How would you rewrite some of Lam’s comments to show how he could have paraphrased what Kelli, Ryan, and Tamika said?
“Tyler has been late to meetings, because he has been caring for his sick parents. Because he his late and missing meetings, we are missing his part of our assignment. Let’s just go ahead and get started and try to finish tonight. If we need another meeting, we can meet at my place to give us more room, instead of meeting in this old stuffy room.”
It’s good to paraphrase because, it lets to previous speaker know if you understood what was said. If incorrect, the message can then be delivered in another way, so that the listener understands the message the speaker it trying to make (Galanes & Adams, 2010). This allows for effective communication.
Question #6
Which of the eight major categories of nonverbal behaviors are most relevant to this study group?
Several of the eight major categories of nonverbal behaviors are expressed in this study group. First of all space and seating play a part because, the group was sitting in a circle, and when Tamika pulled away from the table, it showed that she was upset about Tyler not being present; demonstrating “kinesics.” In addition, Tamika was using “time cues” by complaining that Tyler was late and that 20 minutes had gone by. When Kelli began to pack up her things, her movements expressed that she too was unhappy about the situation. “Paralanguage” was used when the pitch of Tamika’s voice changed as she asked the question “Man, what time is it.” It is evident that there was no “transactional process” within the group as a whole. Tamika and Kelli were expressing how they felt about Tyler on being present at the meetings. They were clearly sending a “message” throughout the group. As Ryan was demonstrating “paraphrase” by reminding the group the everyone knew that Tyler’s parents was sick and Lam “action-oriented listening” turned everyone’s attention back to the task of completing the
References: Galanes, G. J., & Adams, K. (2010). Human Communication Process in the Small Group Context. In Effective Group Discussion (pp. 22-47, Chapter 2, pgs. 39 - 46, Chapter 3). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.