• In this clip, there are effective use of verbal communication, non-verbal communication and music to appeal to the audience’s emotions.  
• Verbal communication: uses of words such as, ‘one earth , one life’ and ‘Let’s save our earth together’. It directly address to the audience that we have to stop damaging the earth and we are capable of saving the earth. 
• non-verbal communication: use of pictures that appeal to our emotions. It implies that the earth is suffering and we need to save it. Some current environmental problems are pollution,  illegal hunting of sea lions and floods. Some pictures shows situations of floods, air pollution, decreasing volume of snow on the mountains that raises the need to take action now. After that one picture shows a young boy putting newspapers into the recycle bin probably to imply that people of any age can save the earth through simple ways. A picture of a sea lion cub appeals to our emotion as it is so adorable and yet illegal cold-hearted hunters are killing them. 
• Some nonverbal cues is using of time to convey meaning(chronemics)-the picture showing the changes to the snow-capped mountains after a few years shows that global warming is occurring and will cause more drastic changes in the environment and in turn affect our lives. As time goes by, more changes will be expected. 
• background music contains one of the repeated lyric, ‘how to save a life’. This is effective as the audience will be primed to think of ways to save a life-our earth. 
• Are you persuaded to do your part in saving our earth?  

 Watchmaker IWC’s advertisement. Bus straps are designed by images of IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch to allow bus travellers near the airport to try before they buy at Berlin, Germany. 

• I find  that IWC is aware of consumers’ needs such as the need to try a watch before buying. If the watch looks fashionable to them and attractive on their wrists,they will mostly likely buy. It is receiver-oriented.
• Also, by advertising the watch on bus straps, it increases the chances of a higher sales for IWC. Increasing it’s exposure to consumers increases the awareness of IWC’s watch. It also means that consumers may think that it is the most recent and fashionable trend to wear IWC’s Big Pilot’s watch. Also, I have read that in dangerous situations, a guy may find a normal lady attractive, but in normal situations, the guy does not find anything interesting or attractive about that same lady. Therefore, when the bus jerks dangerously, people especially males may find IWC’s watch attractive and this increases the chances of them buying it at Berlin.  The watch has a masculine design and shows that IWC target buyers are the males. Therefore, this psychological tactic in business is useful to increase sales. 
•   I think the message of this advertisement is that IWC’s Big Pilot’s watch helps people to have stable lives and the message is conveyed non-verbally to consumers. When the bus jerks, people may be unstable and need to hold on to the bus straps to stabilize themselves. Hence, when people hold on to the bus strap with IWC’s advertisement, they will feel a sense of relief that the bus straps prevent them from falling. With this sense of relief, people may find that IWC is useful for them in managing their lives.
• verbal communication is involved as well as the words,’Try it here. The Big Pilot’s Watch’ are printed on the straps. This inform passengers that this watch is sold by IWC and increases consumers’ awareness of IWC. With increase in awareness of IWc, IWC can capture a larger market and sales will eventually increase.
• I find that non-verbal communication complements verbal communication in this advertisement effectively. 

Among the 7 media theories that we have learnt in class, I would like to mention the media agenda setting function. Agenda setting involves media gate keepers who select issues that they feel are most worthy of coverage and give those issues great attention. They also choose issues to ignore. Priming occurs as the media attend to some issues over the other and change the standards by which people evaluate the issues.

•  What are your views of time? Is it limited or is it unlimited?

• There are 2 types of views towards time-sequential view of time and synchronic view of time.What is sequential view of time?Some explanations are time is  like a commodity that can be used up and time is seen as a line of sequential events. The common comments by people who have a sequential view of time is “time is money”. Does this sounds familiar to you? It does sounds familiar to me as it is the frequent comment from my mother. 
• What about synchronic view of time? People with synchronic view of time views time as repetitive and cyclical. They feel that time is unlimited. 
• Having mentioned the 2 types of views towards time, let us apply them into common situations we encounter in our lives. 

1. Situation 1:Mother:”Can you help me tidy up the garden?”Girl:”Later”After a few hours, you may have forgotten about the errand that your mother has requested. The task of tidying up the garden may be accomplished another day. I find that this view of time is synchronic whereby they feel that time is unlimited  and there is no urgency to complete the task at hand. The rule that “time is money” may not be stated at home because different families have different rules in the house. Furthermore, some may find that the errands at home is secondly to their work-related tasks. 
2. Situation 2:Boss: Pleaseattend today’s meeting at 12pm.Employee: Sure, I will be on time!Many employees turn up early or on time to avoid being late because a common rule of “time is money” is explicitly or implicitly stated. If we disobey, we will create a negative impression of us.  

