Download Nonverbal Communication

NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION
• Accounts for 80% of all Communication
• Nonverbal is body language
• Nonverbal messages often overpower
verbal messages
• Body language is not a universal language
NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS
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Posture and body orientation
Eye contact
Facial expressions
Gestures
Touch
Personal Space/proximity
Paralinguistics/tone of voice
POSTURE AND BODY
ORIENTATION
• Communicate by the way we walk, talk, stand
and sit
• Lean forward slightly to show interest
Open Posture – tilt head, lean forward, and if
seated, uncross legs
Closed Posture – head and trunk straight, arms
folded, and if seated, legs crossed
EYE CONTACT
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Helps regulate flow of communication
Use a fairly steady gaze
Signals an interest in others
Increases speaker’s credibility
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
• Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits
Happiness
Friendliness
Warmth
Liking
Affiliation
GESTURES
• Humans can do more than 5000 different
gestures
• People who give feedback (head nods and
gestures) appear to be more interested
– Quick nods help a speaker
– Long nods distract a speaker
– Double nods cause a speaker to speak faster
WATCH FOR THESE
• People who are lying tend to use fewer
gestures, touch their faces more often and
shift position more frequently.
• The face is part of the body that can be most
easily controlled and therefore
disguised.
TOUCH
• Signs of greeting differ by culture
– Handshakes
– Hugs
– Bows
• Some cultures are more
comfortable with touching than others
• Some people do not like to be touched
PERSONAL SPACE/
PROXIMITY
• Intimate = < 18 inches
This distance is primarily for confidential
exchanges and is usually reserved for close
friends
• Personal = 1 ½ to 4 ft.
This distance is comfortable for
conversation between friends
PERSONAL SPACE
• Social = 4 to 12 feet
This is the ordinary distance people
maintain from one another for most social
and business exchanges
• Public = Over 12 feet
At this distance, perhaps in a shopping mall
or on the street, people barely acknowledge
each other’s presence. At most they give a
nod or a shake of the head.
PARALINGUISTICS/
TONE OF VOICE
Includes vocal elements that should be varied:
• Tone
• Pitch
• Rhythm
• Timbre
• Loudness
• Inflection