Nonverbal communication

 Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages

without using words, either spoken or written.
 Also called manual language.
 Non-verbal communication occurs without using any oral or written word.
 Instead of written or oral words, it relies on various non-verbal cues like
physical movements, tasks, colors, signs, symbols, signals charts etc. to
express feelings, attitudes or information.
 no word is used in non-verbal communication,
 it can effectively communicate many human feelings more accurately than
verbal methods of communication.
Types of Nonverbal Communication
Eye contact.
 an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of
communication and it signals interest in others.
 Furthermore, Eye contact with the audience increases the speaker’s credibility.
 A person (speaker) who makes eye contact opens the flow of communication and
conveys interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.
Facial expressions
 The face is an important communicator.
 It is commonly said that the face is the index of the mind.
 It expresses the type of emotions or feelings such as joy,
love, interest, sorrow, anger, annoyance, confusion,
enthusiasm, fear, hatred surprise, and uncertainty.
 Express the attitude, behavior and intention of the
person
 Facial expressions are indicated through
 the mouth (open, wide or closed),
 eyelids (raised or lowered),
 nose (wrinkled or relaxed),
 cheeks (drawn up or back) and
 the forehead (lowered or raised).

 The use of Emoji in chatting and messaging to convey

different messages
 interpretations of facial expressions may differ from culture to culture and
situation to situation.
 Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:
 Happiness.
 Friendliness.
 Warmth.
 Liking.
 Affiliation.
 Thus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likable, friendly,
warm and approachable.
Gestures
 Gestures are movements of the arms, legs, hands, and head.
 Some authors opine that For example, the gesture is the deliberate body
movement because they express specific and intentional meaning.
 If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff,
and unanimated.
 A lively and animated teaching style captures students’ attention, makes
the material more interesting, facilitates learning, and provides a bit of
entertainment.
 A wave of the hand has a specific meaning-“hello” or “good-bye”; a
forefinger and a thumb touching to form a circle have the meaning -
“ok”.(Chinese)
 like facial expressions, interpretations of some gestures may also differ
across cultures.
 For example, in Europe, raising a thumb is used to convey that someone
has done something excellent while in Bangladesh the same gesture means
something idiotic while in many countries of Europe it is abusing someone.
Body Language
 Body movements can convey meanings and messages.
 Body language is another widely recognized form of non-verbal communication.
 Body language may take two forms unconscious movements and consciously
controlled movements.
 For example;
 When a person is bored, he may gaze around the room rather than look at the
speaker or he may shift positions frequently.
 When a person is nervous, he may bite his nails or mash his hair, These are
usually made unconsciously.
 On the other hand, leaning forward toward the speaker to
express interest is the case of conscious body movements.
Space and Distance

 Space and distance are significant non-verbal tools in the case of

organizational communication.
 A spacious and well-decorated room indicates a person’s position in the
organization hierarchy and external people get a message about his
importance and authority only by visiting his room/office.
 Distance is another communication tool, which expresses the degree of
intimacy and individual acceptance.
 Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with students.
 Physical Distance in Communication
(McCornack Reflect & Relate 2013)
Para-linguistic
 Paralanguage also known as vocalic, is a component of
communication that may modify meaning, give Specific
meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as
Tone, volume, Rhythm etc.
 For maximum speaking effectiveness, learn to vary these
elements of your voice.
 One of the major criticisms who speak in a monotone is
perceived as boring and dull.
 Politeness may represent love and normality but
loudness may express the anger of a person
Touch
 Touch is a widely used form of non-verbal communication tool.
 By touching, one can express a wide range of emotions.
 However, the accepted modes of touch vary depending on the gender, age,
relative status, intimacy, and cultural background of the person.
 For example, in the context of our culture, Children get satisfaction by
touching and hugging their parents, Spouse
 Arabs practice salam and kiss on the face as a compliment, and Pakistani
shake their hand and hug as a compliment
Silence
 Silence is a powerful tool for communication.
 It may have a positive or negative meaning.
 Silence in Library, School, and community convey a different meaning
 In a classroom, silence indicates that students are listening carefully and
attentively.
 In the same way, through the silence in a community one can communicate
his lack of interest or failure.
 For example, silence often indicates that a person receiving instruction does
not understand the action required, or sometimes silence indicates consent.
Personal Appearance
 Appearance is also an important non-verbal communication tool.
 Appearance includes dress, hejab, hair, jewelry, makeup, belt buckles and so
on.
 Appearance indicates the degree of importance or interest a person conveys to an
occasion.
 Present the personality of a person
 By means of uniforms, we can identify a student, a doctor, a lawyer, a police
officer, etc.
 In an organization, one’s dress is keenly observed to see whether it conforms to
accepted standards of appearance.
 As an example, workers may wear different clothes when they are on strike than
they do when they are working.
Importance of Nonverbal Communication

