Dodge Charger

This commercial for the Dodge Charger has good and bad communication powers. It is directed almost solely for men, alienating most of the female audience by disparaging women products and things women are interested. The video is a great catch for a man, however. The slow zooming on the car adds more emphasis and gives people more time to examine the vehicle. The lack of music gives the ad a serious and almost intriguing feeling, by letting the viewer make his own opinion on the Challenger, rather than have the music guide his feelings. Also, the ad isn’t very “in your face,” so it’s more likely a man will see the design of the car, hear what it “isn’t” and want to go investigate it more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYLtSl6RiPQ&NR=1

Arguments and Hand Gestures

I remember watching "The Bachelor" a few seasons back and a certain argument took place on there that really stuck with me. There is always drama on the show which results in a ton of fighting. One of the girls on here became famous because of some of the hand gestures she used during an argument. If you watch the clip below, you will see that she uses a ton of hand gestures to defend herself. This is a great example of how people pay more attention to your non verbal actions rather than what is being said sometimes. I had forgotten the whole point of the argument, but it was her hand gestures that I remembered and got a good laugh at.

Interviewing

I wanted to find a good interview to talk about and I came across the perfect one. Oprah Winfrey appeared on Ellen Degeneres for an interview. I found this interesting, seeing that both of them are talk show hosts. They both interviewed each other, which is different than the usual way interviews are conducted where one person is asking the questions. It was very entertaining because they are both so confortable with each other so the atmosphere was fun and relaxed. It was completely random as well. I really like how they tied humor into this because it makes an interview more enjoyable to watch.

Interpersonal Communication

We can't escape communicating. If we try to not communicate we communicate in doing so. Every Word, Gesture, Movement, Facial expression communicates something. Tone of voice communicates and even posture effects communication. All of these are examples of the constant flow of communication between individuals and people. Also keeping this in mind be mindful of all of this in your life. Remember people can't read minds and they will see the way you behave way before they see what your intentions are.

It's Just Good Business

Many of us were shocked to learn this week that the Utah Jazz traded their "star," Deron Williams, to the New Jersey Nets. Many questioned whether or not this was a smart move. I for one believe it was. Deron wasn't happy here in Utah, and his unhappiness was manifest in his performance on the court this season. It was painfully obvious that he wanted to be traded. Williams becomes a free agent next year, which means he would have probably left the Jazz to play for another team anyway. However, had the Jazz kept Williams, they would have come up empty handed. Through great negotiation skills the Jazz were able to trade Williams and get quite a bit in return. Through the trade, the Jazz lose Williams, but gain two new players straight up and two first round draft picks, not to mention an extra 3 million dollars. Not a bad deal. If Williams wasn't happy here, so be it. Hopefully he will be happier in New Jersey. At least the Jazz franchise was able to get a lot back from the trade. The NBA, just like other professional sport association, is essentially a business, and for a company or team to thrive and progress, they sometimes need to make some drastic changes. In short, thanks to the communication and negotiation skills of the Jazz big wigs, we Jazz fans can have hope for a brighter future. It won't come overnight, but nothing great ever really does.

Texting Addicted

Technology has come so far in society today that instead of speaking to someone directly over the phone, you can send them a text. In this video, it's a news report about a young girl who spends her days constantly texting her friends. Her parents become frustrated because when they are trying to speak to her, she pulls out her phone and texts. It also distracts her from homework, she has to pause so frequently to send a message that it takes her twice as long to finish her work. I can relate to this because back in high school I was constantly texting friends because it was something to do when I was bored. It's a much faster and more conveinient way of communicating with someone indirectly. Now I have found that I much rather speak with the individual in person because it's less annoying than texting constantly. What takes twenty minutes to type can only take 2 minutes to tell the person face to face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=XJU_OerCZVEB&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Eye Contact

