Non Verbal Communication

NPTEL- COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Communication Skills: Lecture No.5

Module 3
Lecture 1
Non-Verbal Communication
Hello and welcome back to NPTEL’s course on communication skills! We have a very
interesting module at hand—Non-verbal Communication. Instead of beginning the lecture with
the usual, introductory, conventional way of teaching, let me deliver this in the form of quizzes.
Now you must be wondering as how you will be able to answer the quizzes even without
knowing something about the subject. Don’t worry! This is a just a preview quiz. By actively
participating in it, you will get a rough idea of what’s going to come. This task will also help in
eliminating those incorrect information that you have gathered already on body language.
Overall, it will help in clearing certain misconceptions you have about Non-Verbal
Communication.
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur
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There will be two preview quizzes; let’s begin with the first one. In the previous modules and
lectures, so far I have discussed communication in general and focused mostly on Verbal
Communication. In this module, we are just going to shift our focus to Non-Verbal
Communication. Get ready! Take a piece of paper. Note down your responses on the paper.
You don’t have to write long answers with any explanations. My future lectures are all going to
give you all the needed explanations. So don’t bother about explanation at this time just look at
the questions and be natural.
There will be fifteen questions, I just want your honest and spontaneous response to these
fifteen questions in the form of ‘True’ or ‘False’; or just write T for true and F for false. At the
end, I will tell you how to mark your score and I will also tell you something about your score
as where you stand in terms of Non-Verbal Communication.
So we will start with the first one; remember you just have to write ‘true’ or ‘false’.
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1. Women have more natural sensitivity towards body language than men.
2. A dishonest person avoids eye contact.
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3. More the space a person occupies more the power he/she enjoys.
4. Sitting lower than the person with whom you are interacting indicates dominance or
authority.
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5. It is a sign of aggressiveness when a person sits with his/her legs on a desk and hands
clasped behind the head, especially before someone.
6. Crossing the hands, legs or the ankles is a defensive gesture.
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7. Steepling with the fingers and hands shows confidence.
8. Smoking a cigarette before an interview or other such activities is considered a sign

of anxiety or nervousness.
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9. Resting your head on the hand indicates interest in the subject.
10. Showing your thumbs up indicates a successfully completed job or victory.
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11. Babies are more sensitive to body language than adults.
12. Non-verbal communication is less intense and impactful than verbal

communication.
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13. When we stop talking to somebody, we stop the entire communication itself.
INVOLUNTARY BODY LANGUAGE
14. Involuntary body language reveals a person’s inner thinking or feelings.
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TIME PERCEPTION
15. People maintain their appointments and meet deadlines according to their
perceptions of time.
Answers:
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Give one mark to the right answer and zero to the wrong answer:
1) Women have more natural sensitivity towards body language than men. True.
Yes, of course, women have an instinctual and spontaneous way of gathering significant
information from non-verbal cues from the people with whom they interacting with. So, they
intuitively grasp body signals much faster than men and learn quickly whether somebody is
beneficial or harmful, whether they can trust somebody or not. They are more perceptive and
use different kind of signals than men; so this is true.
2) A dishonest person avoids eye contact. True.
Eye contact, as I have been telling you in the other lectures, is a very integral part in terms of
personal as well as professional communication. If somebody is trying to avoid eye contact it
actually means the person is not very sincere and honest in the communication that he is
building up. Mostly a cheater tries to avoid eye contact. Small kids, while telling a lie, look
down at the floor or look up but avoid meeting the eyes directly.
3) The more space a person occupies the more power he enjoys. True.
If you look at the modes of transport, train, for instance; the first AC compartment gives more
space than the second AC and the third AC compartments. Comparatively, AC compartments
offer more space to the passengers than the sleeper and unreserved ones. So more the power
you have and more the money you can afford to spend, more will be the space you get. Thus, in
the office environment, the boss occupies the maximum space, the next subordinate gets
relatively lesser space, and then the lowest level workers sit in crammed cubicles. So, space
indicates power equation. The statement is true; give one full credit to you if you answered it as
‘true’!
4) Sitting lower than the other person with whom you are interacting indicates dominance
or authority. False
Even if you look at the given picture, you will understand that it’s false. Now look at the girl,
she is sitting down and looks humble but in no way indicates authority. But somebody who is
sitting on the table can indicate authority; especially if you are compelled to sit down for some
reason. So, higher a person locates himself/herself and lower the position he/she delegates to
the others, he/she expresses the level of dominance. Usually, the one on the higher level is
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obviously the higher authority and the one on the lower, is the subordinate. Non-verbally, the
higher position indicates authority, and the dominance that a person asserts.
5) One shows traits of aggressiveness while sitting with his legs on a desk with his hands
clasped behind his head, especially before someone. True.
Again the answer is obviously true. The posture indicates that he/she is aggressive, rude, and
impolite. The possible exception is when the person is sitting alone, relaxing and reading
something or has some kind of back pain and he/she wants to relax in that way. Sometimes the
boss may do this deliberately to show that he/she is much more dominant and aggressive than
the other person. You can use this as an aggressive technique to make your partner obey some
of your orders!
6) Crossing the hands, legs or the ankles is a defensive gesture. True.
Any kind of crossed hand/leg gestures, whether it is clasping your fingers or crossing your
hands or crossing it either way or hiding the hands behind or crossed legs indicate
defensiveness. Conversely, open palms indicate openness in terms of body language.
7) Steepling with the fingers and hands show confidence. True.
Even from the picture we can see that the person exudes lot of confidence. As against this
gesture, one who lacks in confidence will try to clasp the finger, pinch the hand or frenetically
play with something.
8) Smoking a cigarette, now some people think that it’s just showing an attitude especially
before an interview or such an activity is considered a sign of anxiety or nervousness.
True.
Especially before an interview, activities such as smoking cigarettes and chewing gum are
considered symptoms of anxiety or nervousness.
9) Resting your head on you’re the hand indicates interest in the subject. False
When you are bored, you naturally try to put the head on your palm. You act similarly when
you feel sleepy.
10) Showing your thumbs up indicates a successfully completed job or interview. True.
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When we accomplish something successfully, we show the thumbs up. Generally, it is used to
indicate that you have emerged victoriously. It is a universal gesture that symbolizes success.
11) Babies are more sensitive to body language than adults. True.
Babies actually start communicating non-verbally (even before communicating verbally) by