• I feel that people have either one or both types of views towards time. It depends on the importance of the task at hand and the situation we are in.   

• What are the  common disengagement strategies that people use during the break up of a relationship? According to Cody, there are 5 strategies. The 5 strategies according to popularity are negative identity management, de-escalation, justification,positive tone and behavioural de-escalation. Which strategies are safe to use during the break up of a relationship? In my opinion, negative identity management and behavioural de-escalation may increase the negative feelings or hurt for the other party or both parties. 

• Firstly, negative identity management includes blaming the other party. This does not tackle the root of the problem and will leave the other party confused and hurt. Although many people prefer to use this method to break up a relationship, it does not mean that it is the best strategy. 

•  Secondly, the behavioural de-escalation strategy is not appropriate to use because  avoiding each other does not solve the problem. No communication between means that the problem is being pushed aside and misunderstandings still exists. This may increase the frustration and anger for the other party who is unknown about the motive of the other person. If explanation is not given appropriately, when the other party begins to realize that he or she wants to end the relationship, he may be hurt and rejected. He or she may not be able to manage the rejection as he is unsure of what causes the break-up of the relationship.

•  De-escalation, justification, and positive tone are more safe to use as communication is involved to explain the break-up of the relationship.

• What are your views to this issue? 

During  Chinese New Year , I watched Jack Neo’s movie ‘I not Stupid too’ that was screened on the television. There were many issues raised in the movie that are relevant in our society. I would like to mention 2 main issues.

• Firstly, many people believe that students in the Normal technical Stream are ‘rotten apples’ which means that they are hopeless. However, I agree to Jack Neo’s belief that everyone has his strengths and weakness. It is better that we try to look at others’ strengths and not their weakness. In the movie, the relationship between the teacher and his student improved when he changed his  thinking about his students. Instead of scolding them for receiving poor results, he praised them and encouraged them to strive for better results, even if it is a 1 mark improvement. With regards to communication studies, this is applicable as the way we communicate to others will affect our relationship with others and the resulting reactions of others. The message that we send across to others can cause a positive or negative response from the others. Back to the point of people’s strengths and weakness, one’s weakness can become a strength if we use it in appropriate and beneficial activities. From my personal experiences, I discovered that my friends and cousins, who were previously in the Normal Technical Stream, have many strengths. For example, my cousins are easy-going and creative. They are well-known to spending hours in front of the computer playing games and watching the television. They are now studying courses related to the creative arts to further develop their potential and interest.  
• Secondly,  the movie mentioned about the key to better relationships in the family is to have effective communication. Some parents are busily working and neglect their children. Some are single parent families. I agree that effective communication does not mean shoutings or responding with indifference monosyllabic words such as ‘erm’. Conflict will thus occurs because of poor communication skills. People desire for reciprocity and when we receive monotonous mono-syllabus responses or none at all, we would feel rejected and misunderstandings will arise. Hence, try to stop our activities for a moment and talk to our family members. Keep in mind that effective communication involves listening and responding to others and it is dynamic in nature. Furthermore, one can simply show little acts of appreciation such as a hug or a praise to show love and gratitude towards our family members. So,update yourselves to the events in your family members’ lives now.  

  I like this advertisement as they play around with the two words ‘Anything’ and ‘Whatever’. Misunderstandings is clearly shown in this advertisement as the words ‘anything’ and ‘whatever’ simply mean a thing of any kind. However, the words actually belong to the names of the soft drinks. I realised that verbal cues and non-verbal cues always come together when we communicate with others. The facial expression of the customers clearly shows that they were frustrated that the cashier did not give them the soft drinks that they wanted. The bewildered look of the cashier shows  that he was confused by the requests of his customers. I have not tried Anything and Whatever. Have you tried it? Heard that they are any taste for any thirst. In our lives, we can identify such situation when slangs that belongs to our own social or ethnic group are used in the presence of others. For example the word ’shiok’ can be easily understood by most Singaporean teenagers, but foreigners may not understand what that word means. Therefore, to enable effective communication to occur among people not from our social groups, it would be better to exclude slangs. 

Hi,I found out this short video clip regarding non verbal communication. I agree that our actions and expressions communicate our feelings and responses to others. It is important as 70% of our communication is conveyed non-verbally. There are many situations whereby non-verbal communication affects us. Sometimes, miscommunication occurs because we are unaware that our non verbal cues signal a different meaning to what we say. What does this implies when we say, ‘ that’s great!’ with an emotionless face? Ha! It differs a lot from the verbal cues. So, be careful with what you project non-verbally to others.  

