Download Non Verbal Communication

Non Verbal
Communication
Prosody
 Vocal pitch – does the person use expression in their voice
when they talk
 Loudness – is the volume appropriate
 Rhythm – is there a natural rhythm to speech or does it
sound staccato
 Rate – too fast/too slow/Just right
 Expression of voice
Non Verbal Communication
What Percentage of the
meaning of a message is
transmitted non verbally?
• If you watched a film in a foreign
language would you understand 93%
of it?
• If police were investigating a crime,
and the only witness couldn’t talk or
write , would they obtain 93% of the
information they needed?
The Urban Myth about NVC
Comes from a misunderstanding of the work of
Mehrabian (1972)- - Understanding of EMOTIONAL MEANING
 About 7 percent of the emotional meaning of a message is
communicated through explicit verbal channels.
 About 38 percent is communicated by use of the voice
 . About 55 percent comes through nonverbal, which
includes such things as gesture, posture, facial expression,
 . To suggest this applies to all communication incorrect but it
has become a widely quoted statistic and it is WRONG
 The exact percentage is cannot be known because it
depends on the receiver &communicator, the message
and its context
• The majority of an emotional meaning is carried via
the nonverbal channel.
• When there is a contradiction between verbal and
nonverbal cues, people tend to assign more weight to
the nonverbal message.
• Nonverbal cues convey generalized feelings and
mood states.
– mad, angry, upset, frustrated
• Words provide more subtle, detailed expressions of
feeling.
Activity : Think of as many words as you can for angry
furious, peeved, irate, livid, outraged, riled up, in a huff,
pissed off, ticked off, infuriated, miffe
NB: NVC can be used positively to help someone to
understand if they have difficulties understanding
spoken language
Emotional Literacy
 Emotional Literacy can be defined as………….
“The ability to recognise, understand, handle and appropriately
express our emotions.”
Young people need to
a) Recognise the emotion of others from their NVC and behavior
b) Understand how the other person is feeling
c) Process this information so that it informs how they choose to
response
d) Express their own emotions appropriately given the relationship
and context
Universal Emotions?
 Ekman and colleagues found that people in different
cultures can identify the six basic emotions:
 happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust.
 This suggests that the physiological indicators of emotion
are similar in people from different cultures.
 It is likely that most young people can identify these
 A group of people who have extreme difficulty with the
recognition of emotion are people on the Autistic Spectrum
There appear
to be 6
universal
expressions of
emotion. There
is less clear
evidence on
the universality
of contempt
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Slight sadness
Disgust
Slight enjoyment
Slight or highly controlled anger
Slight or highly controlled
fear
Masked anger
Fear or surprise
Contempt, smug, or disdainful
Worry, apprehension, controlled
fear
There are some cultural
universals, however…
 Fear and disgust are easily confused
 Blended facial expressions are more culturally
sensitive
 Sarcastic smile, smirk, smug look
 Cultural rules( inter )
 Moderate emotional displays
 Gender differences
 Cultural differences ( intra )
Cultural & Sex Variation
 Distinction between cultures which are considered
'collectivist’ e.g. the Japanese and cultures considered
'individualist’ e.g. Americans.
 Collectivist cultures tend to prize 'fitting in' and homogeneity
and getting along with others and suppression of expressed
emotion
 Individualist cultures tend to emphasise the importance of
individual autonomy and power and expressed emotion.
 Studies have found that those from collectivist cultures are
more likely to mask negative emotions with smiles when with
others but not when alone
 Russians most tightly control the display of their emotions,
closely followed by the Japanese and South Koreans
 Americans displayed the least control over their facial
expressions.
 Significant sex differences. Men are more likely to hide surprise
and fear while women control disgust, contempt and anger
and many other emotions.
What are some of the difficulties
that might be caused if a
young person has difficulties
expressing or understanding the
emotion of others ?
What can you do to
help ?
Eyes
 The eyes are frequently referred to as the "windows
to the soul" since they are capable of revealing a
great deal about what a person if feeling or thinking.
 Taking note of eye movements is a natural and
important part of the communication process. Some
things to note are *directness of eye contact , *how
much someone blinks, or if the* pupils are dilated.
 Eye gaze
When a person looks directly into your eyes
when
having a conversion, it indicates that they are
interested and paying attention.
 However, prolonged eye contact can feel threatening.
 However breaking eye contact and frequently looking
away may indicate that the person is distracted,
uncomfortable, or trying to conceal his or her real feelings.
 Blinking
 People blink more rapidly when distressed or
uncomfortable.
 Infrequent blinking may indicate intentionally trying to
control his or her eye movements. e.g., a poker player
 Pupil size
One of the most subtle cues that eyes provide
is through the size of the pupils.
 While light levels in the environment control pupil
dilation,
 Also emotions can also cause small changes in pupil
size. When we see someone we like or think of as
attractive ,our pupils dilate
 How do you feel if someone looks at you with
prolonged eye contact? Why?
 How do you feel if someone doesn’t make good eye
contact? Why?
 Why do pop stars like to wear sun glasses?
