Non-Verbal Observation Essays Example

As I was sitting in a restaurant, I observed two men sitting on a table at the far end of the restaurant talking over while drinking sodas. It was at noon and one man appeared to have been convincing the other one to accept a business deal. Essentially, it appeared as if one of the two men was a businessperson while the other one was a potential client. These two men appeared not to have known each other before and thus the reason to meet in a public territory. The following reasons show that the two men did not know each other before and that one man was convincing the other to accept a business deal, purchase a product or service:
- Social distance: the level of association between the two men was weak evidenced by the fact that one man was avoiding closeness with other man by leaning back on back of his chair.
- Emblem: at one point, the two men shook hands and it appeared that they made a deal because the two of them were smiling when shaking hands.
- Illustrator: the businessperson was using hand gestures to explain something such as drawing a circle with his two hands while the other man was just nodding his head in agreement
- Affect display: the man being convinced was very attentive showing a lot of interest in what his counterpart was saying
- Adaptor: every now and then, the man being convinced changed his sitting position to get a more comfortable sitting position that allowed him to listen attentively
When the two men were talking, difference between the two men with respect to cultural time was revealed. The businessperson could easily multitask between talking, looking for a paper in his file and taking a soda while the other remained attentive and focused throughout the conversation. The businessperson appeared to treat time with urgency while the other man appeared not to be much concerned about time, but on quality of his work.