in the library right now writing this blog while watching a bevy of students hard at work or quite the opposite. For the most part students are very heavily focused on their computer screens or textbooks. I can tell this for several obvious reasons. Most have their eyes downcast in a fixed position with stern expressions indicating an intense focus rather than anger. They also have one of their hands affixed to their heads, which would indicate that they are trying to support their heads, but if we look at it a little more we can see this is done as kind of involuntary nervous behavior to ease the stress probably caused by their assignments.

            These observations are mostly of those working independently. Looking now there are several groups working in pairs. This adds a new dimension of body language to analyze. This pair next to me is a boy and a girl. First thing I would look for is to see if they are interested in each other based on how they are sitting and their proximal distance. To me it is clear that neither of them show much romantic interest because they are sitting about 2.5 apart, which is personal space. Next thing I can notice is how they are positioned. The boy is sitting straightforward with his legs pointing towards the desk. The girl shifts around based on if she is talking to the boy to his face to weigh in on the assignment. If for some reason they cannot understand one another the other will lean in and speak louder.

            Another fun thing to observe is the people walking in and out of my area. Most seem to have destination in mind and are seriously determined to get there. Their gait is rapid with long strides for the mails and quick purposeful steps from the females. I will say however that the girls walking by seem to be walking at a more controlled pace where as the guys are kind of bouncing around.

            I like watching people here because you can get an idea of how an individual will handle himself or herself in a task oriented situation. Will they focus very sternly or will they lay back with relaxed demeanor? It is obvious that most students follow typical gender roles in terms of their body language.

This is where the magic happens

My room is my sanctuary. Well not that drastic, but it is where I like to be alone and where I go to get away from everything. I live on the third floor of a duplex and I share the house with two other roommates. We keep away from eachothers personal spaces and keep our rooms as primary locations respectively. However the rest of the house is public domain and the bathroom is hit or miss for ownership.

As you can see my room is not anything spectacular. I keep it basic with just my bed, a desk, closest, TV on a table, and stands and dressers for storage. I have a few posters on the wall to distract from the ugly paneling and a carpet to cover the old wood floor. The room fluctuates between messy and neat depending on my mood and work ethic.

I love living on the third floor where no one else is because it gives me the solitude I enjoy. I never have to lock or close my door because no one ever goes up there. At the same time I really don’t mind if my roommates go in to borrow something as long as they tell me first. With that being said I have clear expectations of how people interact with my space, however there is a wide valence of what my reaction will be.

My room is always well lit with sun pouring in through the two windows and with my blackout curtains I can make the room totally dark. This also helps me feel safe in my space being able to control the amount of light that is on. I have a few candles for the smell and a whole lot of Febreeze at the ready! Also I like to keep the room warm so that I can feel physically comfortable.

I guess what my room would tell people who see or those who are in it, is that I like to have control over my environment. Unless I tell someone, or blog about it, I really do not disclose much information on my personal space. I have a space that gives me the solitude I need with the ability to have an intimate atmosphere when I have my girlfriend over. It is a place where I will never have worry about crowding and where I can relax and unwind away from the rest of the world.