Mouth- Smiling
 There are 43 muscles in the face, most of which are
controlled by the seventh cranial nerve (also known
as the facial nerve).
 Biologists think the smile originated as a sign of fear. The smile
has been traced back over 30 million years of evolution to a
"fear grin” found in monkeys and apes who used barely
clenched teeth to portray to predators that they were
harmless
 Smiles can also be interpreted in many ways. A smile may be
genuine, or it may be used to express false happiness,
sarcasm, or even cynicism.
 . According to many experts, smiling may not only be an
outward manifestation of a happy feeling. It may actually be
able to cause a happy feeling.
 This is the exact opposite of how most people see the smilehappiness connection
What do these smiles tell
you ?
Other Mouth Expressions
 Pursed lips
Pursed lips might be an
indicator of distaste, disapproval, or
distrust.
 Lip biting
People sometimes bite their lips when they are
worried, anxious, or stressed.
 Covering the mouth
When people want to hide an emotional
reaction, they might cover their mouths in order to avoid
displaying a smile or smirk.
 Daniel Radcliffe lying
 Turned up or down
Slight changes in the mouth can also be
subtle indicators of what a person is feeling. When the mouth is
slightly Turned up- the person might feeling happy or optimistic.
Turned down-might indicate sadness or disapproval
Gestures
Gestures
 Divide into groups according to your home
country
 How many natural gestures can you identify ?
 Are they the same ?
What does this gesture
mean to you ?
The Corna. A very old sign,
dates back at least 2,500
years and represents a
bull’s horns
Its meaning varies from
country to country
- Your wife is unfaithful
- A fan of American
football ( hook ’em
horns)Texas Longhorn
- Ward off the evil eye
- Into heavy metal bands.
Talking Hands
 When people talk, they often gesture with their hands.
Even when the other person can’t see them, people
still gesture eg when talking on the telephone
 Young children gesture when they are trying to learn or explain
a task or a concept
 These hand gestures not only communicate a message to the
listener, but also reflect the thoughts of the person who is
gesturing.
 We still don’t know exactly why people gesture why some
people gesture more frequently than others
 Research in Alberta suggests that gesturing while you talk may
improve your access to language
 Research in Germany in Germany shows that people with high
intelligence engage more in simulation when imagining a
problem than those with fluid intelligence
Body Language
 There is a great deal said about body language
 Most of it is based on pseudo science
 For example crossing your arms is supposed to
be ?
Do these two images convey the same messages ?
In reality folding your arms is only
part of a non verbal message
and the full message depends on
other signals
Posture
 How we hold our bodies as well as overall physical form of
an individual.
 Posture can convey information about how a person is
feeling as well as hints about personality characteristics,
such as whether a person is confident, open, or
submissive.
 Sitting up straight, for example, may indicate that a
person is focused and paying attention to what's going
on. Sitting with the body hunched forward, on the other
hand, can imply that the person is bored or indifferent.
 Open posture involves keeping the trunk of the body
open and exposed. This type of posture indicates
friendliness, openness, and willingness.
 Closed posture involves keeping the obscured or hidden
often by hunching forward and keeping the arms and
legs crossed. This type of posture can be an indicator of
hostility, unfriendliness, and anxiety.

Proximity
 Anthropologist Edward T. Hall described four levels of
social distance
 Intimate distance - 6 to 18 inches
Indicates a close
relationship or great comfort between individuals. It
often occurs during intimate contact such as
hugging, whispering, or touching.
 Personal distance - 1.5 to 4 feet
Usually occurs
between people who are family members or close
friends. The closer the people can comfortably stand
while interacting can be an indicator of the intimacy
of the relationship.
 Social distance - 4 to 12 feet
Often used with
individuals who are acquaintances. People you know
fairly well eg a close colleague. You might feel more
comfortable interacting at a closer distance, but
when you do not know the other person well, a
distance of 10 to 12 feet may feel more comfortable.
 Public distance - 12 to 25 feet
Physical distance at this
level is often used in public speaking situations . e.g.
Talking in front of a class or giving a presentation
 It is also important to note that the level of
personal distance that individuals need to feel
comfortable can vary from culture to culture.
 People from Latin countries tend to feel more
comfortable standing closer to one another as
they interact whilst people from UK & North
America need more personal distance.
Nationality
Av. Conversational
Distance
Japanese
1.01 cm
US American
89 cm
Venezuelan
81 cm
 Gender differences
Man-man –greatest difference
Woman –woman less distance between
Woman –man least distance
 Also affected by age, ethnicity and knowledge
of the person
 Violent offenders were much more sensitive to
proximity- perceiving closeness as threatening
But remember
• There is no one-to-one correspondence between
a specific nonverbal cue and its meaning.
Eg. direct eye contact could signal attraction or
hostility.
• Nonverbal behavior is highly idiosyncratic
It varies greatly from person to person
Think about the non verbal communication of the
young person and try to work out where they have
specific strengths or problems
Use of the complete
assessment tool
Lets talk it through
Thank you
for
Listening !