Sometimes nonverbal communication is preferred to verbal or written communication. Depending on the nature of a message and situation, nonverbal communication can express one’s feelings more accurately than the spoken or written language.
What is Nonverbal Communication
What, exactly, is nonverbal communication? It is a message conveyed other than the literal interpretation of words.
It has been defined as: “the communication that involves neither written nor spoken words”.
Nonverbal communication is the skill and strategy of “how you say it.” Most people believe “how you say it” is more important than “what you say.” All communication skills base on one or the other strategy.
See Also: Basic Elements of Communication Process
The strategy of nonverbal communication emphasizes on the way one moves, speaks or appears.
Experts suggest that in certain cases nonverbal element accounts 60 to 90 percent of the total Communication made through a speech.
It may seem to some people an exaggerated percentage, but nonetheless, most people today are aware of the importance, power and effect of nonverbal communication:
Components of Nonverbal Communication
The following are the important components of nonverbal communication:
- Appearance and Surroundings
- Body Language
- Silence, Time and Space
Appearance and Surroundings
Appearance of things and objects and their surroundings are an important factor of nonverbal communication.
They send a silent message to an onlooker. Appearance conveys nonverbal impressions which, as a result, influence the attitude, reaction and response of the receiver.
A neat and decent appearance always appeals to the onlookers. In written communication much before the reading of the contents of a message.
The receiver gets an impression from the physical appearance of the channel of communication.
The color, size and quality of the envelope, the choice of paper and the form of presenting the message send very strong signals to the receiver.
In the case of personal appearance, the complexion, style, clothing, and objects of the surroundings convey nonverbal impressions regarding the taste, habits, social and economic status and skills of a person.
Body Language
Body language is probably the most striking aspect of nonverbal communication.
Consciously, and sometimes unconsciously, we analyze people’s attitude, psychology and bent of mind on the basis of their body language.
There are several things that constitute the body language of a person. However, the most important of them are the following:
- Posture
- Gestures and Movements
- Smell and Touch
- Face and Eyes
- Voice and Sounds
Posture
Posture is the position and movement of the body. The posture of a person projects his personality. It speaks of his self-confidence, status and interest.
The way a person stands, sits, leans or shifts, expresses his approach and interest in the matter under discussion. An unbecoming posture sends a bad signal.
Contrary to it, a relaxed and upright posture wins the unconscious approval of the people.
There are people who are arrogant and snobbish in their behavior, and there are people who are unnecessarily weak, humble and meek in their nature.
The posture a person adopts is bound to reveal his plus and minus points. A conscious restraint on one’s self can always help the person in making a favorable impression of his personality.
One should, therefore, to avoid such projection and such movements as may cause bad impression to others.
Gestures and Movements
Another aspect of body language is gestures and movements. Gestures are the movements of hands, arms and fingers that a speaker uses to describe or to emphasize.
Gestures and movements of a person reflect his state of mind. One can very easily judge from the movements of a person if he is nervous or confident.
It is said that actions speak louder than words. Gestures are in fact the silent translation of one’s feelings. They not only give more force to what one says but also reveal one’s attitude.
Gestures may be warm or cold, A person can always show or suppress high interest through his gestures and uncontrolled movements.
One should avoid such gestures as tugging at the ears, scratching the arms, or licking the lips.
Similarly, stylized and artificial gestures are also not acceptable, A normal and feel. free sort of attitude is what is required,
Smell and Touch
It has been experienced that various odors and smells on speakers sometimes convey their feelings and emotions better than their words.
Odors and artificial fragrances carried by the speakers on their bodies, speak of their taste and habits, which ultimately cause an effect on the audience.
Similarly, the touch of a person can silently communicate friendship, love, approval, hatred, anger, etc.
Sometimes we shake hands to be sociable and polite; pat a person on the back for encouragement; hug a person to show love.
Although people differ in their touching behavior, even the most casual contact can create positive or negative feelings.
Face and Eyes
Another very important aspect of body language is the face and eyes. The effectiveness with which we can express ourselves through our face and eyes makes it a very helpful means of nonverbal communication.
They reveal our hidden feelings and emotions. They help us in regulating the flow of conversation.
What we sometimes cannot communicate through words and speech, we successfully convey through our eyes and face.
By smiling, shaking, nodding and by raising or lowering our eyebrows, we can express our approval and disapproval of things.
We can establish a better rapport with our facial expressions and eye contact. Movements of head and eyes are not just looking away, looking up, looking down or looking into.
Effective speakers always maintain more eye contact than ineffective ones. But it has to be reasonably controlled and sufficient to communicate one’s message effectively and gainfully.
Voice and Sounds
The quality, volume and pitch of voice, and the extra sounds (hat we make, arc another Very important element of nonverbal communication.
The voice of a person can tell you a great deal about the speaker’s emotional state.
Sometimes we speak loudly; sometimes we raise the pitch of our voice, sometimes we bring it down to a lower pitch.
These variations in volume, tone and rate of sounds convey to the listener our inside feelings and emotions.
A loud voice is indicative of anger and urgency, a fast speech may suggest haste and nervousness.
An inarticulate sound may reduce credibility; and, a sudden variation may sound artificial or dramatic.
What one should do is to use effective pitch, speak expressively instead of being monotonous and use a warm, pleasant tone to speak slowly enough so that he can be understood, yet quickly enough to maintain energy.
Silence, Time and Space
One may find it difficult to know that silence, time and space are also important elements of non-verbal communication.
When you make a request or ask a question, you expect the person the other end to give a reply.
But if he keeps silent, and keeps silent for a considerable stretch of time, you may develop feeling of irritation. You may even have hard feelings of disapproval of him.
See Also: What is the Process of Communication
Time taken by a person in making a response is important in many ways. It may not seem very important a factor in a country like Pakistan where people generally are not watchful of time.
But let us not forget the golden principle that time is money, and we must not waste it extravagantly.
Along with silence and time, space is also important in its impact on non-verbal communication. The space maintained between two communicators indicates their status and position.
Distance between two persons also speaks of how far, close or intimate they are with each other. Space may be described in terms of public space, social space, personal space and intimate space.
Effective communicators, however, must learn to adapt to both sender’s and receiver’s expectations of silence, time and space.
