Having a conversation and not being able to be expressive through hand gestures is difficult. It is also difficult to have a conversation where you are only using gestures. This week I experimented on both of these. Both findings to were interesting. The first 15 minute conversation was not being able to speak but rather use my body and hand gestures. My response to this conversation could be described as me being a little annoyed that he could not understand what I was trying to convey, along with my partners response being irritated as well. However, my partner also described it as being intreating to try an figure out what I was trying to get across. 

        My experience was a little challenging, it was difficult to remember not to speak because that is such a first reaction, to just say what it is you want or feel. My partner did alter the way he communicated with me because it was like playing charades. He was trying to decode what I was saying and it definitely took some patience. I believe I was in control of the conversation and I would initiate topic change because I was in control of my body and the things I was trying to communicate. If I stopped moving or gesturing, the conversation would stop. 

       As far as asking and answering questions, we both partook. He would ask me a question to find out what I was asking or what I wanted, and I in turn would gesture questions back and would be able to answer with a yes or no nod. Since this experiment was conducted between just two people, my partner and I, there was a balance of power between us and forced us to work as a team to figure out what the conversation was about. 

       If me and my partner were from different cultures, I think I would have the advantage because we can not always understand other languages, but with the help of body language and gestures, more than likely you are able to understand what they are saying. In a lot of cultures, even evident today, we get very frustrated with people who do not speak our same language. The speaking culture might get frustrated with the the symbolic culture because it can be very difficult to communicate where there is a language barrier, or lack of. A modern situation that resembles this experiment would be with many people who live in the United States that do not speak English. It is hard for them to work because they can not communicate and it could be hard to defend themselves because they are not able to get their points across. 

        The second part of this experiment was the opposite of the first. My partner and I had a 15 minute conversation where we were able to communicate but could not use any other type of body or hand gesture, no physical embellishments. My response to this experiment was slightly easier than the first experiment because I was able to speak to convey exactly what I was saying. It was easier for my partner as well because there was no guessing involved. However, I am a very animated person when I talk so it was hard to not use my hand while we had a conversation as well as to be monotone the whole time. My partner described this conversation as boring and and dry but said lack of body language did not affect the conversation too much and not difficulty understanding me. 

        This experiment showed that using physical embellishment is just a big part of communication as speech. We use hand gestures, change and tone, facial expression and body language to convey our thoughts and feelings just as much as plain speech. The delivery of my speech without physical embellishment was received in almost a negative way. I could say I was overjoyed and happy but saying it in a monotone with no facial or body expression would make someone think otherwise. 

        The benefit of being able to read body language can come in handy when you are trying to see if someone is nervous, lying, uncomfortable, or happy. The way you look, move, and react tells the other person whether or not you care, if you’re being truthful, and how well you’re listening. I think there are people who have difficulty ready body language, and it would be difficult to identify with them. When your body language matches with the words you’re saying, that increase trust and clarity and confirmation. When they don’t, this can generate tension, mistrust, and confusion It's important to recognize that it's our nonverbal communication such as our facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice that speak the loudest.