their cries, smile, laughter, etc. through touch a baby recognizes its mother, father, a friendly
person, a trustworthy person, an enemy, and so on. So, babies are more sensitive to body
language than adults.
12) Non-verbal communication is less intense and impactful than verbal communication.
False
A smile can indicate satisfaction, contentment, happiness, wonder, etc. Therefore, non-verbal
signals convey more than words and they will have deeper impact than verbal communication.
13) When we stop talking to somebody verbally, we stop the entire communication itself.
False
When we stop talking to somebody verbally, we do not stop the entire communication; we
actually start communicating with the person non-verbally. When room partners stop talking,
they communicate more effectively by banging the door, playing songs in high volume,
avoiding eye contact, etc.
14) Involuntary body language reveals a person’s inner thinking or feelings. True.
Involuntary body language like clasping/pinching your hand and slouching while walking
reveal inner nervous thinking.
15) People maintain their appointments and meet deadlines according to their perceptions
of time. True.
People either operate with monochromatic or polychromatic aspect of time. While a

monochromatic is rigid and tight about his/her schedule, a polychromatic person is flexible and
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open to multitasking. A polychromatic person doesn’t bother about following the deadline or
concerned about meeting somebody in time and vice versa.
YOUR SCORE ANALYSIS:
Tip: Whatever the score you have got, there is always room for improvement!
Now, let’s move on to preview quiz 2.
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As in the previous quiz, for each correct answer you get one mark, and for each wrong answer
you get zero.
1. Silence can be used as a powerful means of dominance.
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2. Non- verbal communication can contradict verbal meaning.
2) Non-verbal
communication
can contradict
verbal meaning.
3. Non-verbal communication can be used as a substitute for verbal communication.
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4. Some non-verbal signs are universal and commonly acceptable.
5. Gestures, which indicate similar verbal meaning, can differ non-verbally according to
their cultural background.
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6. The face is the most powerful channel of non-verbal communication.
7. We move away from persons we dislike.
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8. Negative non-verbal signals are more noticeable than the positive ones.
9. Awareness of your body language can help you control it.
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10. It is difficult to fake body language for a long period of time.
Answers:
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1. Silence can be used as a powerful means of dominance. True.
Observe the situation between school going kids; if one is hurt, immediately the kid remains
silent until the other one apologizes. Silence is used as a tool of dominance between husband
and wife. The person who thinks that the other person should submit, maintains silence till the
other person relents.
2. Non- verbal communication can contradict verbal meaning. True.
Fake verbal praises, promises and assurances can be easily detected if the body language is
perceived carefully. Genuine smile emanates from the eyes, not from the lips!
3. Non-verbal communication can be used as a substitute for verbal communication.

True.
Suppose a nurse wants to tell some noisy children to remain quiet, she has to just put her
forefinger over her lips (indicating they should stop talking). She need not utter a word, but
with a non-verbal gesture she can control the children.
4. Some non-verbal signs are universal and commonly acceptable. True.
The expressions of sorrow and joy are commonly acceptable and people universally express
such emotions in the same manner.
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5. Gestures, which indicate similar verbal meaning, can differ non-verbally according to
their cultural background. True.
For instance, respect can be expressed by different gestures in different cultures—touching feet,
shaking hands, bowing, hugging, etc.
6. The face is the most powerful channel of non-verbal communication. True.
The face has eyes and lips. Maintaining eye contact or not maintaining it gives you the
maximum clue as whether one is interested in the subject or not. Similarly, various lip
movements indicate joy, sorrow, discomfort, etc.
7. We move away from persons we dislike. True.
If it’s a close friend, we feel like putting the hand on the shoulder, we hold hand, we touch and
by touching we reduce lot of space. If we don’t like somebody, then, we maintain distance or
we move away from the person. We do it with strangers with whom we feel threatened. By
moving away, we create space and distance that gives a sense of safety to ourselves.
8. Negative non-verbal signals are more noticeable than the positive ones. True.
Anger and disappointment, for instance, are easily noticeable because they are difficult to
control non-verbally.
9. Awareness of your body language can help you control it. True.
Especially awareness of your negative body language can help you exercise some control over
the negative gestures.
10. It is difficult to fake body language for a long period of time. True.
You can fake it for a short period of time but for a long period of time it’s not possible.
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YOUR SCORE ANALYSIS:
Tip: Based on the inputs you have received so far, start making your non-
verbal perception sharper by observing yourself and others.
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Communication Skills: Lecture No.6

