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Module Eight:
Nonverbal Messages
In Pairs
In pairs turn your back to your mate.
Recount your most embarrassing moment
without looking at your partner (the
person behind you) – use words only
Now tell the person you are looking at the
same story
7
Nonverbal Messages
• Communication without words
• The message sent must be received in
some way by at least one
other person
Nonverbal Messages
• Nonverbal communication is more multidimensional,
depending on such things as physical appearance,
body movements, facial expressions, touch vocal
characteristics, and the communication context
• Everyone uses nonverbal communication
Verbal-Nonverbal Interaction
• Accenting – emphasize
• I love you.
• Contradicting – ie winking to show lies
• Complementing – add nuances: smile, frown
• Regulating – control flow of verbals: um, pauses
• Repeating – restate verbal messages: eyebrows
raised
• Substituting – take place of verbals: thumbs up,nod
Read “Thinking Critically About”
Top of page 141
Nonverbal Communication Functions
 Forming and managing impressions
 Forming and defining relationships
 Structuring conversation and social interaction
 Influencing and deceiving
 Expressing emotions
 Read pages 142-3
Role Play
Two men who have not seen each other for a long time
meet on the street
Two women who have not seen each other for a long
time meet on the street
Three women sitting around the table in a bar talking
Three men sitting around the table in a bar talking
A male student telling his roommate about his
girlfriend breaking up with him
A female student telling her roommate about her
boyfriend breaking up with her
Channels of Nonverbal Communication
Body
Smell
Eyes
Face
Paralanguage
Time
Silence
Artifacts
Space
Touch
Five Types of Body Messages
Emblems are gestures that directly translate into
words – thumbs up – good job
Illustrators enhance the verbal message they
accompany – ie gesture to left
Affect displays communicate emotional meaninghappy – often unconscious
Regulators are behaviours that monitor, control,
coordinate, or maintain the speaking of others
Adaptors are gestures that satisfy a personal
need- rub nose, pick lint, shred cup
Body Appearance
•
When you first meet someone, you
automatically analyze his or her
physical appearance to form an
impression
•
•
•
•
Tall – short
Weight
Hair
Attractiveness
• Race
Body Movement and Gestures
• Gestures are body movements that communicate
an idea or emotion
• They can emphasize or stress parts if a message,
reveal discomfort with a situation, or convey a
message without the use of words
• The hands and arms are used most frequently for
gesturing, although head and foot movements
are also considered types of gestures
• Many people have difficulty expressing their
thoughts without using gestures
Touch
• Touch is one of the most potent forms of physical
expression
• It not only has the power to send strong messages,
but it also affects your overall well being
• Being deprived of touch can have a negative effect on
your physical and psychological health
Facial Expression
• Your face is composed of complex muscles capable
of displaying well over a thousand different
expressions
• These expressions let you know if others are
interested in, agree with, or understand what you
have said
• Generally women tend to be more facially
expressive and to smile more often than men
• Although men are more likely to limit the amount
of emotion they reveal, everyone relies on facial
expressions to comprehend the full meaning of
the message
Facial Expression
• We learn to manage facial expressions in order to
convey or conceal an emotion and to adapt our facial
expressions to particular situations
• The most common techniques for adapting facial
expressions are:
•
•
•
•
Masking
Neutralization
Intensification
Deintensifaction
Facial Management Techniques
Intensifying - exaggerate
De-intensifying - underplay
Neutralizing - hide
Masking - substitute
See Table 7.2 on page 146
7
Eyes
• Mirror of the soul
• Cultural/gender
Eye Contact
Seek feedback
Inform the other person that the
channel of communication is open
Signal the nature of a relationship
Lessen psychologically the physical
distance between you and another
person
Eye Avoidance
• Help others maintain privacy
• Signal lack of interest
• Block off unpleasant stimuli
• Heighten other senses
• Lying
Eyes and gender/culture
• Women tend to engage in more eye contact when
listening than men
• In North America lack of eye contact is frequently
perceived as rudeness, indifference, nervousness, or
dishonesty
• Direct eye contact is taboo or an insult in many Asian
countries (collectivist cultures)
Review for Next Class 
6-23
Space Messages
Proxemics:
Your use of space to communicate
• Intimate, personal, social, public
Territoriality:
The territory you occupy or own and the way
you protect this territory
Spatial Distance Messages
Intimate distance – touching – 46 cm
Personal distance – 46 cm – 1.2m
Social distance – 1.2m – 3.7m
Public distance – 3.6 – more than 7.6m
See Table 7.3 on page 148
Influences on Spatial Distances
Status
Culture
Subject matter
Gender
Age
Territoriality Messages
Location of homes/offices
Invasion of privacy – work
Marking territory
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgSp8znMWZI
Artifactual Messages
Colour
Clothing and body adornment
 Dress
 Hair
 Jewellery
 Body piercings
 Tattoos
Space decoration
Touch (Tactile) Messages
Haptics – the study of touch
•Positive emotion
• Playfulness
• Control
•Ritual
• Task-relatedness
Touch Avoidance
•Communication apprehension
Paralanguage – how you say something
Stress – which words
Pitch
Rate
Volume
Rhythm
Vocalizations – crying, yawning
Judgements
Punctuation is powerful
Punctuate the following:
A woman without her man is nothing
males in the class : A woman without her man,
is nothing.
Are you ready for this........ ...?
females in the class: A woman:
man is nothing.
without her,
Silence
Allows time to think
Can hurt others
Might indicate anxiety - shy
May prevent communication
Can encourage communications
May indicate nothing to say
Time Messages
Psychological time
•Past
•Present
•Future
Time Messages
Psychological time
• Cultural time
• Biorhythms
Messages from Smell
Attraction
Taste
Memory
Identification – ie toothpaste,
cleaners, significant others…
Nonverbal Cultural Differences
Facial expressions
Colours
Space
Time
• – see Table 7.4 page 157
Skill Building Exercises
Complete 7.1 and 7.2 page 162: you can use
emoticons ie:
Complete 7.3 #3 and #4 page163
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