Saying a lot by saying nothing

I had a discussion yesterday with an elementary school principal on communication. My point is that teaching is more successful when done in person rather than online, because of the nature of proximity. It also has to do with all important non-verbal communication.

Different cultures have different signals they send out with their body language, but a shrug of indifference or a delighted smile is the same in any language. You can tell how your message is received by another even when they don't open their mouth. Husbands and wives, especially long-time marrieds like Sally and me, have a kind of visual shorthand instantly read by the other.I'm sure many a teacher is disheartened when what she is teaching is met by kids slumping in their seats or staring out the window. If the kids are bright-eyed and leaning forward, hot dog! She's scored with them. They don't need to give her an oral critique; she already knows.

Non-verbal is impossible to do via e-mail. A lot of e-mails I've seen have been obviously written in such haste that rules of grammar are ignored, spelling is bad, or thoughts are unclear. We don't have the opportunity to slow the writer down, to ask him to clear up some things.

Where I see this lately is in the political arena. We're getting a lot of Sarah Palin, but not a lot from Sarah Palin. Just more political buzz and trash-talk. I want to slow down the love fest and ask her what she really thinks, where she really stands, what she'd really do. Republicans and indies right now are ga-ga over Sarah, and the polls show she's bumped up the ticket. As I write this over 11 points on the USA Today poll. Still, what will happen once she's sent on the campaign trail and begins to speak? We'll have to see how people respond to her, both critics and fans.

What they see now in the non-verbal area they definitely must like. Hey, even I'd go see her if she showed up at a rally like this!

Well, she could leave the gun at home. And speaking of non-verbal communication, the gun says a lot, doesn't it? She has a big phallic-looking thing like that in her hands and a goofy grin on her face. You know she's telling you something.

The message the guy in the background is giving will thrill the tobacco companies. Hey, she's around a smoker! She must not disapprove of cigarettes!