In this video, there are many examples of how eye contact can be used. The most obvious reason is to let someone know you are listening and paying attention to them when they are speaking by maintaining good eye contact. Another example is using it to get someones attention. If you are across the room from someone you would generally try to catch their eye, letting them know you wish to speak to them. This can be used as a way of flirting as well. You would generally make eye contact, then look away, and back once more. Another example is that it's an excellent way to see if someone is lying. As I have mentioned before, an honest person will generally maintain eye contact with you. Whereas a person who is lying will be looking everywhere else or to the side. This shows that eye contact plays a bigger part in communication than we may realize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ZhU5QZPdZ70&fearture+youtube_gdata_player

Body Language

This video I found is about telling if someone is lying to you through body language. One way to tell is the person is usually anxious or nervous, they will have their hands in their pockets and seem closed off. She gives an example of how former president Bush would bite the inside of his cheek when he would come to a pause in a speech, this is usually a good indicatior that someone is anxious and perhaps lying. You may also find that a person is very rigid and still and cannot keep eye contact with you. A huge indicator of a person lying is eye contact. Lastly, the person has to think of a response before answering a simple question, and you can tell the nervousness in their voice because it can be shaky.

Gender Roles

I came across this video on youtube that made me laugh. A husband and wife switched roles and acted how they see one another act. The husband, (acting as the wife) was in the kitchen cooking dinner while the wife, (acting as the husband) sat on the couch watching sports. Husband kept complaining, sent mixed signals, and wanted to talk a lot, especially about feelings. Then the wife was sitting on the couch talking on the phone while watching football ignoring the husband and complained that he was cooking too slow. This shows clearly how men and women percieve one another. Boys think that girls are whiny, Talkative, and emotional. On the other hand girls percieve boys as being insensitive and rude. It is usually easy to see communication differences in one another, because generally girls do like to talk about feelings more. This was definitely a funny video that in my opinion, nailed it straight on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=qHWrlJwHko4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Facebook Fever!

Most people will agree that facebook has taken over the internet. So many people have one these days that it's almost rare to find someone without one. I came across this video on yourtube a girl made that got over 2 million hits! She is making fun of facebook and how we make a big deal over nothing. Even though you may set your profile to private, whenever you post something on another persons wall, the whole world sees! Not only that, but there is a feature where you can tag people in photos, especially the embarassing ones you want no one to see! People spend so much time on facebook now posting on peoples walls, commenting on a status or photo, or telling someone happy birthday. Before facebook, you actually had to tell them verbally! People become less social in person when they spend so long on social networks. This video is very funny and I would reccommend watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=kv4PNwpqsCc&feature=related

Wheelmap

I came across an article about a new iphone application that was recently launched. Raul Krauthausen, who is handicapped, launched wheelmap.org because he says sometimes he is treated like a child who is not allowed to choose specific things for himself. The iphone application and website allows users to share ratings and tips on how accessible shops, bars, and other places are. It turns out that Raul wasn't the only one feeling that way, with some 300 new user-ratings daily there is now details on 30,000 locations. Raul says that wheelmap.org is there to help show people with mobility impairments everything that is achievable. He attributes its success to being an iphone application.

Manipulation

What's the Matter with Memory a video from fora.tv website is a presentation on the human memory. It is lecture by Professor Elizabeth Loftus, a Psychologist of memory, with many published books and awards for her studies.

Dr. Loftus explains the studies and work that they have been doing. They discovered that it was very easy to plant memories into the mind. Her research ultimately was to show how often false memories are created.

A study was conducted with real people and a central false memory. Being lost in a mall when one was younger, spilling juice on people as a child at a wedding, and so forth. The approach was to get real memories from parents and bring those memories up, after the subjects verified recollection of the parents stories, they would place one of the false stories claiming that the parents had divulged the memory. Out of all case studies 1/4 of all the subjects created in full or in part the false memory.

The other point brought up was that therapeutic psychologist would convince clients that because of certain habits and feeling as a child they were raped. Obviously the client would deny it and then the therapist would have them imagine the event, in an effort to bring it back to memory, and this ultimately would created a false memory.

