Vocal Expression

A teacher is talking and playing with her small children

Her voice is higher than usual

She uses inflection a lot, to keep them interested

She makes her voice very calm and soft when she wants them to relax

She starts talking to her husband, and her tone changes

Her voice becomes more normal pitch

She sounds thoughtful as she speaks

When she gets excited, her voice raises

Listening

A man and woman walking side by side talking

As he talks he looks straight ahead

She turns her head to look at him while he talks

When she talks he looks at her, and their eyes meet for the first time

They sit down, and turn slightly toward each other

Both of them tilt their heads as they listen, like they are paying attention

Expression

n  The girl is mad, her mouth looks tight and her face pinched.

n  The guy is discouraged, his mouth droops, and he hangs his head, making it  hard to see his eyes.

When the girl talks, she lifts her eyebrows and keeps her mouth drawn tight.

n  The guy is bewildered, his mouth is twisted and he looks sideways, as she scolds him his face actually seems to fall, his entire face relaxes, and he looks away.

n   

n  They are interrupted, and the man is obviously irritated, he pinches his mouth, but attempts to smile. 

The girl's expression shows relief, she relaxes and smiles a real smile, using her eyes.

Elements of position

-       They are comfortably spaced, with about an inch between them

-       They are sitting side by side

-       Their elbows touch once in a while

-       Sometimes they put their arms up between them, creating a barrier

-       They sit hunched over the table

-       When they aren’t talking to each other they lean in different diretions

-       It is easier to keep a conversation going when we are both leaning in slightly

-       When I lean out it gets harder to interact

-       When I turn a little sideways it is harder to talk

The two girls are in each other’s personal space, which means that they know each other well and are good friends. They normally stay about the same distance apart, but gradually drift together or apart as they walk. When one person gets ahead of the other, they wait for her to catch up. This means that they have known each other long enough to be comfortable and act normally.

When I talk to someone I know well, I usually stay near the edge of their personal space. I don’t want to be too far away so it seems like I don’t like them, but I also don’t want to make them uncomfortable. When I get too far away, it is harder to talk about things that I normally would, because I don’t want everyone to hear everything I have to say. When I am saying something private, I usually go into someone’s personal space to say it. When I am good enough friends with someone, the boundaries don’t matter as much, because we are both very comfortable around each other. It takes a certain amount of trust to let someone into your intimate space.

Diction

I am not comfortable talking a lot until I get to know someone pretty well. Once I know them I get very comfortable using language! I am also more comfortable decoding what someone is trying to say when I know them well. When I first meet someone, I don’t usually speak a lot, because I try to get a feel for what kind of person they are based on their actions and words. Once I feel like I know the person a little better, I contribute more to the conversation and ask them questions. I think one thing that I have started doing at Hotchkiss is being more comfortable talking to people, asking questions about them, and really getting to know them. Once I get to know someone, it usually doesn’t matter who they are, I can speak to them comfortably. I usually watch what I say more with people who think have a really high opinion of me, because I don’t want to disappoint them. If someone is in the same position as I am (i.e new to a school) I am more comfortable and can find more things to talk about with them. I am uncomfortable talking to people who are really shy or I think don’t want to talk to me. If someone doesn’t talk a lot I get very uncomfortable, and believe it or not, start talking enough for both of us! Both of my parents are lawyers, so I know how to use language to my advantage. When someone of authority is mad at me, I know to not talk very much, and to just let them get it out of their system. I know when to apologize and act like nothing happened. With people older than me, I know how to speak respectfully and to keep some things that I might want to say to myself.