When we discuss “communication,” we frequently refer to “what we say,” or the language that we employ. Interpersonal communication, however, encompasses much more than just the information or message that words explicitly communicate. It also includes nonverbal behaviors that convey implicit messages, whether they are intended to or not.
Beyond spoken (verbal) communication, these non-verbal cues can provide additional information, meaning, and hints. In fact, according to some estimates, between 70 and 80 percent of communication is nonverbal!
What is Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication, often known as manual language, is the process of conveying information without the use of spoken or written words. Nonverbal conduct may highlight specific aspects of a verbal communication, much like italicizing accentuates written material.
Nonverbal Communication Types
Nonverbal communication can take seven different forms, which are as follows:
- Kinesics
- Haptics
- Vocalics
- Proxemics
- Personal Appearance
- Chronemics
- Physical Environment
1. KINESICS
Nonverbal communication in kinesics entails the use of gestures, body positions, eye contact, and facial expressions.
Gestures:
The three subcategories of gestures are “adaptors” “emblems” and “illustrators”
Adaptors:
The usage of adaptors is inadvertent, and neither the sender nor the receiver are aware of their particular significance. It suggests that someone is feeling uneasy or anxious.
These behaviors can either be object-adaptors, such as pressing cellphones, toying with pens, caressing your hair, etc., or self-adaptors, such as coughing, clearing your throat, etc.
Emblems:
Gestures with distinct meanings are called emblems. They can entirely take the place of words.
For instance, you can wave your hands in place of saying “Hello” or “Goodbye,” and in the US, a thumbs up can take the place of “Okay!
Emblems, as opposed to adaptors, are used consciously and have distinct meanings for both the sender and the recipient.
Illustrators:
Gestures are utilized as illustrations for the spoken information they follow. Illustrators do not have their own meaning, in contrast to emblems.
You could, for instance, use hand movements to describe an object’s size or shape.
BODY POSTURES:
You can convey information or express emotions with your body language, or both.
Open postures and closed postures are the two different categories of bodily postures.
One might express openness or interest in what is being said by adopting an open posture. Uncrossed arms and legs are a few examples of open postures.
Anxiety and disinterest in what is being said can both be indicated by a closed posture. Crossed arms, crossed legs, arms in front of the body, etc. are examples of closed postures.
EYE CONTACT:
The study of oculesics focuses on how eye movements impact verbal communication. Communication is greatly impacted by eye contact.
It shows interest in what the other person is saying to keep eye contact (as opposed to staring). When there is little to no eye contact, though, disinterest can be seen.
FACIAL EXPRESSION:
The movement of face muscles to communicate messages is referred to as facial expressions.
Our faces may convey a variety of emotions, including joy, sorrow, fear, rage, discomfort, and more.
For instance, scowling is a sign of anger. Similar to how a smiling face conveys happiness.
2. HAPTICS
Haptics is the term used to describe touch-based communication. It is the study of nonverbal communication through touching.
Four levels can be used to subcategorize haptics:
- Professional/functional level
- Social/political status
- Warmth/Friendship level
- Love and intimacy scale
Negative outcomes may result from a lack of touching-related nonverbal communication abilities. For instance, you may be charged with sexual harassment if you inappropriately touch someone of the opposing gender.
3. VOCALICS
The practice of communicating using “pitch, tone, volume, speaking rate, vocal quality, and verbal fillers” is known as vocalics, or paralanguage.
- Pitch: Pitch describes the voice’s high or low pitch.
- Tone: Tone refers to the way you speak to people.
- Volume: Volume is a measure of the voice’s strength, intensity, pressure, or power.
- Speaking Rate: Simply put, speaking rate refers to how quickly or slowly a person speaks.
- Verbal fillers are sounds or words that are used to indicate a stop for thought.
4. PROXEMICS
The study of proxemics examines how we use space and how it affects how we communicate. It alludes to the practice of communicating over a distance and in space.
The four main categories of proxemics are “intimate, personal, social, and public spaces”
Intimate Space: Any space that is closer than 18 inches is considered intimate space, which is typically used when conversing with a spouse, friend, child, or parent.
Personal Space: When talking with friends and close acquaintances, “Personal space” is typically employed between the distances of 18 inches and 4 feet.
Social Space: When speaking with coworkers, students, acquaintances, or complete strangers, “Social space” is a span of 4 to 12 feet.
Public Space: Any area larger than 12 feet is referred to as “Public space” and is typically utilized for public speeches, lectures, campaigns, etc.
5. PERSONAL APPEARANCE
There are two aspects to personal appearance:
- “Physical characteristics”
- “Artifacts”
Physical characteristics including body type, height, weight, and many others have the ability to communicate. The messages that are conveyed by these bodily traits are beyond our control.
First impressions are significantly influenced by physical characteristics. People can infer things about you from the way you look.