I have to ask my self, when we communicate how often do we share experiences that are warped because of false memories? For example Hillary Clinton when running for president in 2008 related a memory about flying to the middle east in 1996, having a crazy landing, under sniper shot, no welcome party, and having to run ducking their heads into the nearest building. Photos of the event show Hillary with her daughter getting of the plane with a welcome party, and there was no crazy landing, snipers, or running. She later said that she made a mistake.

We often take others memories as a logical and true story. In communicating memories, let us be careful to not make the fish 10 times bigger than it really is.

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Prince William and Catherine Middleton

The wedding of the decade is being orchastrated down to the last detail. Invitations for the April 29th royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton have been sent. Prince William and Kate have promised not to make their nuptials the formal, picturebook affair as many remember the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. They are planning a peoples wedding with a guest list of 1,900. There will be loved ones, friends, charity workers, and celebrities of all kinds. So in case your invitation got lost in the mail or you were inadvertently left off the list, this is all you'll be missing.

Communication & The Future

I came across a short video clip on Youtube. It hasn't been hit very much, but it has some intriguing points about Social Media. I can't say how viable the statistics are, but there are some facts that I do agree with. In the video it claims that of all the people in the Y generation (which according to wiki, are those born between 1970-2000) nearly 90% of them belong to some sort of social media. That is like opposite percentage rate of the popularity of our current President.
The short clip portrays Social Media as the biggest event since the Industrial Revolution. We owe our Industrialization to England and the deserters that came from England to America with the plans and experience of the Industry. An American Finally created something that changed the world for good! Thank you Mark Zuckerberg for representing!
The conclusion of the video is states, "Social Media is no just a hype, it is a Fundamental Shift." I agree with nearly every thing that is said in the video. Social Media has really transformed the world. It gives a hole new meaning to the song, "Its a Small World After All." I can't possible imagine what the future holds, but I do enjoy seeing it unfold.

Youtube Video: Social Media Marketing - The Change of the Media Landscape 

Wife Swap

Has anyone ever watched an episode of Wife Swap? Well it is a reality show that is completely crazy, I love it! The show is based on finding families across America that are willing to trade wives for a total of two weeks. The first week at the wifes temporary new residence, she has to go along with the families normal rules and routines. Then the second week she gets to make all the calls and use her own standards on how a family should function. In the end, the families usually benefit from this experience even though it was difficult, but they are always glad to get their own wife and mother back.

Space Shuttle "Discovery"

Space Shuttle "Discovery" is scheduled to blast off one last time. Discovery has covered alot of area, I was amazed to hear the numbers, 143 million miles! Wow! After it returns from the national space station it will retire and be put in a museum. Discovery is the most flown spacecraft in history.

Subliminal Messages

What are subliminal messages? These are words, pictures, ideas, sounds, or items that are in to movies, music, posters, or anything of that nature. How do these messages communicate? There are so many ways that subliminal messages communicate. In music it can be played backwards to mean something completely different than what the song is talking about, usually backwards it sounds like most singers talk about sex or satan. In movies there can be sexual contain by looking at different pictures on the movies or other words that have nothing to do with the movie at all. Also in movies or TV shows, subliminal messages can be flashed across the screen in quick segments to make me crave something at random times. If you want to check out any of the messages you can just google subliminal messages, the most popular messages of the ones in Disney movies.

Style

What are people communicating when they get ready in the morning? There are so many different styles and things to wear when you get ready for the day but what are you communicating to people? With the Grammys just barely passing the red carpet was filled with all different types of styles. One great example of this would be when Lady Gaga walked, or basically rode, onto the red carpet for the Grammys. The way she was dressed was communicated, to most, as weird or different. She was going for something new, literally! She wanted to see a birth on the red carpet, so she was born again out of her egg shell. This was a total success, and stunned everyone with her new "style." Even though it may have been new or different and some may not exactly enjoy her particularly, but we should never judge anyone by their style. They may be trying to communicate something that you may not understand. When you go to get ready in the morning just remember style is a form of communication and it really speaks.

Who gets in?

