Non-Verbal Communication

What is non-verbal communication?

Non verbal communication refers to communication which does not involve speech or words. It includes
all communication that involves neither written nor spoken words, but which occurs without the use of
words. This is the wordless message received through the medium of gestures, signs, body movements,
facial expressions, tone of voice, color, time space, and style of writing and choice of words.

Nonverbal communication
Paralanguage Language in addition
Environmental
Body language Object language
language
Vocal - Eye contact Clothing Setting
Characteristic Jewellery/ Space (Proxemics)
- Facial expressions
+ Pitch - Gestures Accessories Time (Chronemics)
+ Volume - Postures Make up - Lightning system
+ Rate - Body movement Perfume Color
+ Vocal quality Touch/ Haptics Gift
+ Types of vocal flow /Tactile Flower
Kinesics: Body Language
+ Vocal Interferences
+ Silence/ pauses
Body language is communicated by-Bodily movements, Facial expressions, Eye movements, Gestures
and Postures. As language uses set of symbols to convey meaning, our body consciously and
unconsciously, or instinctively, carries messages, attitudes, relationships and moods indicating
warmth/indifference, positive/negative feelings so on.

Ekman and Friesen identified eight facial styles mostly exhibited by people

• The Withholder – Inhibited: little facial movements

• The Revealer-Uninhibited: lot of facial movement

• The Unwitting Expresser: partial expressions are thought to be masked

• The Blank Expresser: blank face without any emotions

 • The Substitute Expresser : expressing one emotion but while experiencing another

• The Frozen-Affect Expresser: an emotion is permanently displayed on the face

• The Ever/Ready Expresser: initial emotion is displayed and has nothing to do with the stimulus

• The Flooded Affect: express or overriding state colors all other emotions

Types of Smiles

Type Manner of Portrayal Connotation

• Felt Smile • Upturned mouth with lips closed • Appreciative of the

interaction and happy
• Upper set of teeth exposed with
simultaneous eye contact

• Broad smile which exposes both sets

of teeth

• Miserable • Only half the mouth is smiling • Disillusioned and

smile dissatisfied

• False smile • Slight turn at the end of the mouth • Sarcastic/sardonic/

dangerous

Eye Contact
Eye behavior communicates in many ways. It shows emotions and establishes conversational regulators.
It also monitors feedback and serves as a reminder. The eyes supply as well as receive information. Eye
contact and eye movements convey their meaning in combination with other facial expressions.

 Mutual gaze
People generally maintain eye gaze with people they like, feel positive and whom they know and
trust. They also do it those whose approval they want and to those to whom they bring good
news
 Gaze Omission
Averted eyes show anger, hurt feelings and a hesitancy to reveal the inner self. They also reveal
negativism and the need to increase psychological distance.
 Staring
Gestures
Ekman and Friesen have identified five types of body gestures:

 Emblem –

 A movement or gesture that has a direct verbal translation.

 Examples: A hitchhiker’s thumb, two-finger victory sign, wave of the hand to say Hello.

 Illustrator –

 A movement or gesture that accompanies and illustrates a verbal message. They are
usually intentional by the sender and cannot normally be interpreted without the use of
words.

 Examples: Holding your hands apart while saying, “the fish was this big!”

 Regulator –

 A movement or gesture that regulates conversation.

 Examples: raising your hand, lifting your head, and raising your eyebrows to gain the
floor during a conversation

 Adapter

 A movement or gesture that satisfies some physical or psychological need. Adapters are
not conscious behaviors; they are used in response to heightened emotional arousal

 Examples: Physical adapters: rubbing your eyes when tired, shifting positions on a chair
after sitting for a long time. Psychological adapters: are used for emotional release.
Twisting your hair or biting your nails when you are nervous.

 Affect Display

 An unintentional movement or expression that conveys a mood or emotional state.

They convey mood and reactions. These are usually unintentional movements that
reflect the sender’s true emotions.

 Examples: slumping in a chair, indicating fatigue or boredom, or a sad face reflecting

problems in your life.

Although gestures are spontaneous, we can learn to monitor and use positive gestures and avoid
negative gestures.
Negative Gestures

1. Hands in the pocket

2. Covering the mouth while speaking
3. Scratching, Biting nails
4. Glancing sideways
5. Drumming fingers
6. Tapping feet, Wringing hands
7. Crossed arms or legs
8. Setting the hair with hands
9. Sitting on the edge of the chair
10. Speaking too fast, too slow
11. Straightening the tie
12. Clearing the threat too often / Blinking the eyes a lot
13. Clicking the pen
14. Playing with the paper weight
15. Adjusting the glasses up the nose
16. Staring

Positive Gestures

1.While listening one should:

 Tilt the head
 Lean a little towards the speaker
 Maintain eye contact with the speaker
 Gently nod the head in agreement
2.While speaking one should:
 Keep palms open and avoid clutching or folding them across the chest
3.Walk with the head upright, hands swinging freely by the sides

Head, Body Shape and Posture

Signs of Willingness, Relaxed and Open-minded attitude

 Head is inclined to one side

 Body leans forward in chair
 Jacket or coat is unbuttoned
 Palms of hands are opened and upturned
 Sitting at right angles to or directly alongside other person (be careful not to invade ‘body
space’)
 The person will sit forward in front of chair
 The head is raised
  Legs are uncrossed

Body Shape
Ectomorph – thin, youthful and tall
Endomorph – fat, round and fit
Mesomorph – strong, athletic, muscular and bony

We cannot do much about the shape of our body, but we can put it into effective use. Both our body
shape and posture affect what we think about ourselves, how we conduct ourselves, how we relate to
others and how others relate to us.

