Download Forms of Nonverbal Communication

Importance of Nonverbal
Communication
- Play an important role in how people
interact with one another.
Forms of Nonverbal Communication
- Facial expressions: anger, sadness, fear, enjoyment, love,
surprise, disgust, shame
- Eye contact : maintaining, deceiving prolonged, cultural
implications
- Gesture : learned behaviors, mirroring others, cultural
differences
- Tone of voice
- Posture : confidence, shyness,, tension or relaxation, showing
attentiveness to the speaker
- Sense of touch ( Haptic)
Eye contact establishes the nature of a
relationship.
- Key characteristics of nonverbal communication
Use it when we come into physical contact
with other people
GESTURES
• A gesture is a natural movement of any part of
the body that conveys a thought or emotion or
reinforce an oral expression.
Gestures include the movements of the
hands, the face or other parts of the body.
Military air marshals use hands and body
gestures to direct flight operations aboard aircraft
carries.
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Surprise
Anger
MOST COMMON GESTURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
GESTURE
1) Wink
DESCRIPTION
Winking is the most subtle gesture. To wink is closing and opening of eyelid of one
eye deliberately to convey a message, signal or suggestion.
2) Frown /Scowl
When eyebrows are brought together and the forehead is wrinkled usually
indicating worry, displeasure, confusion or concentration.
3) Grin
To smile broadly especially indicating amusement or pleasure.
4) Nod
Head nodding is used to signify Yes or to acknowledge someone.
5) Shoulder Shrug
Shrugging conveys anger or when a person does not know something or doesn't
understand something.
6) Thumbs up
It is an OK signal used for approval or thumbs down is used for disapproval.
7) Flip off
It is quite an obscene gesture. When you make a fist and extend your middle finger.
A sort of “F*k you” action.
8) Wave
Wave - Move one's hand to and fro in greeting or waving goodbye.
Frown
/Scowl
Grin
Wave
GESTURES
Nod
Flip off
Thumbs up
Shoulder
Shrug
“Culture hides much more than it reveals,
and strangely enough, what it hides, it hides most
effectively from its own participants.” (Edward.
T Hall)
Edward T. Hall ( May
16, 1914- July 20, 2009)
- an American
anthropologist and crosscultural researcher
The Silent Language (1959)
outline a broad theory of
culture and describe how its
rules control people’s lives
The Hidden Dimension (1966)
Beyond Culture (1976)
- “Hide” : that part of
culture we don’t
notice but follow
- Control behaviors in
deep and persisting
ways and beyond
conscious controls of
the individual
For the American culture :
- Not looking at someone’s eyes means wanting to hide evils, feeling
guilty because of what they did; therefore, Americans never trust
people who don’t look in someone’s eyes because they think these
people are unreliable and may be bad ones.
For the Russian culture:
- A smile in public is not a polite expression; it is both unusual and
suspicious.
- When Russians see people smile without any reason, they think
those people are insincere and have a few screws loose.
For Americans :
- A smile is automatic indeed and it can be taken to absurdity at times.
- American people are very friendly and sociable so they always smile
even at strangers.
- A smile is typically an expression of pleasure.
- A smile may show affection, convey politeness or disguise true
feelings.
Facial expression
Gestures
Nonverbal communication
Conservational
Distance
Eye contact
Gestures and Body Positioning
• A gesture is a
characteristic of
nonverbal
communication in
which visible body
actions communicate a
particular message.
• Gestures include
movements of the
hands, face , or other
parts of the body.
•
The “V” sign
• The USA , most parts of the
world: victory , peace and
love
• The USA, Australia ,
Ireland, New Zealand :
slang( if the outside of your
hand is facing your target)
Thumbs up
The UK, The USA: Okay, All right , Brilliant
West Africa , Parts of South America , the Middle East: slang
Germany: No:1
A-OK
The UK, The USA:
Everything is good, Great,
Absolutely fine
France , Belgium: Zero,
Worthless
Brazil, Turkey, some
Mediterranean countries,
Russia : Slang
Japan: Money
Postures
-Through postures , one
can convey feelings or
attitudes.
-Meanwhile, one who is
sitting in this kind of
posture may suggest that
she or he is interested in a
conservation.
-One who is sitting in
this kind of posture
may demonstrate that
she or he is in a
powerful position.
Facial Expressiveness
-Facial Expressions are
the key characteristic
of nonverbal
communication.
-Nonverbal
communication can
communicate
happiness, sadness,
anger or fear.
-A smile may show affection, politeness, or
disguise true feelings. It is also a source of
confusion cross cultures.
-Our faces reveal emotions and attitudes, but
we should not attempt to “ read” people from
another culture as we would “ read” someone
from our own culture.
-Every culture has its own way to express its
emotion. Don’t just judge through facial
expressions to avoid making mistakes.
EYE CONTACT
-Eye contact, a key characteristic of nonverbal
communication. Through eye contact , the eyes
could transmit a message of their own.
- It simply denotes one person looking directly
at another person’s eyes.
-Eye contact not only helps to collect
visual information from the outside
world but also expresses emotions and
feelings.
It
expresses
someone’s
involvement and attention, too.
Eye Contact in Different
Cultures:
- In the American culture, maintaining
eye contact shows respect and interest.
- In the English culture, is necessary
but too much eye contact makes people
uneasy.
- In countries such as China and Japan
, eye contact is not regarded as an
essential social interaction, it is
often considered to be inappropriate,
instead.
CONVERSATIONAL DISTANCE
-Conversational distance : the distance people need to feel
secure and comfortable when they interact with others. This
distance includes “ personal space”, “ interpersonal
distance”, “ comfort zone”, and “ body bubble”.
-The amount of space changes, depending on the nature of
relationships. For example, we tend to stand more closely to
our family members than to strangers.