Nonverbal Communication

A glance here. A wink there. Outstretched fingers behind the back. These are the tools of nonverbal communication. It comes with the territory for the generals of volleyball. An outstanding setter can make a bad team good, a good team great. There are few statistics to measure their effectiveness outside the win-loss column. And in the course of a season, their relationship with their teammates is more important than their bond with their coach.

As we have grown older, my husband and I have developed hearing problems: For me, hearing requires more effort, while he cannot hear sometimes in spite of any effort. We both complain that young people today talk too fast or swallow their words or don't look at us when they speak. And we have difficulty in large groups where there are multiple conversations and different voices and background sounds. I manage through paying close attention, even straining, when people speak, or relying on context to help me understand words I do not hear clearly.

The Women's League will present storyteller Adrienne McMillan at 7 tonight at City Hall, 17855 Santiago Blvd. McMillan will share humorous and enlightening stories on the art of nonverbal communication.

AS A lightly published science fiction writer and longtime devotee of sci-fi films, I appreciated this article very much. My wife and I saw "Wall-E" the weekend before and were very disappointed, and Reed Johnson articulated better than we had what the flaws were. He put his finger on the fact that it's in essence two movies, before and after Wall-E gets to the spaceship. It reminds me of "Titanic," which is two movies before and after hitting the iceberg; the first is a character-driven historical, the second action-adventure melodrama.

AS A lightly published science fiction writer and longtime devotee of sci-fi films, I appreciated this article very much. My wife and I saw "Wall-E" the weekend before and were very disappointed, and Reed Johnson articulated better than we had what the flaws were. He put his finger on the fact that it's in essence two movies, before and after Wall-E gets to the spaceship. It reminds me of "Titanic," which is two movies before and after hitting the iceberg; the first is a character-driven historical, the second action-adventure melodrama.

Is a picture still worth a thousand words in a world with cell phones, e-mail and satellite TV? Whether it's verbal or nonverbal, visual or written or electronic, communication has changed dramatically from the cave paintings, stone carvings and smoke signals of long ago. Explore the history of communication and the many ways people have expressed their ideas through the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site: http://www.latimes.

Max Maven doesn't claim to be psychic -- just a mind reader. In his cerebral act, "Thinking in Person: An Evening of Knowing and Not Knowing," running Fridays at the Steve Allen Theater, the magician and mentalist performs confounding feats including describing audience members' past trips abroad, predicting the outcome of a game of musical chairs and duplicating a drawing that's been sketched by a patron while Maven's eyes have been covered. HOW DO YOU READ MINDS?

The stuck-out tongue. The Bronx cheer. The single-finger salute. Gestures speak louder than words, especially these age-old symbols of disdain and contempt. Human beings have used body language ever since our species first stood up on its hind legs, observes anthropologist Desmond Morris in "Body Talk" (Crown, 1994)--freeing our hands to flip each other off. Since then, we have used our hands, tongues, faces and sometimes entire bodies as organs of communication.

"Cut! Cut!" Still peering through the viewfinder, Bobby Freeman waved his hands over his head in a fit of pique. Heaving an exaggerated sigh, he stalked up to the set and shuffled the reporter's scripts, throwing them a critical glance as he returned to his position behind the video camera. "OK, go," he barked. Then: "No, wait. You're fired." Hey, when you're in the business of words, there's not always time for small talk.

UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis said Tuesday he had given it a try and had been honest with the media, and the way he made it sound, it was like the first time in his 18 years of administrative work here. However, he made it clear, "That will never happen again."

Max Maven doesn't claim to be psychic -- just a mind reader. In his cerebral act, "Thinking in Person: An Evening of Knowing and Not Knowing," running Fridays at the Steve Allen Theater, the magician and mentalist performs confounding feats including describing audience members' past trips abroad, predicting the outcome of a game of musical chairs and duplicating a drawing that's been sketched by a patron while Maven's eyes have been covered. HOW DO YOU READ MINDS?

UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis said Tuesday he had given it a try and had been honest with the media, and the way he made it sound, it was like the first time in his 18 years of administrative work here. However, he made it clear, "That will never happen again."

Is a picture still worth a thousand words in a world with cell phones, e-mail and satellite TV? Whether it's verbal or nonverbal, visual or written or electronic, communication has changed dramatically from the cave paintings, stone carvings and smoke signals of long ago. Explore the history of communication and the many ways people have expressed their ideas through the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site: http://www.latimes.

The Women's League will present storyteller Adrienne McMillan at 7 tonight at City Hall, 17855 Santiago Blvd. McMillan will share humorous and enlightening stories on the art of nonverbal communication.

The stuck-out tongue. The Bronx cheer. The single-finger salute. Gestures speak louder than words, especially these age-old symbols of disdain and contempt. Human beings have used body language ever since our species first stood up on its hind legs, observes anthropologist Desmond Morris in "Body Talk" (Crown, 1994)--freeing our hands to flip each other off. Since then, we have used our hands, tongues, faces and sometimes entire bodies as organs of communication.

A glance here. A wink there. Outstretched fingers behind the back. These are the tools of nonverbal communication. It comes with the territory for the generals of volleyball. An outstanding setter can make a bad team good, a good team great. There are few statistics to measure their effectiveness outside the win-loss column. And in the course of a season, their relationship with their teammates is more important than their bond with their coach.

As we have grown older, my husband and I have developed hearing problems: For me, hearing requires more effort, while he cannot hear sometimes in spite of any effort. We both complain that young people today talk too fast or swallow their words or don't look at us when they speak. And we have difficulty in large groups where there are multiple conversations and different voices and background sounds. I manage through paying close attention, even straining, when people speak, or relying on context to help me understand words I do not hear clearly.

In nearly all of Jim Carrey's movies, the rubber-faced actor's eyebrows leap like caterpillars on amphetamines. Jack Nicholson's eyebrows arch wildly to imply devious deeds are afoot. Even Bob Dole, known for his expressly unanimated speaking posture, has been known to cock an eyebrow to italicize his remarks.

"Cut! Cut!" Still peering through the viewfinder, Bobby Freeman waved his hands over his head in a fit of pique. Heaving an exaggerated sigh, he stalked up to the set and shuffled the reporter's scripts, throwing them a critical glance as he returned to his position behind the video camera. "OK, go," he barked. Then: "No, wait. You're fired." Hey, when you're in the business of words, there's not always time for small talk.