Module 3
Lecture 2
Nonverbal Communication
In the previous module, through quizzes, you checked your fundamental knowledge about
Nonverbal Communication, especially, your understanding about body language. By this
time, hopefully you have understood that nonverbal communication is a challenging and the
most significant component of communication. I am sure that at the end of this module
(which comprises four lectures) you will not only be able to enhance your personal and
professional image in terms of Nonverbal Communication but also effectually read body
language cues from people and respond to them appropriately.

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Take a look at the title slide shown above. Right now you can understand that babies emote
so much nonverbally. But you may not be able to gather much about the interaction going on
between the man and woman. However, at the end of this module, you will become an
informed analyzer of nonverbal communication and you will be able to detect who is
nonverbally more inclined in the involved communication transaction. Remember:
communication is an interaction between two people and a favorable response is always the
desired outcome.
WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION?
Simply speaking, nonverbal communication is all what which is not verbal. By verbal, I
mean, the form of communication that is manifested in words either in the form of speaking
or writing. However, the non-verbal is just not the opposite of verbal. It is applied to so many
aspects of life involving communication such as facial expression, gesture, fashion
accessories, status symbols like cars, dance, drama, music, mime, traffic signals, territoriality
of animals, the protocol of diplomats, parks, maps, flags and so on.

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Compared with the verbal, the nonverbal can convey a message more effectively. For
instance, you can use a smile or a frown and can communicate and convey message without
words.

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… and convey a message without words
Look at the following situation: a person in Mumbai has invited his friend to meet him at his
residence in Andheri. Assuming that the friend is coming to Mumbai for the first time, he has
the options of coming by car, bus or train. In case he chooses to come by bus and reaches the
bus station, he needs to know beforehand where to get off—whether at Mumbai Central or at
Dadar. In case he arrives by the train, he should be knowing which station to get off. Should
he get off at Mumbai Central and change to the local train or should he continue to go till the
last terminal (CST)? If he is smart enough to get off in Mumbai Central, he should possess
the prior knowledge of changing to the western train connection as he has to go to his
friend’s residence in Andheri.
Again, let us assume that he asked somebody who guided him to board the western train
properly. However, having boarded the right train is not sufficient, he should know which
platform to get off—the one in the west or the other in the east! He needs to again ask people
to help him identify the right platform. In addition, he should be able to inform appropriately
the auto rickshaw driver to take him to his friend’s apartment. If he lacks the knowledge of
the exact location, then even the auto rickshaw driver will not be of much help to find the
apartment. Most likely, he will have to roam on the same lane so many times to exactly
identify the apartment. Or else, he has to call up his friend and request him to take him safely
to the residence.
Contrast the above situation with another fascinating one that involves a non-human being—
a honey bee. This bee flew across some mountains, crossed some rivers and then reached a
dense forest, where it crossed many trees and found on the top of a huge, tall tree with
flowers full of honey. It comes back to its hive, and then, in order to indicate the place where
the honey is situated, it just makes a kind of dance by moving in a clock wise and anti-clock
wise direction resembling the shape of the number eight.
Looking at this dance, the rest of the bees make a bee line exactly to the spot where honey is
located. They cross the same number of rivers, mountains, and trees without ever losing their
path or time because through the nonverbal dance movement, they learnt the direction.

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You may understand now that in the first situation where a human being is looking for an
address, it involved verbal communication (address written in word form, spoken language
used for making enquiries). Whereas, in the second situation where a honey bee conveyed the
message to other bees the location of honey, nonverbal communication is involved. In the
former case, when a man searches for his friend’s apartment in a metropolitan city for the
first time, ninety per cent chances are there that he is likely to get lost. However, in the latter
case, the bees are able to locate the place of honey hundred per cent accurately without any
waste of time or energy. Now the question is: Which form of communication do you think is
more effective? Which form, in your opinion, is superior?
Obviously, it is very easy to say in this context that the nonverbal is more effective than the
verbal communication. But it is not proper to conclude that the nonverbal is superior to the
verbal part of communication in general. Effective communication is a seamless blend of
both the verbal and the nonverbal aspects of communication. In addition, the effectiveness of
either verbal or nonverbal aspect of communication depends on the context or the situation or
the frame of reference, and the level of commonality between the users. In human
communication, appropriate use of channels also play a crucial role in determining
effectiveness.
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Nonetheless, most of the times, the nonverbal is impactful. It influences the audience by
transmitting the message faster than verbal communication.
This was actually an e-mail feedback sent by a student of my course on Communication

