Non-Verbal Communication
And the Media
Objective:
• Analyze print advertisements for types of nonverbal communication.
• Analyze print advertisements for functions of nonverbal communication.
Directions:
Locate a print advertisement in the newspaper or a magazine that features a
person, portion of a person or group of people. Analyze the visual imagery and
respond to the following questions. Please type your responses on a separate
sheet of paper, attaching your ad to your completed responses for submission.
Part One – The types of nonverbal communication
1. Analyze your ad and make an educated guess as to what nonverbal messages
the posture/gestures (kinesics) of the people convey in your
ad.
2. Explain how the overall physical attractiveness of the person/people
selected as models for the ad affects the nonverbal message in your ad. Are
the models ectomorphs, mesomorphs, or endomorphs? Why?
3. What can you infer from the facial expression(s) of the
people in your ad?
4. How are proxemics depicted in your ad? If there is only one person in the
ad, evaluate the proxemics of the person in the ad and you as the viewer.
5. Analyze your ad and make an educated guess as to what nonverbal touch
messages the people convey in your ad. Are the people in your ad touching?
If so, what does their touch convey? If not, does their lack of touch mean anything
to you? If there is only a single person in the ad, are they touching themselves
in a natural way, i.e. hands folded, leaning their chin on their hand, or in
an unnatural or awkward position? Why?
6. What does the clothing (or lack of clothing) used by the
model in your ad suggest? What accessories have been used, i.e. tattoos, body
piercing, jewelry, to convey a message?
7. Explain how the overall physical environment affects the
nonverbal message in the ad. Is the environment indoors, outdoors, professional,
casual, intimate, etc.?
Part II – The functions of nonverbal communication
8. How do the written words in the ad relate to the nonverbal message
conveyed in your ad? (Repetition, emphasis, complementation, contradiction,
substitution, regulation)