Artifact Analysis Charlie Chaplin, the person that comes to mind when illustrating non-verbal communication. Why would Charlie Chaplin, also known as “The Trump,” be considered an example of non-verbal communication? As defined by our textbook nonverbal communication is a communication behavior that does not rely on written or spoken words (Beebe, 2015, p. 95). We all know that Charlie Chaplin is best known as one of the all-time greatest and widely loved silent movie stars of the early to mid-20th century. In an episode of the American Masters by PBS, The Unknown Chaplin is best known for directing, editing, producing and starring in his own silent films such as The Great Dictator and Modern Times (Brownlow & Bill, 1986). Chaplin used nonverbal…show more content… Not only does eye contact, as described in our textbook, display an appearance of how involved or uninvolved you are with a discussion but it also shows that “you are listening rather than talking; you like the other person; you want to persuade or influence someone; you have a high need for approval or affiliation; you seek a response from someone” (Beebe, 2015, p. 97). Chaplin explicitly showed the importance of eye contact through his silent films as well as his images. If he was not making eye contact with another character he would not have engaged in such a funny way and he would in return fail to express his emotion across the audience. As shown in the artifact, the center image reflects how strong eye contact can be when it comes to nonverbal communication. In this center image, Chaplin is posing seriously leaning on his cane, with his right hand leaning on his waist and his look depicts that expression of a serious and direct face. Nonverbal communication and Chaplin go hand on hand. In this artifact this type of nonverbal communication is composed of facial expressions, body posture and movement, and eye contact. These three components of nonverbal communication are the strongest shown within the silent films that included Charlie Chaplin as their character. Like it is said, one image says more than a thousand words. Well Chaplin did just that and was able to influence and take the silent film industry in a whole new direction never thought of before by developing and expressing a message in the form of nonverbal
