12 angry men

Managerial Communication

Group 25
Niharika Goel
(140) Nihir
Nemani (141)
Rajat
Singhal(152)
Richa
Tripathi(153)
Q1. What are the different communication aspects that
you could see in the movie?

Communication is the transfer of thoughts, views and ideas

from one person to another. The movie ’12 Angry Men’ is about
how one man stood up against 11 others and convinced each
and every one of them to conform to his point of view. The
movie involves an assortment of personalities which come with
their own biases and mental blocks. The manner in which the
protagonist convinced everyone of his line of thought
showcased excellent communication skills. Besides the
protagonist, communication aspects were highlighted through
all the other jurors as well, through their conflicts and their oral
communication. The different communication aspects gathered
during the movie can be summarized as follows:

Verbal Communication- In the movies they always used

speech as a medium to communicate and the manner of its
usage differed amongst the characters. On one hand the
protagonist was calm in his tone, diplomatic in his words since
he didn’t flatly refute the claim by the others of the boy being
guilty he maintained that he thinks that the boy ‘might’ not be
guilty and he just wants to be sure of it, while on the other
hands there were certain rowdy jurors who were stubborn
about their stand that the boy was ‘guilty’ and shouted at many
instances. This approach of theirs infuriated some of the
members and may have contributed to their decision of voting
‘not guilty’. At certain places some of the others also had to
raise their voice just to be heard, through these instances the
movie showcased the different strategy that has to be used
with different kinds of audience.

Noise- In the movie the protagonist and later all the others
who joined him had to try and be heard despite the internal
noise in the case of certain jurors. These noises were generated
due to past experiences of some of them, their prejudices
about slum children and also because some of them were not
committed to the cause. Hence the movie also presented the
difference between Hearing and Listening. Some of the
jurors were not willing to ‘listen’ to the contrary point of view,
reason it out within themselves and them reach a conclusion.
This is stressed by one of the dialogues in the movie where the
protagonist says for another juror that “He can’t hear you,
never will”.

Non-Verbal Communication- The body language ranged

from calm and poised to aggressive. The effect of each of these
on the people around was quite apparent in the movie. The
protagonist’s sure and confident body language made people
listen to him, the eye contact that he maintained while
speaking showed the confidence he had in what he was
speaking and this made at least some of the others listen to
him.

Q2. Can you give me instances where the 3 Vs i.e

Verbal, Vocal & Visual were used effectively? (give at
least 1 example of each)
All the three Vs were used extremely effectively by the
protagonist and thus the examples given below have been
summarized keeping him at centre.

VERBAL- this aspect is concerned with the language and words

used to communicate. The protagonist used his words
cautiously. He was careful enough to use diplomacy while
putting a contrary point of view and he was respectful in the
way he dealt with the seniors members in the jury. He didn’t
use words which were emotionally charged which led others to
listen to him as well since it gave the impression that he had
logically thought about the whole instance and he was thinking
objectively.

VOCAL- this aspect refers to the tone and pitch used while
communicating. The protagonist was calm throughout the
movie irrespective of how many were in his favour. He rarely
raised his voice which also gathered him some respect from the
others. He varied the tone of his voice while putting forward
some arguments just to obtain the desired reaction from his
audience and capture their attention. He also used the tool of
‘silence’, to give others the opportunity to process the
information he had just provided and form their own opinions.

VISUAL- The visual aspect in the movie comprised of the body

language of the protagonist. He displayed a certain amount of
surety and confidence and he also maintained eye contact
while addressing his audience. Other visual tools used include
the enactment of various situations such as ‘the use of the
knife’ and ‘the walk of the old man’, these enactments easily
focused on the point the protagonist was trying to make and
captured everybody’s attention.

Q3. Can you throw some light on how the external

environment affected the communication process in the
movie?

The external environment in the movie consisted of the closed

room, the fan, the windows and the weather outside. The
closed room created a boundary for the group and enforced the
purpose of their existence. The proximity between the
characters might have even affected their initial decision since
almost everyone followed one decision signifying the ‘herd
effect’ the proximity might have made it harder for them to put
forward a different pint of view since they could be easily
singled out.

