Rationale: Research indicates that about 80% of our communication is non-verbal. Being able to communicate effectively includes both verbal and non-verbal interactions. In this activity participants experience what it is like to interact without words in order to understand the complexity of communication.

Objectives:

• To understand the role of non-verbal communication in the communication process.
• To consider the place of non-verbal communication in conflict situations.

Materials: None

Time: 20 minutes

Procedures:

1. Explain the rationale for the activity.


2. Tell students they are to arrange themselves in a line according to the month and day (not the year) of their birthday and they must do this without talking, writing, or using any props, e.g. identification cards. In other words, students must find an alternative way to communicate.
   
   The exercise must be done with the month followed by the day. The exercise does not work if you have students arrange themselves by day followed by month.


3. Give students a moment to think of a strategy to use. You can choose to tell the group where January and December should be or let the group determine where the beginning and the end of the line are.
   
   Alternative: If you think the group can manage, ask them to think of a second way to communicate the month and day of their birth and to use this strategy in the exercise.
4. When the group believes it has accomplished the task, begin with the participant with the earliest birthday and have each person state the month and day of their birth. Students in the wrong place should find their correct place in the line. Once they are in the correct order, have them sit in this order.


5. Lead a brief discussion using the questions below.

• How did you find your place in line?
• Was it difficult? Why or why not?
• What did you do when you tried to communicate with someone who was using a different system of communication? Tell students that finding a common language is very important when trying to manage conflicts.
• Can anyone share an experience in which they tried to communicate with someone but were misunderstood because of a language barrier? How did you respond?
• How does this exercise relate to managing conflicts?

Learn more about USIP’s resources for students and educators.