Body language or, as it is also known, nonverbal communication, is about all the things that people say and do without using words. Research suggests that more than 70% of communication occurs without people having to say a single word.
Like language, the way we communicate nonverbally varies across cultures. But, unlike language, it can be very difficult to find out what the nonverbal rules are.
It's very well-known that there are differences in the ways that cultures work, but what can you do to try to prepare yourself for living and surviving in another culture?
I think you've got two things to think about. I personally don't fully accept the idea of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. " I don't think people expect you to completely adopt all of the things that they do. What I think people would like is that you agree and understand it and that you do your best.
One of the things you can do is actually to explain to the other culture, saying, "Well, you know, actually we don't normally kiss in my culture, so it's a bit uncomfortable. " But then do your best, so it's a learning process.
Well, kissing is just one of many different ways of interaction that you need to know. You can get into difficult or embarrassing or even worse situations if you don't know it. Eye contact, tone of voice, how close you stand, any touching, how many times you kiss, a long handshake, a short handshake, it can go on and on. So I think, yes, you do need to get these correct and you need to have good observation skills.
My wife and I moved into our home nine years ago. We have a yard a "rock garden". There the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish. Very often when we have more flowers, Denise or I would plant them between the rocks, just to bring some color to the area.
Last summer I found, in the rock garden, a tiny little plant that I could not immediately recognize. I knew I didn't plant it and Denise said she didn't either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could find out what it was.
Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the strange plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. It looked thin and tall with only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed (除草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The sunflower had not started where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.
If a tiny little sunflower didn't let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability to do the same thing. If we believe in ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we aim to go and get what we need for growth.
We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ability to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had faith in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be proud of who and what we are, then other things will begin to support us. We will find a way to go under or around any "rocks" in order to realize our goals.
How much time do you spend doing research before you make a decision? There are people who go over every detail exhaustively before making a choice. Psychologists call this way of thinking a cognitive bias (认知偏见), a tendency toward a specific mental mistake.
To study "jumping", we examined decision-making patterns among more than 600 people from the general population. We found that jumpers made more errors than non-jumpers on problems that require thoughtful analysis. In a quiz about US citizens, they overestimated the chance that their answers were right significantly more than other participants did — even when their answers were wrong.
So what is behind "jumping"? Psychological researchers commonly distinguish between two pathways of thought: automatic system, which reflects ideas that come to the mind easily and without effort, and controlled system including conscious and effortful reasoning. Jumpers and non-jumpers are equally influenced by automatic thoughts.
It is the controlled system that helps people counter balance mental biases introduced by the automatic system. As a result, jumpers were more likely to accept the conclusion made at first sight without further questioning. A lack of controlled thinking is also more broadly connected to their problematic beliefs and faulty reasoning.
A method called cognitive training can be used to target their biases, which can help people think more deliberatively. In this training, participants are faced with their own biases. They can learn about the missteps and other ways of thinking through the problem at hand. It helps to gradually get rid of participants' overconfidence.
In everyday life, the question of whether we should think things through or instead jump to a conclusion is a frequent and important one. Sometimes the most important decision we make can be to take some more time before making a choice.
A. Happily, there may be some hope for jumpers.
B. Also, jumpers had problems with overconfidence.
C. We plan to trace other problems introduced by jumping.
D. But a fair number of individuals are quick to jump to conclusions.
E. It is certainly possible for them to overthink things to take a decision.
F. The jumpers, however, did not engage in controlled reasoning to the same degree as non-jumpers.
G. Recent studies show that even gathering just a little bit more evidence may help us avoid a major mistake.
A stand-up comedian is, supposed to be, a fluent communicator who is also good at using body language to 1 jokes.
However, for 27-year-old comedian Zhang Jiaxin, it takes a great effort to 2 pronounce the sounds of each character and sentence and be 3 on the stage. At birth, the oxygen 4 to his brain was curtailed (限制，削减), which 5 later problems with speaking and walking. The other long-term impairment is the loss of full use of his right hand.
It was two years ago when Zhang first performed stand-up comed yon the stage. At the time, he worked for the new media operation department of a company 6 in Xiamen, Fujian province, and had to prepare for a performance at the company's year-end party.
He didn't know much about stand-up performance.7 , as someone who likes to watch and be amused by entertainment shows from a very young age, he decided to give a humorous monologue at the party to amuse and 8 his colleagues.
It opened Zhang's door to a colorful world of stand-up comedy.
He started to pay attention to the stand-up comedy live shows in Xiamen and got the 9 of a woman who worked at a local stand-up club.
"She sent me some videos of Drew Lynch (an American stand-up comic who developed a(an)10 stutter (结巴) due to a sports injury earlier in his life) and told me that my defects are what make my appeal special," he says. "That 11 me to have a go. "
After he read through a manual for writing and performing stand-up comedy, he started to 12his daily life to identify humorous 13 that could be used as jumping-off points to launch into stories.
Once he walked onto the stage, the audience 14 noticed his differences.
"15 , they were kind of walking on eggshells to spare my feelings. As I gradually opened myself to them, the atmosphere turned to be relaxing," he says.
Wows and claps resounded. His jokes went down well as he worked the room with his humor.
Yesterday, as I approached the front door of our public library, a white-haired gentleman stepped back to hold the door for me. With a walking stick (hold) in my hand, it is not strange for folks to do so. However, I told the gentleman that the door had an automatic opener, and that it can open by (it). He said, "I (think) I would have an opportunity to be helpful. " On hearing that, I backed up, let the door close, and allowed him to reopen the door, not (use) the automatic control this time. That act of kindness brightened not only my day, but my delight, also the day of that white-haired senior citizen.
Holding the door open is a polite and thoughtful act, which can bring (warm) to others. you are at home or at work, open the door for others and those around you will thank you. They'll certainly appreciate your good manners, will comfort people.
Never hesitate to offer kindness. A small act of kindness brings an (expect) result. Keep in mind that a small deed makes big difference.