Skills at IIT Kanpur. What is more interesting in the mail is that the student was more
influenced by the visual images I used in the PowerPoint than perhaps the words I used in the
lecture. The words “saw” and “eye-opener” appears to be Freudian slips (words escaping
from his subconscious mind) indicating that he enjoyed watching my lecture than actually
listening to it! You watch a movie or a show on television but you listen to a lecture. Don’t
you? So, what he meant was that he was able to get more information through the visual
message that I generated through the pictures and images in the form of Power Point than
through the words I used in my lecture. Thus, the lecture was an eye opener to the student as
well as the teacher! Even, I realized that if I have to make the class much more interesting I
should use visuals more frequently to correlate

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my verbal lessons. In fact, the startling discovery about communication is that ninety three
per cent of it is nonverbal (body language) and only seven per cent is verbal!

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Based on many path-breaking psychological experiments conducted on human

communication, Albert Mehrabian asserts that most communication is nonverbal.
For Mehrabian, communication, analyzed functionally, from the perspective of the receiver,
is 7% verbal, 38% vocal (paralinguistic), and the majority 55% is non-verbal. That is why, it
is important to recognize and learn nonverbal as the chief aspect of communication so that
you can use it to integrate, compliment, supplement with the verbal. Hence, you need to
know more about the features of nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal communication is a dynamic and continuous communication process where

commonly understood codes are used by the senders and the receivers. It is dynamic, which
means it is active, continuous, and an ongoing uninterrupted process. You can recollect from
the preview quiz: “Even if you stop communicating with somebody verbally, you start
communicating with that person nonverbally.” When you stop talking to someone, you use
frowns, silence, and avoiding eye-contact or staring, etc., to convey your displeasure or anger
through nonverbal gestures. That is how you use commonly understood codes which you
might have learnt implicitly from your socio-cultural and lingual surrounding. All objects are
culturally and are universally encoded with some message. Take for example flowers; if you
give a yellow rose to someone, it indicates that you seek friendship. If you give a red rose, it
can suggest love. Similarly, lotus is associated with spirituality. A white dove symbolizes
peace, and so are white flags. When a red flag is shown before a running train, the engine

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driver understands that there is danger ahead and he needs to stop the train. He also waits for
the green flag or green signal to be shown just when he wants to start the train from one
station and to move on to the other one. Effective communication is possible when the sender
and the receiver are able to extract information from these codes and act in an appropriate
manner.
WHY SHOULD WE STUDY NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION?
Understanding nonverbal messages or body language helps us to know how human beings
communicate their emotions. While communicating a message, the verbal component carries
the linguistic meaning, but, the nonverbal
conveys the real emotions underlain in the meaning. When the verbal comes from the mind,
the nonverbal reveals what lies hidden deep in the heart. So, if we want to know somebody
inside out we need to study nonverbal communication. Because nonverbal messages are
difficult to hide and one cannot even consciously control them. Hence, they are accurate
pointers to the feelings of a person.

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According to the above quote from Julius Fast, when you use language (the verbal) to
communicate something, it is incorrect to think that you would have communicated the
message clearly, and effectively. Especially, in relationship situations, where emotions are
involved, language itself becomes a mask, it deceives, and acts as a camouflage. Whereas, it
is the nonverbal communication that reveals and makes the message crystal clear. If you
look at it this way, you will realize that most of the misunderstandings in human relationships
are because of the abuse or misuse of words and understand that spoken language leads to
maximum confusions.
FORMS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Nonverbal communication is transmitted basically in three forms: sign language, action

language, and object language.
Sign language includes all those forms of codification in which words, numbers, and
punctuation signs are replaced by gestures. To give a simple example, if I want to say “two”
in my class, I can either write it on the blackboard or show two fingers (and fold the rest) to
indicate the number. People who have difficulties in speaking and hearing, use sign language
successfully for communication.
Action language implies all movements that are not used exclusively as signals. It connotes
the gestures and movements we make while we convey something. However, these gestures
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and movements do not signify anything on their own when separated from the original
message. They are used to correlate thought patterns and express the flow of ideas
appropriately.
Object language refers to meanings we attribute to objects around us. It comprises all
intentional and non-intentional display of material things such as: Machines, accessories,
architectural structure, the human body and clothes. Machines means things like: your car,
your computer, your mobile, and all your personal accessories. When you display your
possession of I-Phone 6 or Samsung Note 4, you indicate your identity by your choice of a
particular brand. You show your affordability to buy expensive goods. You also indicate that
you are stylish, sophisticated and have an eye for the latest gadgets.
Similarly, architectural structure conveys a lot about the cultural identity of a country. The
Taj Mahal makes people immediately think of India, and associate it with romance and
magnificence. Also, the way you decorate the body, the way you use it to perform any
activity, and the way you dress it up speak volumes about your personality, character,
preferences and prejudices.
Interestingly, the physical objects symbolize professional identity, as for instance, the
stethoscope connotes a doctor. They can reveal personal commitments as in the case of
engagement or wedding ring. School T-shirt and house T-shirt indicate the local group or
community one belongs to. Cars are invariably perceived as status symbols. Like cars, some
people use costly and comfortable furniture to display their status and wealth.
Having identified the forms of nonverbal communication, let us now focus on the elements.