In this movie trailer, the emotions directed at the audience are those of hopelessness and fear in the education system in America. The trailer is effective at communicating its message because of the real life commentary from students and academic professionals. It uses valid statistics to give people a visual of how horrible the American Education System has become. With the Rhetorical Question “Either our kids are getting dumber or the school system is failing us” it gives a person something to think about, and to question during the rest of the movie trailer. In the ghettos of DC and Harlem, New York, The Education system has become a game of luck for the students wishing to attend the more prestigious schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFN0nf6Hqk0

Pedigree Commercial

This commerical uses pathos to lure its viewers into a sadden subdued state of emotion. Pedigree uses the most pathetic looking animals in order to make the viewer want to adopt and or sponser (By Purchase Pedigree Dog Food) an animal from a shelter. In terms of good or bad communication, I would have to say that this advertisment uses emotion very effectively to entice the viewer, with an added bonus of horribly deppresing music to boot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAxOtp4vDJQ

This commercial was released during the 2008 presidential election. The commercial can prove to be either effective or ineffective depending on the mindset of the audience. Depending on how you look at the video you feel that Hillary Clinton is a capable strong woman that knows how to lead her country effectively, or you can see through the commercial and its scare tactics. The music in the back ground changing from a pleasant to dooming melody, it focuses your attention on the commercial, then frightens you with the thought of someone who isn't Hillary Clinton leading the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yr7odFUARg

Mr. T's Banned Snickers Commercial

Although Mr. T has come out and explained that this commercial was in no way meant to be offensive to anyone, It was banned in Great Britain and then a couple weeks later America as well. In the commercial, Mr. T made a couple comments that many people considered derogatory and offensive to homosexuals. The phrase's "Run like a real man" and "Get some nuts" are examples of what many found rude and uncalled for. This is an ineffective way of communicating & advertising because there are many ways of misinterpreting the commercials message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5pxj6BWJw

An Extreme Lack of Communication

Have you noticed that there has been a major increase in domestic abuse incidents? It seems that domestic violence has become quite an epidemic, even here in Washington County. This past weekend there was a double homicide as a result of a domestic conflict that happened in Washington. I think this surge in domestic violence has come around due to the fact that people have been increasingly losing their social and communication skills when it comes to face to face interactions. With so many people devoting so much time to watching TV, playing video games, and using so many social networking mediums, it's as if they're losing their grip on reality and their ability to work out conflicts one on one. I don't blame media or social networking for all of the violence in the world, but people should use these modern mediums in more moderation and try to socialize more in person and not through cell phones and Facebook.

Speech Anxiety

Speech Anxiety is known as stage-fright. Public speaking, or talking in front of others, consistently counts as one of the foremost fears of individuals. When a person experiences speeh anxiety or stage fright their pulse can raise up to 170 beats per minute before going up to speak in front of people.

Music Speaks

I have always been a huge fan of the  Detroit rapper, Eminem.  Rap is a music style with a lot of speaking about real life. This past year Eminem came out with a new Album, and personally it was my favorite one. In this he speaks all about his life and what has been happening with his life the past few years. He also says sorry to everyone for the drug abuse that he has encountered for the past couple of years. Eminem goes on to speak about his daughters and how they are very important to him and that he needs to be a better father to them and thats what he intends to do from now on. For me personally I believe that music speaks and that through music people can describe everything that is on their mind. Music speaks and is a great way of communication to express yourself and your feelings.  

Umm... Yeah.... Like... You Know....

