2. Nonverbal Communication
NVC can be communicated through gestures and
touch (Haptic communication), by body language
or posture, by facial expression and eye contact.
Speech contains nonverbal elements known as
paralanguage, including quality, emotion and
speaking style, as well as prosodic features such
as rhythm, intonation and stress.
3. Nonverbal communication between people is
communication through sending and receiving
wordless clues.
It includes the use of visual cues such as body language
(kinesics), distance (proxemics) and physical
environments/appearance, of voice (paralanguage)
and of touch (haptics).[1] It can also include
chronemics (the use of time) and oculesics (eye
contact and the actions of looking while talking and
listening, frequency of glances, patterns of fixation,
pupil dilation, and blink rate).
4. Proxemics
Study of how people use and perceive the physical space
around them - space between sender and receiver of a
message influences how message is interpreted.
Comfortable personal distances also depend on the culture,
social situation, gender, and individual preference.
Hall notes that different cultures maintain different
standards of personal space e.g.
-
Latin cultures: relative distances smaller, and people tend
to be more comfortable standing close to each other;
-
Nordic cultures the opposite is true.
Space in NVC may be divided into four main categories:
intimate, social, personal, and public space.
5. Diagram of Edward
T. Hall's personal
reaction bubbles
(1966), showing
radius in feet
6. Body Language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication,
consisting ofbody pose, gestures, and eye movements.
Humans send andinterpret such signals subconsciously.
Study of body movement and expression is kinesics.
Body language may provide cues as to the attitude or
state of mind of a person.
For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness,
boredom,
relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, besides many other
cues.
7. Gestures:
A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to
express meaning.
They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body,
and also includemovements of the head, face and eyes,
such as winking, nodding, orrolling ones' eyes.
8. Movement and body position
Posture: used to determine
- degree of attention or involvement,
- the difference in status between communicators,
- the level of fondness a person has for the othercommunicator.
Studies investigating the impact of posture on interpersonal
relationships: mirror-image congruent postures, (one person’s left side is
parallel to the other’s right side),leads to favorable perception
of communicators andpositive speech; forward lean or a decrease in a
backwards lean also signify positive sentiment duringcommunication.
Posture is understood through such indicators as direction
of lean, body orientation, arm position, and body
openness.
9. Haptic communication
Means by which people and other animals communicate
via
touching.
Touch is an extremely important sense for humans; as
well
as providing information about surfaces and textures it
is
a component of nonverbal communication in
interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying
physical intimacy.
10. Paralanguage: nonverbal cues of the voice
Various acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch
and accent, collectively known as prosody, can all give
off nonverbal cues.
Paralanguage may change the meaning of words.
Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the
utterance:
- the emotional state of a speaker;
- whether an utterance is a statement, a question, or a
command;
- whether the speaker is being ironic or sarcastic;
emphasis, contrast, and focus;
other elements of language that may not be encoded by
grammar or choice of vocabulary.
11. 1. Environment:
The environment plays a important role in the
communication process non verbally because it can
affect the various attributes of the person. For example,
when a person is trying to communicate with gestures to
another person, factors like the distance between them,
the presence of other people and also the place in which
they are present can deter the quality and the extent of
the communication. This is the main method in which
the environment affects the non verbal communication.
12. 2. Appearance:
The appearance of a person can also affect the non
verbal communication. The reason for this is that
only when the individual has a certain appearance
will the other people be interested in the process of
communication. The appearance of some people
puts you off and there are many other people whose
appearance makes you to want to talk to them more.
Try to be in the second category for your
communication to be effective.
13. 3. Eye contact:
Eye contact is a very important aspect of
communication. When a speaker talks without eye
contact, then the audience will not be interested in the
talk. Other than this, there is a great chance of
distraction for the person who is listening and also the
person who is communicating when there is no eye
contact.
14. 4. Posture:
The posture makes or breaks the communication. The
main aspect of the posture is that a person can appear to
be interested or disinterested in what is being said. This
is a visible and highly noticeable activity. Posture is an
important aspect of non verbal communication. A
speaker who is leaning forward appears very interested
in the audience and a speaker who sits out of the sight of
the audience is rarely noticed.
15. 5. Gestures:
Gestures are an important part of the non verbal
communication and a speaker who talks with gestures
appears more dramatic and there are more followers to
this kind of speaker. Gestures also make the speaker look
more inviting and there are more listeners to a speaker
who makes gestures. Gestures should be able to make an
impact on the people who are listening to you.
16. 6. Facial expression:
The facial expression plays a major role in the non verbal
communication. A person who has a great expression
while talking is able to communicate more things to the
audience than a person who has an expressionless face.
This is a strategy that is increasingly being employed by
many great speakers.