Artifacts on the other hand, objects like our automobiles, jewelry, haircuts, tattoos, clothes, and so on can communicate with people about who we are.
Muslim women, for instance, display their religious views by donning hijabs.
6. CHRONEMICS
Chronemics is the study of how time and communication interact. An essential non-verbal indication that might influence communication is time.
People can receive messages from chronomics regarding the things we appreciate and don’t value.
For instance, the employer can tell how serious you are by how quickly you respond to an email job offer. It may be a sign that you don’t value the job offer if you respond slowly.
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7. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The actual setting in which communication takes place is referred to as the physical environment.
Your surroundings can reveal a lot about your personality, financial situation, occupation, and other things.
For instance, a cluttered and disorganized office will leave a bad impression on your visitor. The visitor might assume that you lack organization.
Purpose of Nonverbal Communication Skills
Nonverbal communication facilitates:
1. Confirm or change what has been said.
In order to emphasize their agreement with the other person, people may aggressively nod when they say "Yes," while a shrug of the shoulders and a dejected expression when they respond, "I'm fine, thanks," may really suggest that nothing is at all well.
2. Communicate details regarding their emotional state.
Even if you haven't uttered a word, people can usually tell how you're feeling just by the way you look at them, sound at them, and move about you.
"Are you OK? You seem a little depressed."
By observing people's nonverbal cues, we can infer how they are feeling.
3. Clarify or strengthen the bond between persons.
If you've ever observed a couple conversing while sitting together, you may have noticed that they often'mirror' each other's body language: they hold their hands in analogous postures, they smile at the same moment, and they turn to face each other more fully.
4. Offer the other person comments.
These subtle signals offer information gently but clearly: a smile and a nod show that you are listening and that you agree with what the other person is saying; movement and hand gestures may suggest that you intend to speak.
5. Control the communication's flow
An emphatic nod, a firm closing of the lips, or making eye contact with the meeting chair will all be signs that we have finished speaking or that we wish to speak. Making eye contact with the meeting chair and nodding slightly will also be signs that we wish to speak.
Methods for Improving Nonverbal Communication
We are just as capable of communicating nonverbally as we are verbally. Your communication will improve if you learn nonverbal communication techniques.
Using nonverbal clues to communicate might get tedious if you lack the basic abilities. If you adhere to these advice, you can gain these abilities:
1. WATCH OUT FOR NONVERBAL CUES
It’s important to pay great attention to nonverbal cues because they might convey more information than spoken words.
Try to pay attention to the speaker’s nonverbal cues, such as eye contact, gestures, tone of voice, body posture, etc., in addition to what they are saying.
You should disregard what has been stated and concentrate on nonverbal cues if the speaker’s words are ineffective in getting your point across.
For instance, a person who is angry may appear unhappy while pretending to be cheerful. Pay attention to his nonverbal cues in this situation.
2. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.
Maintaining eye contact is important, but avoid staring. You can show that you’re interested in what someone is saying by keeping eye contact.
Despite the fact that the other person is not looking at you, you should still make eye contact. Due to cultural norms or shyness, the other person might not want to maintain eye contact.
Maintaining eye contact might also show that you are sure of the message you are delivering. For instance, if a speaker is giving a presentation while looking down, the audience can infer that the speaker is timid.
3. CONCENTRATE ON VOICE TONE
Your voice tone can indicate a variety of emotions, from disinterest to annoyance, rage, worry, enjoyment, etc.
Because of this, you should be conscious of your tone at all times and adapt it to the situation.
Use a sarcastic tone, for instance, when telling a joke to someone.
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4. POSE INQUIRIES
In order to avoid leaping to conclusions during conversations when the other person offers conflicting signals, you should clarifying questions.
When non-verbal clues and spoken words don’t coincide, mixed messages are conveyed. They may be confusing, so don’t hesitate to ask further questions to better comprehend the point being made.
The right timing of your questions shows that you are paying attention to what the other person is saying.
5. OBSERVE NONVERBAL CUES COLLECTIVELY
Instead of analyzing a single nonverbal indication, consider nonverbal cues as a whole.
One nonverbal cue can have multiple meanings, which can lead to misunderstandings and compromise the effectiveness of communication.
A single nonverbal cue frequently conveys no message at all or the incorrect message. As a result, you should always analyze any nonverbal cues you are given.
6. BE MINDFUL OF YOUR POSTURE.
Thousands of signals can be conveyed through your body language and actions.
Make sure your posture is positive and not sending any unfavorable vibes. Slouching, for instance, conveys that you aren’t interested in what the other person is saying.
Avoid employing closed body language; instead, keep it open by keeping your arms and legs uncrossed and standing upright, among other things.
7. PUT SOME EXPRESSIONS ON YOUR FACE.
Our faces can convey a range of emotions. Human faces can exhibit more than 16 complex expressions, according to research.