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I will discuss in detail each of these elements in the coming lectures. Let me conclude this
lecture with the functions of nonverbal communication. According to Ekman and Friesen,
there are five functions as follows:
REPEAT WHAT IS SAID VERBALLY
You must have observed in Mathematics class where the teacher, while saying zero, rounds her
thumb and forefinger to show zero. In this case, nonverbal communication is used to repeat
what is said verbally.
COMPLEMENT TO CLARIFY VERBAL MEANING
Here, the nonverbal is added to as a support to the verbal meaning. For example, the science
teacher while talking about the cross-section of heart draws the picture on the board to make
the concept clear to his students.

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CONTRADICT VERBAL MEANING
A servant who stole a gold ring from his master, for instance, says that he does not know who
must have stolen the ring but his lack of eye contact and sweat on the face contradict his
statement. In fact, here the nonverbal will reveal the servant as the real culprit.
REGULATE VERBAL INTERACTION
How is it regulated? Look at the following situation. The teacher wants the students to be
introduced one by one. She suggests the following: “When I say one, the first fellow from my
right side will introduce; when I say two, the next fellow will follow, when I say three the next,
and so on.” Then the teacher proceeds to say “one” and points to the particular fellow and
the student introduces. She says “two,” “three,” and “four” and after four she does not say
anything. Instead, she simply points to the student who is sitting as the fifth, then the sixth
and so on. Here, after initiating the interaction verbally, the teacher, uses nonverbal gesture
to regulate it further.
SUBSTITUTING VERBAL MEANING
The nonverbal can also be effectively used for substituting verbal meaning. When somebody
asks you whether you like something, without saying “yes” or “no” you can indicate your
response by nodding your head suitably. A child indicates its happiness by smile and laughter.
In such cases, the nonverbal substitutes the verbal meaning. Very often you may use
thousand words yet struggle to describe something, which can be fruitfully done by simply
substituting them with a picture.
In the next lecture, we will look at the origin of nonverbal communication and its elements in
detail.

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REFERENCES
• Ekman, Paul. Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Face and Feelings to Improve

Communication and Emotional Life. London: Macmillan, 2007.
• Fast, Julius. Body Language: How Our Movements and Posture Reveal Our
Secret Selves. New York: Open Road, 1970.
• Mehrabian, Albert. Nonverbal Communication. New York: Aldine, 1972.
• Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes.
• Michigan: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1971.
• Ninja-Jo Moore, et al. Nonverbal Communication: Studies and Applications. New

York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

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Communication Skills: Lecture No. 7
Module 3
Lecture 3
THE BEGINNINGS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

You will be interested to know that nonverbal communication has its origins with
ornithologists and biologists. Those people who studied about birds and animals tried to
identify, codify, and explain the aspect of nonverbal communication. The biologists were the
first to investigate body language. Initially it started with watching birds and noting their
behaviour, and later this was followed by people who developed interest in studying animals
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such as Charles Darwin who wrote the famous The Expression of the Emotion in Man and
Animals in 1872. This book offered a pioneering study on body language, though, Darwin did
not talk particularly about human beings. He started observing animals first and then started
linking their behaviour with that of the humans and tried to find some universal patterns.
This was followed by Desmond Morris who wrote The Naked Ape in 1967. Morris, being a
Zoologist, the book was subtitled as A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal. Morris named
the human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens) “the naked ape” because only human beings among
193 species of monkeys and apes have bodies not covered in hair. Morris’ attempt to study the
sexual features of human beings in comparison and contrast with those of animals was
considered unorthodox by many academicians. Similarly, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, an ethologist
(that is, a zoologist who studies the behaviour of animals in their natural habitats) wrote Love
and Hate Natural History of Behaviour Patterns in which he found many similarities between
human and animal facial expressions and the emotions they conveyed. We will look at those
expressions in detail in the form of basics and universals soon.
NATURE OR NURTURE DEBATE
Meanwhile, it is relevant to know something about the debate whether nonverbal

