Non-verbal communication: Get inspired with Bake

Bake is the Managing Director, World of Inspiration and founder of Authors Forum Last week we focused on the power of words. Now I wish to note that as human beings we do not speak with words only, but also with our actions. As an old English proverb goes: Actions speak louder than words. People believe more what they see us do than what they hear us say. Actions communicate whats on our minds. Just by studying his actions, you can tell how a man thinks, what he treasures, what he can do and what he cant do. If I meet you staggering I can tell you are drunk. If you cant smile Ill guess you are probably stressed by debts, marital problems, work or money issues. St. Francis of Assisi once said: Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary. He meant that you can communicate without necessarily speaking. This is called non-verbal communication. Here are four aspects to take note of. Mind your appearance. Instead of dressing like they want to be addressed, some people dress like they want to be undressed. I can never forget the woman I met at Constitutional Square dressed in a netted dress. One of the comments she endured from the crowd was: You slut, you are not just dressed in a net; you are a net yourself. Mind your gestures. A friend told me how he was shocked to see a respectable woman obscenely using her finger to abuse a taxi driver who had refused to give her way in her posh car. She immediately ceased to deserve the kind of respect he would have given her. Mind your facial expressions. You could be looking for a job in marketing, customer care or office administration to no avail just because you parade a gloomy face. Finally, your body movements matter. Dont walk like youve spent a week without eating while customers wait for you to serve them. Have you ever noticed that President Barack Obama does not walk while going up and down the platform? He jogs.

NO WORDS JUST THOUGHTS

There is so much talking happening from the minute I step out of the house from the wary watchman to the bossy boss. But the kind of communication that takes place without the talking is what amuses me the kind that in popular parlance is called nonverbal communication. And for your convenience lets call it NVC. And here go a few of my NVCs : Apartment watchman: Ah, here she comes again wonder why she wears those torn denims. Perhaps, she doesnt earn too much. No point being nice to her, there will be no substantial Diwali gifts from her anyway. Receptionist at the supermarket: Lady seems to be rich look at all the stuff she can afford! (No wonder, I love going to the supermarket even before my ration has run out). The ladies and gentlemen walking in the park sizing me up, as I jog Ayyo, what is she doing here I say? This place is not for drumsticks, but bottle gourds! Traffic Police: Kya attitude dikhati hai. Someday, I am pretty sure to challan her after all, a woman and a driver at that how far is she from breaking rules eh? Boss (the bossy one): She is smiling as she doesnt know whats in store for her double load of work for this weekchuckle chuckle. after all whos the boss, eh? Colleague: I hope my article comes out better than hers. (Come on guys, we dont need to play a cat and mouse game here) Co-trainee in the Gym: Man does she look hot in those blue tracks of hers (accompanied with a slurping sound (lets count that as verbal communication). Like this is not enough, finally when I go home seeking solitude, I think I can hear my fish scream at me, You cant be this late everyday! Now move , and bring us our food! And I am thinking was it verbal or non-verbal. Ah well, another day just got over.well, almost!

Camp Connect helps teach art of friendship- Community

What do we want most for our children? We want them to be happy, have meaningful relationships and enjoy life. We want them to be successful but success without friends to enjoy experiences can lead to loneliness and isolation. But what if you don't have the basic understanding of the skills necessary to build these socially successful experiences? Such is the case with many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. One of the hallmark characteristics of children with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Anxiety Disorders, Selective Mutism, Non-verbal Learning Disability and many related challenges is the inability to understand social cues those cues that help us to understand interpersonal relationships. People with these challenges not only have difficulty noticing the social world around them, they have difficulty interpreting it. Thus, body language, facial gestures, the nuances of communication such as idioms and colloquial phrases, and emotional intent are skills that do not come naturally to these children. Easter Seals The Family Place recognizes the importance of teaching children the skills necessary to build meaningful social relationships. As such, we are embarking on our 5th summer in partnership with the Works Fitness Center in Somersworth to host Camp Connect. Camp Connect is a 5-week summer camp for children with social challenges. Our Camp Connect Program is a fun educational program very different than those provided by school summer programs. The purpose of Camp is social pragmatic language enhancement and sensory regulation in an environment created to help children have fun through learning appropriate social interactions and the communication strategies of socialization. The goal is building competency to improve social communication amongst each other and within the community. We include lots of opportunities for practice in natural social situations as each Thursday there is a field trip related to the skills addressed that week. Our theme this summer is "fun & fitness." This will enable children to build imagination, problem solving, group dynamics, health, and critical thinking skills in support of academic achievement and fit bodies. We will accept up to 16 students in our Somersworth Camp Connect Program. Our day is highly structured using picture schedules, visual supports, social stories and a curriculum called Super Flex to help children learn critical social skills. Our approach is always positive when addressing issues that arise relative to transition, anxiety, or overwhelming circumstances. Our purpose is to assist children in learning how to handle all social situations, even those that are overwhelming for them. Our staff has extensive experience in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Social Communication challenges. With patience, persistence, practice and support, children can make great strides in learning the Art of Friendship skills that will carry them forward into a happy life.