Appearance

 In the context of body language:

 Clothing, jewelry, cosmetics etc.
 Dress code
 Every occasion has its own particular type of dress which may be formal or informal
 Dress as per the occasion
 Should be cautious when choosing hair style and make-up
 Should be careful when choosing your shoes, perfume, bags and other accessories

Proxemics or space language

Proxemics is the study of how we communicate with the space around us. Edward T. H Hall identified
three major types of space: Feature-fixed, semi-fixed feature and personal space.

1. Feature-fixed space: it refers to fairly permanent structures like buildings and walls. The design of
buildings, sequence of rooms and offices has a substantial influence on communication. It is generally
observed that bigger the fixed place, higher will be the status of the individual in an organization.
2. Semi-fixed feature space: The placement and arrangement of moveable objects, such as desk and
chairs, is referred to as semi-fixed feature space. The quality of furniture, the arrangement of offices
has considerable influence on the status of the individuals and this is clearly communicated non-
verbally.
3. Personal space: spatial dimension or distance between us and other people tell us about our relations
and the nature of communication between them. Placing ourselves in the centre we can present the
space around us in the form of the following concentric circles:
a. Intimate zone – physical contract/touch to 18 inches
Our family members, close friends and select people enter this area. In organizations, confidential
information is shared within the intimate distance. The major form of intimate contact is in the
form of handshake. Most people respond positively to men who give a firm handshake.

b. Personal zone – 18 inches to 4 feet

 Close friends, colleagues, associates and visitors come within this zone. It includes friendly
conversations and causes. Here communication is mostly personal in nature; it is relaxed and
casual most of the time. It permits spontaneous unprogrammed talking or discussion. However
certain important decisions may be taken in this circle.

c. Social zone – 4 to 12 feet

Relationships within this circle are more formal. Most of the business is done in this circle. More of
reasoning and planning also occurs in this space.

d. Public zone – 12 feet to as far as we can see and hear

A good deal of communication within and outside an organization takes place at this range. It is
characterized by the detachment of perception, objectivity of approach and formality of
communication. We have to be audible to the large group. That is why it has been called “public”
sense.

Space Use

Proxemics is also concerned with the use of space by groups of people. People, who enjoy a higher
status in the organization, also enjoy better quality space. They are protected in their territory,
which is often closed.

Surroundings
Two important aspects of surroundings are layout and color.

 Layout - Arrangement of an office, carpeting, furniture and designs

 Colors

 Red – exciting and stimulating; defending

 Green- calm , peaceful

 Blue – secure, calm and comfortable

 Black – powerful, strong and masterful

All this show that communication also happens through color and there exists a “color language”.

Time language

Business community all over the world values time. All communication is meant to be suitably timed.
While people in the west are time conscious, while people in the east have a more relaxed attitude
towards it.
Paralanguage

A type of non-verbal communication that includes articulation, pronunciation, rate, pitch, volume,
pauses and other vocal qualities

 Voice

 Pitch - Vary your pitch to express the feelings

 Speed – should not be fast while communicating. Difficult, complicated and highly technical part of
information should be conveyed at a slower pace.
 Pause - Take pauses at the right moment
 Nonfluencies - It should be sparingly and carefully used
 Volume variation – speak loud enough so that your audience can hear you but remember not to be
too loud
 Pronunciation – Avoid mother tongue influence (MTI)

 Word Stress

Word stress is of crucial importance to convey meaning. Emphasizing on a particular word in the
sentence can change the entire meaning of a sentence. For e.g.,

Rama is a table tennis player

Rama is a table tennis player

Here the sentence remains the same, but the meaning changes. Even stressing on a part of spoken word
or syllables also changes the meaning. For e.g.

Conduct (Noun) and Conduct (Verb)

Advantages of Paralanguage

1. Paralanguage is closely allied to language and is sufficiently dependable indicator of the speaker’s
place in the organization. On the basis of his voice quality one can guess his position in the hierarchy.
2. Paralanguage speaks about the speaker’s educational background.
3. It speaks about the speaker’s national and regional background. This information is of immense help
in dealing with the people in the organization
4. It gives us useful information about the mental state of a person. His voice quality, intonation and
speaking speed make it easier for the receiver of the message to deal with him in the best possible
way.

Limitations of Paralanguage
1. Paralanguage is like language but not language. It is a non verbal part of communication and
therefore cannot be fully relied upon.
2. What is said and how it is said must be blended. Since this does not happen often, it requires extra
care to get to the exact content of the message.
3. As speakers belong to different speech communities, it is difficult to achieve uniformity in oral
communication.
4. Paralanguage may at times mislead, as there might be a difference in speech and the intention
behind the spoken words.

Sign Language

Man has been usually communicating through signals, symbols and indicators since long. Non-verbal
communication can happen through – visual signs, audio/sound signals and touch. But we should be
aware about the advantages and limitations of Sign language.

Non verbal communication is more important than verbal communication. Researchers have been found
that even in a spoken language, the listener perceives non verbal communication as more important
than the words themselves.