Silvia has got a pouch with notelets in front of her. Eva has just drawn one. Each notelet describes a situation that the person needs to act out. The aim of the game is to learn that body language and facial expression also communicate messages which the sender may not always be aware of. Body and facial expression can weaken or strengthen the message that a person may give with his or her voice.
An example: if you say ‘I love you’ with a sweet voice, but with your arms crossed, then the message is not convincing because the messages given by the body (non-verbal) and the voice (verbal) do not reinforce each other.
It looks as if this is a moment in a formal course, but it is not really. Once a month we organize a cosy get-together, (a ‘convivio’), for all people who work in the community home. We share a meal chosen by all and prepared by Juana and play a game or do something else that is companiable. This afternoon we are doing some exercises on the theme that has regularly come up in meetings: paying attention to body language and the use of one’s voice. This playful way of working with this topic works well, because people here are less keen on reading or browsing the internet.
Developing these skills for the staff is crucial, because people like Loyda, Daniel en Jonathan (who are not very speech -oriented) are very tuned- in to the messages that our bodies send out. Emanating authority and acting accordingly are skills that people here do not grow up with. People like to be considered ‘pleasant and nice’ even though it does not always bring them happiness. So part of the training of the Ruach assistants is to sensitize them to the power of non-verbal communication with the ultimate aim that they learn to express themselves in a way that sends to our residents an unambiguous message that produces the desired results.
Of course everyone gets a turn in this role play, which is a fun occasion of trying, laughing, and deep thinking. The exercises are clearly useful and enriching for everybody. Rest assured that the results will soon show in the practice of daily life.