communication associated with nonverbal behaviour is given naturally to human beings or it is
culturally developed. Is our body language given to us by god, something that is innate or is it
something that can be cultivated as a civilized behaviour? Usually ethologists like Darwin,
Morris, Ekman and Friesen are convinced that it is in our nature, in the genetic coding, in the
form of D.N.A structure and hence it is innate, inborn. Most of the human traits, for them, are
inherited. There are enough supporting evidences to go by this thinking because the ways in
which certain emotions are expressed appear to be universal. For instance, narrowing of the
eyes is a universal and natural behaviour. That’s why in the Japanese comic (manga), the
heroes are wide eyed (indicating innocence, honesty, directness, straight-forwardness) unlike
the narrow eyed villains (connoting manipulation, wickedness and evil). Narrow eyes suggest
being secretive and concealing one’s innermost thoughts, while the eyes that are wide open
suggests an open heart and candid behavior.
This could also be seen in terms of the way we use territory. The ways in which human beings
use space and animals use territory have a lot of correlations. Like the nest for birds and caves
for wild animals, humans need their houses to shelter them and give them security. Like for
birds and animals, home is a private space where intimate relationships are formed and
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developed. Strangers are not allowed to encroach upon private territories in both cases. Birds
become violent when you try to steal the egg from their nests. Animals become ferocious if
anybody touches their young ones. Human beings exhibit similar protective behaviour when
they perceive threat to their home or to their children. Thus, on the one hand, the theory that
our communicative behaviour is natural, genetically given, and is universal is well-grounded.
On the other hand, Anthropologists, Sociologists, and Communication theorists like Erving
Goffman, E. T. Hall and Albert Mehrabian believe that our behaviour is functionally learnt,
hence, it could be cultivated by consistent practice. They are of the strong opinion that
nonverbal behavior is used to fulfil communication functions. They believe that a desired
behaviour can be nurtured and developed for using in appropriate communicative situations.
This is true because the various ways in which nonverbal behavior is involved in greeting
people, shaking hands, hugging, smiling, saying Namaste—are all gestures and polite
mannerisms learnt culturally.
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Now, if you ask me which part of the nature-culture debate I side with, I would say as a teacher
of communication skills, though there are some inherited core behaviour, I strongly believe
that many of our gestures, especially the ones we use for positive reinforcement of our verbal
communication, can be learnt and cultivated.
From a functional perspective, body language is used to encode and decode communication
message. How do deep sea researchers communicate underwater? It is only by functional use
of nonverbal communication. We expresses warmth by giving warm handshakes or express
coldness by giving a cold shoulder or by giving a dead fish hand shake. Once you accept that
most of our socio-cultural behaviour are nurtured, it will help you to build-up your professional
image as a good communicator.
Professionally speaking, your nonverbal behaviour in interviews, group discussions, public

speeches, and any of your performance before an audience, can be learnt by practice and by
reinforcing acceptable gestures. If your performance in the above mentioned situations is not
up to the mark, then first you should video tape your behaviour, using which, seek feedback
from your friends, well-wishers and professionals to help work on your negative behavior and
4
change it in a positive manner. This kind of exercise can also help you identity the particular
type of nonverbal behavior that you weakly or strongly exhibit.
TYPES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Facial expressions such as smile and frown give immense clues to emotional information.
Kinesics refers to the use of body movement and gestures for communicative purposes.
Proxemics is the use of interpersonal space and the psychological message we convey by it.
Oculesics is with relation to eye gaze or eye contact and the minimizing or maximizing of it
conveys different meanings. Haptics simply refers to touch. Chronemics is about the use of time,
its sociocultural variations and its implications. Paralinguistics refers to the vocal cues including
such seemingly unintentional behaviour like clearing throat and even the use of silence. I will be
discussing all these types in detail in the next two lectures.
5
BODY LANGUAGE
Body language or the science of kinesthetics is very revealing. Watching the way people use
their body movement and gestures to express themselves can bring you a lot closer to the truth
than simply listening to what they say. Most of the times, people use verbal language as a
cover up to their innermost thought, however, their nonverbal behavior reveals it. To put it in
another manner, we can refer to body language as outward expressions of inner feelings. Look
at some of the pictures which follow, they tell you stories without words!
Gesture is one part of body language and it varies from culture to culture but it can be cultivated
by modifying certain sociological behaviour. Simply speaking, gesture is a movement of a limb
or the body as an expression of thought or feeling. It is interesting to note that gestures have
cultural background and they are learnt within the society and culture which one belongs to.
Gestures either accompany spoken language or stand alone in conveying a particular message.
For example, in most of the Indian culture, pointing at somebody while talking to somebody else
is not considered a decent or polite gesture.
6
Overall, we indicate our mood and express our emotion using body language. Look at the
various moods and emotion in the picture below. Without words, the idea that one is happy,
sorrowful, excited, puzzled, surprised, drowsy, etc., are conveyed through body language.
VOLUNTARY BODY LANGUAGE