        We all say them, but do we realize how bad it really is?! Umm... Yeah... Like... You Know... they are all filler words, silent breakers, leading sounds.... they play many roles. Ultimately, they can be annoying and a sigh of uncertainty, lack of confidence, or sear unconscious habit. I had a terrible habit in high school of using "um" and "like" after every sentence, or in between words as fillers. I have to admit it was one of the hardest habits to kick. We use those words sometimes more then an extreme cigarette addict smokes, so you can see the issue with kicking the habit.
        Next time you are setting in class, listen for those words or other sounds that your teachers make, and write the word down, and use some sort of checking system to mark each time your teacher uses the word/sound. Do this for 10 minutes, calculate how many times total the word/sound was used in that 10 minutes and multiply that number by 6 to see how many times they teacher on average uses the filler word/sounds in an hour.
        I did this with one of my teachers, the word was "um" and it was used about 63 times in 10 minutes, including class discussion but only counting the teachers "um's." This calculated out to be about 378 "um's" in an hour of general discussion. That is a lot!
       Post your discoveries on here and let me know your results. Do it with friends and then let them see the results you may help them kick a bad habit!
  
Good Luck!

Demo: "um Yeah ok"

Propaganda

Propaganda is a very effective way of communicating a message with very little words. However, even though they don’t have a lot of writing on them a picture is definitely worth a thousand words. An example that I saw just recently is not even really a propaganda a but a comic book cover for Captain America. One of the first covers is captain America punching adolf hitler right in the face. That is definitely worth a lot of discussion. The U S A hadn’t even gotten involved in world war 2 when this comic book was released but I think it is definitely a form of propaganda and a way to get youth involved in the events of history and the world.

Boys and Girls

Are boys and girls different from each other because of communication? If you really think about it the way you talk to your son is completely different from the way you would talk to your daughter. For some reason we believe that if you get angry with your son and yell it out its okay because boys are just boys. But if you spoke to a boy in the same tone as a girl, the sweet talk through, would boys act differently? I think they would. Communication can affect the way someone conducts themselves. Because boys aren't as emotional or usually cant express themselves like girls do maybe if we communication differently to them they would be able to express themselves better. Next time you go to speak with a child or get angry with them speak to each sex in the same tone and so what changes.

See what you want, Hear what you want!

I'll Keep this simple. We see things that aren't really there...

....if you have seen the green dot circle around in the 1st image that is proof. If you stare at the "+" sign long enough eventually the only thing left is the green dot that doesn't even exist. 

Our eyes play tricks on us....

 ....and so do our ears! Often times we just hear what we want to hear. Our minds only accept certain things that we want it to. So be careful open your eyes and ears to what is really there and true.

Rabbit in your headlight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cud_k9f6tqk
A video titled Rabbit in your headlight, by Unkle. The music video shows a rabid man walking in the middle of a highway in England. The cars passing by hit the man repeatedly then drive away. Everytime after being hit by a vehicle, the man stands up and starts walking again. Then at the very end of the vedio, the man stops walking and opens his arms wide. The next car to hit him explodes around the man. as the dust settels around the man the video ends. I think that this is a video that symbolizes how a man grows, how a man can work all his life and then finaly have what hes wanted.

Chinese Backstreet Boys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2rZxCrb7iU

Whether you are or ever wanted to be famous these two kids figured out a way to get themselves out there. They just took songs from the backstreet boys and N’sync and even several other groups. Social media has really helped these two guys make a name for themselves. Even people who put covers of songs on Youtube is helping, or maybe hurting the chances people have to become more known and to fulfill their dreams. Anyone who wants to be famous Youtube is there to help always.

Body Language

http://www.newsdire.com/entertainment/1596-the-deaf-rapper-sign-mark-performing-in-ethiopia.html

This link is to a story of a deaf rapper in Ethiopia. I thought this story was amazing and a great way to really kick off this blog, really who could have thought a deaf man becoming a famous rap artist?  in the article Sign Mark states,"...the way they use their body and hands while they are rapping, I felt like that’s already sign language." To this man body language or hand language means everything! If you think body language means nothing think if you were deaf how much body language would mean. Because you cannot hear the tone of someones voice it may get a little complicated without body language. You can almost tell everything someone is thinking just by watching how their body reacts to you. For instance, when a guy or girl looks at one another they can either be thinking, "wow, they are hot!" and you can completely tell just by their facial expression of the lifting eyebrow or the slight smile. Just by looking at people we are communicating some sort of message to them, whether it be good or bad.