Well Expression of the Speaker’s Attitude

 Various non-verbal cues of the speaker like physical movements, facial
expressions, etc. play an important role in expressing the inner meaning of the
messages in face-to-face conversation and interview.
 For example, the facial expression of a person indicates his attitude,
determination depth of knowledge, etc.
Conveying Message (to the Illiterate People)
 Communication with illiterate people through written media is impossible.
 There may also be some situations that do not allow the use of oral media to
communicate with them.
 In such situations, non-verbal methods like pictures, colors, graphs, signs, and
symbols are used as the media of communication.
 For example; to indicate danger we use red signs and to mean dangerous
Providing Information Regarding the Sender of The Written Message
 The format, neatness, language and appearance of the envelope used in a
written message send a non-verbal message regarding the writer’s tests, choice,
level of education, etc.
Expressing the Attitude of the Listener and Receiver
 Sometimes the appearance of the listeners and receivers conveys their attitudes,
feelings, and thoughts regarding the messages they have read or heard.
 Body language
Gaining Knowledge about a Class of People
 Clothing, hairstyle, neatness, jewelry, cosmetics, and stature of people may
convey impressions regarding their occupation, age, nationality, social or
economic level, job status, etc.
 For example; students, policemen, nurses, etc. can easily be identified through
their dresses.
Gaining Knowledge about the Status of a Person
 Non-verbal cues also help to determine the relative status of persons working
in an organization.
 For example, room size, resident size, location, furnishings, decorations,
lighting, etc. indicate the position of a person in the organization.
Communicating Common Message to All People
 In some cases, non-verbal cues can effectively express many true messages
more accurately than those of any other method of communication.
 For example; the use of red, yellow and green lights and the use of various
signs in controlling vehicles on the roads.
Communicating with the Handicapped People
 Non-verbal cues communication greatly helps in communicating with
handicapped people.
 For example; the language of communication with the deaf depends on the
movements of the hands, fingers and eyeballs.
 Quick Expression of Message
 Non-verbal cues like signs and symbols can also communicate
some messages very quickly than written or oral media.
 For example; when drivers of a running vehicle are to be communicated that
the road ahead is narrow or there is a turn in the road ahead, generally use
signs or symbols rather than using any written or oral message.
 Presenting Information Precisely
 Sometimes quantitative information on any issue may require a lengthy
written message.
 But this quantitative information can be presented easily and precisely
through tables, graphs, charts, etc.
 Non-verbal communication can take many forms depending on
the situation, the ability of communicators, etc.
 According to one estimate, there are more than 0.70 million
forms of non-verbal communication.
Verbal communication
 Is the use of sounds and words to express yourself, especially in contrast to
using gestures or mannerisms (non-verbal communication).
 Verbal communication is the use of words to share information with other
people.
 It can therefore include both spoken and written communication.
 However, many people use the term to describe only spoken communication.
 The verbal element of communication is all about the words that you choose,
and how they are heard and interpreted.

 Here the sender gives words to his feelings, thoughts, ideas and opinions and
expresses them in the form of speeches, discussions, presentations, and
conversations.