Meizi 1
Meizi Li
HUC 108 T/ TH
Professor Gardner
October 15, 2008
Nonverbal Communication
Science proved that the speed of light is much quicker than the speed of
sound. That is why people hearing thunder rumble after seeing the lightning; and that
is also one of the reasons why the nonverbal skill is more important than the verbal
skill in communication. Verbal and nonverbal skills are the foundations of
communication. Nonverbal communication is any message other than written or
spoken that conveys meaning through the tone of voice, facial or body gestures,
behavior and dress. Nonverbal messages are more persuasive than verbal messages,
and it is more difficult to control. Joe Biden gave a successful speech on his
Acceptance speech. Although Biden’s strong and professional verbal skill is important
to his speech, but the key of his successful speech is his excellent nonverbal
communication skills. Biden’s out looking gives people professional and respectful
images, he has good vocal qualities including his projection, pitch and volume; also
his proper gestures are the important parts of his speech.
First of all, Joe Biden’s surface gives people a positive image. He wears
a blue necktie on a white shirt inside of a black suite. He looks professional and
respectful as a public speaker. At the beginning of his speech, Joe Biden was
communicating with the audience both in verbal and nonverbal way to get attentions.
Meizi 2
He smiled when he told a joke, and he turned his face smoothly from his right side to
the left side to make eye contacts with the audience. He was listening well to the
audience and made necessary short pauses when the audience was cheering for him.
He pointed to his mother from the audience when he said he loves her.
Second, Biden has good vocal qualities, and he repeated same words to
emphasized his points and to interactive with the audience. As a professional speaker,
he raises and lowers his pitch in necessary to persuade effectively. Either in the
beginning he talked about his mother or at the end when he mentioned his
grandchildren, he used lower pitch to show the emotion. When he talked about the
failure of American economic in the past few years, he also used low volume and low
pitch. In contrast, Biden raised his volume and pitch when he talked about what
Obama could bring us as the next president in the United States, as showing his
resolution and confident of Obama. His words fulfilled by power and energy, in other
words, his projection was high whenever he mentioned Obama as supporting him.
Meanwhile, he made requests and gave directives properly by saying the same words.
During Biden’s Speech, he said three times “McCain is wrong, Obama is right” and
said five times “That is not change, that is the same”. His speech not only maintained
his points by repeating same words, but also it made requests to the audience to shout
those words together. Making requests can create a supportive. At last few times, the
audience shouted with him in the same words. It was an interactive and impressive
speech.
Meizi 3
At last, the using of proper gestures is the icing on the cake. Joe Biden
never stopped his gestures during his 20 minutes speech. He used his hand whether in
use of indicate psychological or physical needs or supplement words. When he
mentioned his past father, he putted his right hand on his chest, he pointing when he
make his points of view, he clenched his fists for maintain his point. At the end of the
speech, he knocked the desk with his right fist four times when he say “I”, “Obama”,
“His”, “Our”; and he used two hands together to knock the desk when he say
“America”. I felt power and strength from him when he clenched his fists.
In conclusion, there is no doubt Joe Biden is an excellent and
professional speaker. Biden’s successful speech is inseparable with his good nonverbal
communication skills. First of all, he gave the audience a positive image; his vocal
qualities were outstanding including his volume, his pitch and his projection. His
proper gestures helped him to send his messages clearly in an emotional way and
maintain his points.