NAME
BULELANI NORMAN TUTANI
REGISTRATION NUMBER
R193981X
MODULE CODE
CS 101
MODULE TITLE
BASIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS
DEPARTMENT
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
MODE OF ENTRY
LECTURER
HARARE WEEKEND CLASS
MRS F MUTEMA
QUESTION: DISCUSS ANY TWO NON-VERBAL ELEMENTS THAT A STUDENT
CAN EMPLOY TO AUGMENT AN ORAL PRESENTATION AT
UNIVERSITY
There are non-verbal elements that one can use to put more emphasis on an oral presentation,
elements that are easy for people to understand. They are a lot of these non-verbal
communication but will discuss the two that is Eye contact and Gesture.
Definition of terms
Non-verbal is the transmission of messages or signals through a non-verbal platform.
Eye contact is communicating through looking at each other’s eyes.
Gesture is a movement of a part of a body especially a hand or head to express an idea or
meaning.
Borg (2004) states that "in a face-to-face encounter 93 percent of the impact of your message is
non-verbal while 7 percent of the impact of your message is verbal.” and according to Reece and
Brandt (2006) they say that most of the non-verbal messages can be said to be sent through eyes.
In addition to that Fast (1970:143) reports Jose' Ortega Gasset's metaphor for the human look as
follows: "He felt that the eye, with its lids and socket, its iris and pupil was equivalent to a whole
theatre with its stage and actors" so having eye contact on your presentation can be a movie that
people will be watching as you present.
Moreover (Borg, 2004:59; the present author's emphases) says lack of eye contact behavior can
give the addressee (s) an impression that one is "talking at people instead of to them" therefore
employing that eye contact in communication is very crucial on the part of presenters.
last but not least eye contact builds bond between people, so it is helpful if you are trying to get
someone to focus on what you have to say (Sonneborn 2011:23).
On another hand according to (Sonneborn 2011:25 “too much eye contact is just as bad as too
little because too little will make you appear uninterested in the other person, while too much
will make you seem angry and aggressive.” also he alludes to the point that if you don’t make
that early eye contact you run the risk of losing people's attention for the entire presentation
Sonneborn (2011).
Gestures are a specific bodily movement that reinforce a verbal message or conveys a particular
thought or emotion. Seth (2010:219) says "gestures compliment your verbal presentation" and
he also continues to mention types of gestures as:
Emphatic gestures are used to emphasize or lay stress on a word that is important in
your massage.
Descriptive gestures are used to provide a visualization effect for your message. For
example, if you are talking of something big, you open your arms wide.
Transitional gestures may be used to list out or enumerate things, for example
counting on your fingers to enumerate the three types of negotiating approaches.
Moreover, gesture is a specific bodily movement that reinforce a verbal message or conveys a
particular thought or emotion. Calbris (2011) also alludes to the point that “when gestures
accompany speech, it assumes specific functions in relation to what is being said” while Aquino
ed (2008) says gestures may clarify or intensify the meaning of an utterances, meaning to say a
student can be helped in putting his point across by the use of gestures.
Last but not least gestures strengthen the audience’s understanding of your verbal message, they
also help point vivid pictures in your listener’s minds.
However, we see that when gestures are not employed tactfully and skillfully can spell disaster to
a student. Sethi (2010) points out that if you overdo gestures they can be annoying or distracting,
also using the same gestures can be boring, while Aquino lastly says gestures is “cultural-bound”
meaning not all gestures convey a universal meaning.
In closing we have seen that for a student to make a good and appealing oral presentation he/she
should employ non-verbal cues to augment it, and the two that we have seen is eye contact and
gestures. If these two are given justice, they do make an oral presentation powerful and we have
seen the other side of the coin that if not done diligently one cannot protrude the intended
message to the audience.
REFERENCES
Aquino A 2008, speech and oral communication for nursing, ed. Rex bookstore, Inc. 166
Calbris G, elements of meaning in gesture, john Benjamins publishing company Amsterdam
Sonnerborn L,2011. non-verbal communication, the art of body language. The Rosen publishing group
Sethi,2010. business communication, Tata, McGraw-Hill education
Steven, G. McCafferty, Gale stam,2009. Gesture, Routledge, New York
www.researchgate.net/publication/2759656339 22/08/2019