If you would like to know more situations where non-verbal communication is involved, spare a minutes to watch this video clip above.Hope you find it interesting too!      

After watching the above video clip, let us watch a short video and try to identify what are the non-verbal communication involved.        

There were non-verbal communication involved in making the pancake. This video clip is different from many food variety shows because no verbal communication is involved, except the part where ‘110g of flour’ is shown on the table. One of the scene shows 2 eggs travelling across the table and this implies to us that 2 eggs are required for the pancake. 

Next, the pancake man was seen moving in circles and we can infer that the mixture has to be mixed in a circular motion. I like this scene! (Illustrators) 

With a flip of his hand, we know that it is time for us to flip the pancake over. (Emblems involved)    

Many of us like different flavours for our pancakes and this is shown in the scene where different toppings, such as strawberries were poured onto the pancakes. 

After that, a man, who was wearing a black t-shirt, floated into the room to the table. He had a secretive look on his face and his eyes were moving from side to side. This tells us that he was tempted to eat the pancakes without the awareness of  the pancake man. (oculesics is invloved here)    

After that, he gulped down all the pancakes without swallowing. When he finished all the pancakes, he smiled gleefully. What does this tells us? Yes, you got it right! The pancakes are irresistible such that we cannot afford to chew it slowly. We will be satisfied after eating the pancakes. (Affect displays) However, I have one question in mind. Are we able to taste the pancakes when we simply swallow it? I do not think so. I feel that it would be better if he shows the man tasting the pancake bit by bit, licking his lips slowly, and smiling with satisfaction after each bite.         

When the pancake man saw him, his expression clearly shows that he was shocked that his pancakes were eaten by the man in such a short time. (Affect displays as well)  

An unexpected reaction happened when the man ate the pancake which was thrown onto his face by the pancake man. He raised his thumbs up when he finished and it is obvious to us that he loved the pancake. (Affect displays and emblems) It is a strong message  to the audience that the pancake is simply marvellous that he could not resist even if it was thrown at him as an insult.  

More affect displays were used when the pancake man crossed his hands and shook his head to show that he disapproved of the man’s strange behaviour. How do you find this video? I bet your stomach is rumbling now. That’s all folks! I am going to eat my dinner now. My stomach is rumbling. 

Recently I happened to watch a short cancer advertisement on you tube.The link to the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fX5yavIZo. It was really touching and the message was strong. Why is it so? Although the video did not involve verbal communication, it made use of strong non-verbal communication such as the expressions of the characters, background music and colours. It had the ability to arouse our emotions, or pathos.

The advertisement started by showing a girl lying lazily on her bed, playing with her long hair. After that, she ran to the window and looked out, smiling at the same time. This scenario showed a typical girl leading a carefree life, probably waiting for her parents to come home. It had a tinge of sweetness in the scenario.

 In the following scenario, the little girl ran to get a bag filled with hair care equipments and prepared to cut her hair. Throughout these actions, it increased our curiosity as to ‘what would a little girl, who was pouring out hair care equipments from a bag, do to her long, beautiful hair?’ She had a sad looking expression before cutting her hair and it conveyed the message that the girl would miss her long hair after she cut it. The music at the background played a part in creating a sad atmosphere. The colour blue was mainly used in the video and I feel that it was used to create a rather depressing mood.

The next scenario showed the girl running to greet her parents with her short hair. Her parents were shocked and this was seen in their facial expressions. Initially, they were smiling and their expression changed once they saw her. We could guess that they were not happy with her short hair. However, the boy wearing a cap did not appear to be shock because he kept his smile on his face even when he saw the girl. Even though no conversation was involved in the video, their facial expressions clearly showed their emotions.

I felt touched at the scenario where the girl looked down innocently at her skirt, which was filled with the hair she had cut, and she gave some hair to the boy. After that, the boy removed his red cap and put it on the girl’s head, showing his bald head. The video ended showing the girl smiling shyly and it really tugged at my heartstrings because the girl was willing to cut away her long, beautiful hair for the boy who most probably had cancer. We can depict that he had cancer because of his bald head. Most children have healthy, neatly kept hair; whereas, he had a bald head. The message of this video is most probably to appeal to the public to help cancer patients because this video was created by a cancer association. I think it is an interactive form of communication because we can respond to the video by posting our responses on youtube or call the hotline shown at the end of the video. 

 That’s all for today! Feel free to comment on the video too!