You can convey your mood to others through your facial expressions. For instance, grinning shows that you are content. Similarly, a frown expressed sadness or rage.
You should always practice in addition to the aforementioned advice. You must practice honing your nonverbal communication abilities, just like you would with any other talent.
8. KEEP IN MIND THAT SIGNALS CAN BE MISREAD
Some people believe that a forceful handshake reveals a strong personality while a weak handshake conveys a lack of resolve. This illustration highlights a crucial idea regarding the potential for misinterpreting nonverbal cues. A shaky handshake could actually be a sign of something quite different, like arthritis.
9. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
Some people just have a natural talent for understanding nonverbal cues from others and leveraging them to their advantage. These people are frequently referred to as “people readers.”
When you pay close attention to nonverbal behavior and practice various forms of nonverbal communication with others, you may actually develop your nonverbal communication skills.
Nonverbal Communication’s Advantages
Some advantages of nonverbal communication are listed below:
1. MORE TRUSTWORTHY
Nonverbal communication is more believable than verbal communication since it is automatic. Generally speaking, nonverbal cues are more trusted than verbal ones.
Nonverbal indicators are more reliable since they are challenging to fake.
2. CONVEYS MORE DETAILS
According to the proverb “Actions speak louder than words,” nonverbal clues can communicate more information than spoken words.
When nonverbal and verbal cues conflict, we can depend more on nonverbal signals.
As an illustration, if someone asks, “Are you stupid? We might pay attention to the tone of the person’s voice to determine whether or not they are kidding.
3. APPROPRIATE FOR ILLITERATES
Nonverbal communication is another kind of communication that illiterates can use in addition to visual communication.
Language limitations can be solved by nonverbal communication. Language difficulties arise when a person either loses the capacity to speak a language or is unable to comprehend it.
Babies, for instance, who do not yet have verbal abilities, can communicate through facial expressions.
For those who cannot hear or speak, such as those who are deaf, nonverbal communication is a viable option. Typically, sign language—which is a form of nonverbal communication—is used by the deaf to communicate.
4. SPEND LESS TIME
The use of nonverbal communication decreases time waste. The recipient can receive messages more quickly via nonverbal clues than from written or vocal communication.
Nonverbal communication takes less time than written communication since you don’t have to spend time writing or correcting messages.
5. LESS ALARMING
You can utilize nonverbal signs to communicate in circumstances where speaking aloud can be upsetting.
Use hand signals to let your acquaintance know, for instance, that you’re ready to leave the library.
Loud environments can also be employed for nonverbal communication. You can communicate with others without using words by using non-verbal clues.
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Nonverbal Communication Limitations
Despite the many advantages of nonverbal communication, there are some drawbacks that should not be ignored. Nonverbal communication has drawbacks just like other communication channels do.
The following are some restrictions (contraindications) of nonverbal communication:
1. INVOLUNTARY
Nonverbal communication is automatic, which can either be a benefit or a drawback.
Most of the time, we are unsure of when we begin communicating messages. For instance, you might shake your head uncomfortably, but the person sitting next to you might assume you disagree with what they are saying.
2. MORE EVASIVE
It might be challenging to interpret nonverbal cues because most of them have several meanings.
Most nonverbal cues are vague, which makes it more difficult to understand them and frequently results in misinterpretations.
Since no words are used, it could be challenging for the recipient to understand the messages being given.
3. CHALLENGING TO CONTROL
Controlling nonverbal communication is challenging due to its uncontrollable nature. While we can choose to cease communicating verbally, nonverbal clues are typically impossible to stop.
You have little to no control over how others will perceive you depending on how you look. For instance, in Nigeria, the majority of people believe that anyone with prominent body art (tattoos) is involved in criminal activity.
4. THERE IS NO FORMALITY
Nonverbal communication cannot be employed in formal or structured contexts in the workplace. Nonverbal communication is less appropriate to employ in professional situations than written and verbal communication.
For instance, nodding your head in agreement when your instructor questions you is impolite. A thumbs-up can also be used to convey “okay.”
5. NOT BEING COVERT
We can express our emotions or feelings through nonverbal signs. Nonverbal signs like facial expressions and others can reveal information that you’d prefer to keep private.
For instance, a depressed individual may claim to be happy, but his or her facial expressions will reveal otherwise.
6. DISCORDANT VERBAL CUES
Non-verbal cues can be used to support spoken communications, but they can also work against them.
Nonverbal cues, especially those made subconsciously, have the potential to communicate information that contradict what is being said.
Conclusion
People frequently have no awareness of their non-verbal behavior, despite the fact that non-verbal communication is a very complicated and essential component of overall communication skills.
Beyond what is actually spoken, a basic understanding of non-verbal communication techniques can help to enhance interpersonal interactions.
Understanding these indications can help people communicate more effectively and foster deeper understanding, which is ultimately the goal of communication.
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