Amphitheatre, concert hall looking to grow audience with appearances like Clinton's, Tony Bennett's- General Appearance

Evan Agostini Selena Gomez

The appearance this week of former President Bill Clinton and singer Tony Bennett at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre are part of a strategy to attract people who may not have considered going to the venue until now. We have some new stuff, we have some new ideas, said Ryan Murphy, general manager of the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division, which oversees the Amphitheatre and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. We know what works here the baby boomer rock stuff, country does really well here, and the surf crowd really likes certain things. We can do that all day long, but staff want to add other offerings, too, Murphy said. Last year was a period of transition for the venue. Its leadership changed with the appointment of Murphy, and the venue came under a different county department, the St. Johns County Cultural Events division, now headed by Glen Hastings. The shift in programming to include other types of events is an outgrowth of that transition. This year, we wanted to do some different stuff, things that appeal to people who havent been here before, Murphy said. And last year, the venue went into some uncharted territory like Selena Gomez, Wiz Khalifa. We had massive sold out crowds but really, really young crowds such as the 12-to-14-year-old set for Gomez. Another example was Thursdays production of Seussical the Musical, which brought in 2,700 St. Johns County elementary school children. The Amphitheatre has 4,092 seats.

We had kids that had never been there before, Murphy said. Its just nice. Within a couple of years weve seen a couple new generations of Amphitheatre-goers. Murphy and Natacha McLeod, division marketing and community relations manager, said staff are looking into attracting attendees from other areas, such as Brunswick, south Georgia, Amelia Island, Gainesville and Daytona. Hastings, the Cultural Events executive director, agreed that the goal now is to broaden the scope for both the Amphitheatre and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, which opened at the beginning of 2011 and also falls under his department. Hastings said the market for the new events has existed; the county is simply expanding to address it. With the [Ponte Vedra Concert Hall], we started with that approach because we worked with PBS doing movie night, Hastings said. Weve had some poets and other things who have appeared as well as the musical acts. We hope to get some plays and things that can go into the music hall as well, like theatrical performances. The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall has 450 seats and standing room for 875. Since its opening, the hall has done pretty good, Hastings said, though he added that concerts there arent always big money-makers. Because of the limited size, the revenue that you can make doing concerts isnt the greatest in the world, but we do all right on some concerts, he said. Others are marginal. Hastings said division staff are to go before county commissioners Tuesday seeking permission to begin renting the hall for private events such as weddings. Were really excited to finally get to this point, Hastings said. Were excited because the demand seems to be really high for (private use of the hall) and it will introduce people to the facility. Basically, anybody could rent it out. He said staff approached the Limelight Theatre in downtown St. Augustine about doing a summer season of shows, and that may be an option for the future. So far, the diversification strategy appears to be working at the Amphitheatre, Murphy said. Weve had people scoping out the parking and Amphitheatre that have never been here before, Murphy said. Thats great for us.

Body Language - Proxemics

Sara Jordan Communication Skills and Business Networking

Sara has recently become an Impact Factory Training Consultant. Although involved in the full range of Impact Factory courses, the programmes for which she has a natural flair are business networking, creativity and innovation, body language and presentationskills.

I'm fascinated by Proxemics, what on earth is that I hear you say... let me share it with you. Anthropologist Edward T Hall introduced the term proxemics in 1966. It is the study of a set measurable distance between people as they interact, with the idea that we follow three space boundaries according to the following delineations: Body Language - Intimate distance For embracing, touching or whispering less than 6 inches (15cm) Body Language - Personal Distance For interactions among good friends or family members 1.5 to 2.5 feet (46 to 76cm) Body Language - Social Distance For interactions among strangers Close phase 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m) acquaintances Far phase 25 feet (7.6 m) or more For example, a loved one we will allow to come in to our private space completely; with friends we will chat about an arm's width apart but we like to keep 25 feet away from strangers, space allowing. If you and one other are in an art gallery, you will manage to look at the paintings whist imperceptibly keeping 25 feet away from each other. How weird would you think someone was if in that situation they came and stood right next to you. Having an understanding of proxemics can be very valuable in your interactions with people. Body Language - Networking Situations In a Networking situation it is easy to look at a room full of people standing in different groupings and determine which group would be easiest to join by how close they are standing to each other. An intimate group will be very tight knit and harder to break into, whereas a group who have just met will be much further apart and therefore easier to join.

Having an awareness of your own personal space boundaries can help you to be aware of other people's. A lot of people will have had the uncomfortable experience of someone invading their space. Have you ever ended up being hemmed in by someone talking inches from your face! Body Language - Cultural Differences Hall also realised that different cultures maintain different standards of personal space. In Latin cultures, for instance, those relative distances are smaller, and people tend to be more comfortable standing close to each other; in Nordic cultures the opposite is true. When you are aware of these cultural differences it can improve cross-cultural understanding, and helps eliminate misunderstanding. You realise why people are standing too close or that they are not being aloof by standing further away from you. Comfortable personal distances are also affected by the social situation, the gender of the person you are talking to, and of course individual preferences. Look around you today and watch the proxemics rules being applied, it's great fun.