Observe two people in a conversation from a distance – you should not be able to hear what
they’re saying. Make sure you are in a public place and the people you are watching do not
know you are observing them. Watch the two individuals as they converse or interact for about
five to ten minutes and make note of their artifact communication, kinetics (gestures,
body movements and posture), affect display — facial expressions/emotional expressions, eye
movements, proximity (distance), and haptics – touch communication (or lack of it). From
your observations write a short two page – about 600 words — descriptive essay about the
nonverbal communication and the nature of the relationship that you observe. The essay must
have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Explain your choices. Be sure to integrate and
underline at least five book terms from the chapter on nonverbal communication – use
some of the terms I underlined in this paragraph – 10 points will automatically be deducted
if the book terms are not incorporated into the essay – not listed, but actually used
correctly to describe part of the observation.
The following questions should be answered within your essay:
1. What is the communication context? Describe the location, time of day, clothes each is
wearing, gender of each, estimated age of each person, and any other relevant information to
set up the observation.
2. What does the nonverbal communication of the individuals reveal to you? Give examples.
3. What is the relationship between the two people? What makes you think so?
4. Is there a more dominant member of the pair? What makes you think so?
5. What is the emotional state of the two persons? Why do you think so?
6. What have you learned as a result of this assignment? Is this useful?
7. Should have a general introductory paragraph before describing conversation and at the end, a
separate conclusion paragraph that wraps up whole essay.