The ‘hotness’ of the room formed a part of the conversation

every now and then, it created an uncomfortable environment
creating ‘external noise’. This external noise might also be
responsible for the closed mindedness that some of them
exhibited during the greater part of the movie, since they were
so affected by the external noise that they couldn’t think
objectively. In the latter half of the movie the rain outside first
of all forced everyone to stay inside and carry on with the
discussion. Hence, it propelled the discussion forward secondly,
it brought a relief from the hot environment of the room and
affected everyone’s mood which helped to decrease the noise
and the speakers could now be ‘heard’.
Q4. What about the mental blocks, egos & prejudices
which some of the characters displayed in the movie –
Comment on at least 3 of them.

The trial of the minority young man accused of killing his father
involved reaching a verdict by twelve jurors beyond a
reasonable doubt. However, the movie shows that the process
was interspersed with personal prejudices, egos and mental
blocks of the characters involved. This can be elucidated with
the help of the following instances.

Juror No. 10 exhibited a great amount of bias against slum

children. He seemed to have stereotyped all of the slum
children as dangerous and capable of murder. He didn’t require
any reason for sending the boy to the electric chair beyond the
fact that the boy was from the slums. Even after one member
of the jury accepted that he is from the slums the man did not
alter his view. It was because of this personal bias of his that he
was incapable of listening and accepting other points of view.
He even tried to impose his point of view upon the others but
some resisted, which showed that basing your argument on an
unjustified stereotype will not help you convince others and
hence it is not a logical communication strategy. This bias
created a mental block in his mind and he was not open to new
thoughts even though they seemed logical. The reaction that
he received from all the others near the end of the movie
showed the respect that he had lost because of his prejudice.
Juror No. 7 also exhibited a mental block. He was not
committed to the cause of their meeting. He just wanted to get
done with it so that he can go and watch his baseball match.
The match came up in his conversations quite often which
showed that even though he was responsible for the life and
death of a human being he didn’t understand its importance
since he was too caught up in his own purpose. This ‘internal
noise’ and unrest in him created because he was getting late
for his match prohibited him from listening carefully to the on
goings of the meeting and he was only concerned with reaching
a conclusion. The presence of such people in a group doesn’t
contribute anything to the outcome and productivity level of
the group since they are never involved.

Juror No.3 was biased in his view of the boy because of the
bitter experience he had had with his own son. He was using
this boy as an outlet for his anger related to his own personal
life. Besides this bias he also made the whole act into a
competition between two sides. He let his ego get in way of his
clear thinking and thus he became rigid in his view even though
there were enough points to prove that he might be wrong.

All these prejudices and ego related issues made

communication difficult and deterred the decision making
process of the group. These prejudices if they could have
persisted could have led to the death of an innocent boy.
Q5. What were the effective communication tools used
by the ‘main character,’ that helped him to change
everybody’s decisions?

The main protagonist of the movie, played by Henry Fonda

successfully changed everyone’s point of view and the main
reason behind this was his communication strategy. He used
various communication tools which helped him gain favor
amongst all the members and effectively communicate his
views, thoughts and concerns. He used verbal and non-verbal
communication in a way which helped the receivers clearly
decipher his message and give the desired reaction. The
various tools used by him were-

• He used many techniques of consensus building for

example, he asked for an anonymous vote to be
conducted at the end of his first pitch through which he
was able to elicit support from the others.
• He knew his target audience. He knew that he had to
deal with all the jurors diplomatically and not refute their
view straight away. He dealt with different personalities
differently for example he treated the seniors and all the
others with respect. He also treated the stubborn jurors
with respect but raised his voice whenever he felt the
need. Hence he morphed his communication strategy
according to the audience and situation.

• He did a terrific job of exploring the art of interpersonal

and persuasive communication. He used sound
 arguments to persuade them and most importantly he
did not enforce them upon others he let others think it
through and form their own opinion, which worked for him
since the others felt that they were acting under their own
judgement which is bound to get the protagonist more
votes.
• He was very patient in swaying the other jurors to rethink
their decisions. He did not seem dogmatic or
prejudiced at any point and this helped him gain
sympathy from a few jurors early on.
• His body language was not at all threatening or
aggressive, it was calm and poised which effused
confidence and contributed to the positive view people
formed about him.
• He also used visual techniques by enacting certain
situations and role playing which caught his audience’s
attention.
• He also exhibited good listening skills which are very
important during a discussion. Since, he was willing to
listen to other’s point of view the others gave him the
same.
The effectiveness of the tools used by him was apparent when
he was able to influence the decision of those jurors who
wouldn’t “change their decision in a million years”.