Communications

You have 2 options – please do ONE. Then write 2 paragraphs about your experience – this will make you a bit uncomfortable, so do your best, have a laugh and check in with your partner(s) about how they felt.

Find a friend or someone you can talk with easily for about 6 minutes or so. Let your partner know that this is for class but do not tell them until the end that it was about eye contact. For the first two minutes, talk normally and make normal eye contact with them. Then the next two minutes, talk normally but make eye contact without looking away. Finally for the last two minutes, talk normally but make no eye contact. Once you are done with the six minutes, if you partner hasn’t already figured it out, you can tell them what you were doing and why. Discuss how it made them feel and how you felt about it.
Choose three people to partner with you at different times. They must be three different relationships – i.e. romantic/intimate, friendship, social/workplace, public/stranger. With each person you will do the same activity. Stand facing each other so that your feet lined up (don’t be off centered). Start at an acceptable distance and make sure you note your starting point. Then you can both step forward until you feel uncomfortable – you each may feel comfortable at a different distance so make sure you let your partner know they can also say when they are uncomfortable. Once you reach the uncomfortable point take one step forward (doesn’t have to be a big one) and talk normally for about 2 minute about anything. After the two minutes you can go back to a normal spacing. Talk with your partner about how they felt and how you felt. What kinds of things did you do or want to do to give you the feeling of more space (e.g. not making eye contact at that distance or leaning away). Pay attention to how the different relationship impact the different spacing and comfort level.
Previous Next