If you are keen on developing a professional image of body language, then you should be aware
of the fact that there are two aspects to body language, namely, the voluntary and the
involuntary. Voluntary body language refers to movement, gestures and postures intentionally
made by the person such as smiling, shaking hands, and mirroring actions. In this case, the
sender is aware of the nonverbal communication that he/she is involved in. Often, it is done
intentionally and mostly to keep the receiver in a comfortable position. Interestingly, this is less
commonly discussed because it seems trouble-free and uncomplicated. Most of our formalized
gestures come under this category.
7
INVOLUNTARY BODY LANGUAGE
You should be more concerned about involuntary body language because it is intricate and an
inadvertent gesture can land you into trouble. Our involuntary body movement, while we are
involved in a verbal communication situation, gives cues to our observers about what we are
really thinking or feeling. For instance, candidates in interviews and group discussions often
make involuntary movements like playing with the pen, shirt button or key chain, shaking legs,
clasping hands which reveal to the observers that they are nervous. Fascinatingly, the ability to
interpret such movements may itself be unconscious, at least for inexperienced spectators.
Involuntary body language is the most accurate way to decode a person’s subconscious thoughts.
That is why, interrogators and police officers always rely on overt and inert clues about body
language. Once you understand that it is almost impossible to hide your innermost feelings, then
it is better to know the negative and positive aspects body language. In this context, there are
some basics and universals which carry same significance across various cultures.
BASICS AND UNIVERSALS
Crossing arms and legs, especially while standing, is considered a defensive gesture. However,
understand that these are universals accepted in the European and the American culture and there
could be possible deviations in the Indian culture. For instance, Swami Vivekananda’s famous
posture is the one with crossed hands, which exudes self-confidence in his case. Yet, when you
see a girl with a folder inside her crossed arms, it is obviously a defensive gesture. Crossed arms
and legs, while if you are seated, can mean that you are trying to show empathy.
Feet also play an important part in communication whether you are standing or sitting.
Especially when you are attracted to someone, your feet will be pointing in their direction. If
you’re not interested with the person before you, the feet recede and go as back as possible
depending on the level of disinterest. When women are interested in someone, they will play
with a lock of hair or continually tuck their hair behind their ears.
The slides below indicate the universal body language used for openness, defensiveness,
insecurity, cooperation, confidence, nervousness and frustration. A short table of nonverbal
behavior and corresponding interpretation follows them.
8
9
10
11
Now that you have got some basic idea about our nonverbal behaviour and corresponding
interpretation, in the next lecture, we can look at each of the types of nonverbal communication
as expressed through our body language.
12
REFERENCES
 Anderson, Peter A. Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions. Mountain

View,
CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1999.
 Darwin, Charles. The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals. London:
John Murray, 1872.
 Ekman, Paul. Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Face and Feelings to Improve

 Fast, Julius. Body Language: How Our Movements and Posture Reveal Our
 Mehrabian, Albert. Nonverbal Communication. New York: Aldine, 1972.
 Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Michigan:

Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1971.
 Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal.
New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1967.
 Ninja-Jo Moore, et al. Nonverbal Communication: Studies and Applications. New

13
Module 3
Lecture 4
In this lecture, you will learn about the types of nonverbal communication in detail.
FACIAL EXPRESSION
The face is the most powerful channel of nonverbal communication. Whether we want it or
not, we always indulge in encoding/decoding of facial expressions when we listen or talk to
someone. Even in the simplest interaction, we normally focus our attention on face. By
identifying the facial expressions appropriately, we can come to know of interest, attraction,
identity, background, age, character (humorous, serious, dull, charming, etc.), and innuendos
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur 1

involved in communication. In his book Emotions Revealed, Paul Ekman enumerated a set of
six basic facial expressions that is innate, universal and conveys almost the same sense all over
the world. They are as follows:


Ekman aptly subtitled his book as Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication
and Emotional Life which tells us how the quality of communication can be enhanced by
recognition of facial expressions.
OCULESICS
Apart from focusing on face, people in an interaction pay attention to eyes of the other person.
Like face, eyes are highly expressive and send multiple messages during communication. Look
at the picture below. Do each set of eyes tell you the same story?
Each of these eyes are expressing something differently. They express boredom, anger,
sorrow, surprise, apprehension and so on. Oculesics involves the study of expressions and

messages conveyed by the eyes in the form of gaze, eye contact, pupil dilation, and eye
movement.
GAZE AND EYE CONTACT
Gaze simply means looking at a person. Eye contact means mutual gaze, where the sender as
well the receiver in communication looks at each other simultaneously. Maintaining eye
contact signals genuineness. Avoiding eye contact is perceived to be deceptive, dishonest and
shifty. In some cultures interacting without eye contact is considered to be rude and inattentive.
Americans, for instance, prefer direct looking into the eyes of the other person to suggest
straight-forwardness in communication. Whereas the Japanese, the Koreans, and most of the
South Asians, including the Indians, are not taught to look directly at someone. These people
are all culturally controlled in terms of their behavior to avoid direct eye contact. Direct eye
contact in most of the South Asian cultures is considered a weakness, and may indicate sexual
overtones. Despite cultural variations, in professional communication, maintaining eye contact
always means genuineness. Having said this, we should also understand that shy and timid
people, in any culture, cannot hold eye contact for more than just a few seconds without
glancing away. It does not signify that the shy person is dis-honest, it only shows that the
person is intimidated by who s/he is interacting with.
VOLUNTARY DIMENSION OF EYE CONTACT
Another interesting aspect about eye contact is its voluntary and involuntary dimensions. In
voluntary dimension, you maintain eye contact with an intention and purpose. It can have such
communicative functions as to indicate friendliness, to dominate, to show respect, to evince
interest, and to give comfort. The duration, that is, how much or how less time a person takes
to maintain the eye contact indicates the interest or disinterest in the relationship. Similarly, the
frequency, that is, the number of times the eyes meet or do not meet also indicate the level of
relationship, whether formal or informal, distant or intimate. Most romantic relationships
develop with longer and frequent eye contact. Nonetheless, when there is a misunderstanding,
the eye contact is avoided—people literally do not see eye to eye!
Expressively, while we maintain eye contact with the one we like, we avoid eye contact with
strangers. That is why, even in physically close situations as while traveling in crowded local

trains we look up instead of facing a stranger eye to eye. However, with a known acquaintance
if we avoid eye contact, it implies lack of interest. If you observe children, you will note that
they are very sensitive towards eye contact. Even a baby on the lap of her mother will not let
her mother’s attention deviate from her. If the baby sees that her mother is watching television
or turning her face away to talk to another, then she will even go to the extent of pulling the
chin of the mother and make her maintain eye contact with her. It is also interesting to note
how this news readers on television create the illusion that they maintain eye contact with the
viewers, while actually, they look at the news scrolled on the screen in front of them!
Similarly, goods speakers, by appropriate modulation of their eye contact, manage to give the
feel of looking at all the audience. Therefore, keep this in mind that whenever you deliver a
speech you should voluntarily try to maintain eye contact with your audience. Only then will
they develop interest in your speech. If you avoid eye contact, very soon your audience will
lose interest in the subject. Moreover, avoiding eye contact, indicates to the audience that you
lack in confidence or you are not thoroughly prepared for the speech!
INVOLUNTARY DIMENSION OF EYE CONTACT
The risky part of eye contact is its involuntary dimensions, which involves pupil dilation.
Individuals’ pupil dilates when they experience attraction for something or somebody. When
the pupils dilate, the eyes appear enlarged in size. Research indicates that when the pupils
dilate it shows that the individual is interested in somebody and at the same time, the individual
too looks attractive due to the dilation. The interest may be on a food item, dress material, or a
person.

Another interesting aspect of involuntary dimension is that it also involves pupil contraction.
When the pupil contracts, it indicates
boredom or lack of interest. Manipulative
sellers, note pupil dilation/contraction and
perceive the customer’s interest and increase the
price accordingly. Good business people use this
aspect to attract and retain their clients.
Nevertheless, if you develop the habit of observing the dilation and contraction of pupils of your
audience and learn to modify appropriately your communication message, then you will become
effective both at professional and interpersonal levels.
HAPTICS
All of us know about the
amazing power of touch.
Haptics refers to the use

of physical contact when communicating. In terms of proxemics, that is, the use of space in
communication, it is also referred to as zero proxemics—the intimate contact point. Touch is
one of the earliest means of nonverbal communication. This is evident from the fact that even a
new-born baby learns from the warm touch of its mother and starts using it as a major means of
communication.
Significantly, meanings about touch are imposed by culture; so,

there are universals and many variations. Certain things
practiced as a good symbol in one culture need not be the same
in another culture. In fact, it could even mean exactly the
opposite. Look at the situation of a male
guest visiting the lady of the house. In
Latin American culture, the touch could
be quite proximate, and hugging is normal
and considered to symbolize a warm
welcome to the guest. In European
culture, either a firm handshake or a gentle kiss is permissible. In the traditional Indian culture,
usually it amounts to saying Namaste. The touch is very much minimized here. In case of an
Arab, the guest is not allowed even to see the female host.
Similarly, in India, it is normal to see boys walking hand in hand, or keeping one’s hand over the
shoulder of the other, especially when the other person is a very close friend. However, in the
Western culture, this intimate gesture can be misunderstood for a homosexual act. Also, in India,
touching the feet of elders is seen as an act of showing respect and seeking blessings. However,
in the US, such a gesture will be treated slavish and will cause embarrassment to the receiver.

Touch has its therapeutic value. Touch is used to comfort not only a crying
baby, but also an adult in distress. A gentle pat on the shoulder is given as an
encouragement to an adult. In emotional situations, people give a hug, or a
shoulder for the other person to cry. However, touch is so powerful that it
can also be intimidating when you touch somebody without developing
intimacy with the person. So, touch has to be used discretely—you can use it
to make the other person feel good, comforted, as well as to feel threatened.
In professional communication, it is important that you learn to develop a

firm and warm handshake, though there are subtle cultural variations to it. Americans, for
instance, use a very firm, solid grip. Whereas, those in the Middle East and South Asia prefer a
gentle grip. For most of them, a solid grip suggests aggressiveness. Nevertheless, in formal
situations, it should neither be the dead fish nor the knuckle grinder handshake! In the dead fish
hand shake, the receiver feels as if s/he is touching a cold, dead fish that slips from hand quickly.
It indicates nervousness or lack of interest. Whereas, the knuckle grinder hand shake is at the
other extreme. The receiver feels so uncomfortable because the giver is literally grinding the
knuckles of him/her. The giver, in his/her overenthusiasm, presses the receiver’s hand so tightly
to express warmth ignoring obviously the discomfort it causes to the receiver. Hence, both
extremes should be avoided and only a firm handshake should be given.
PROXEMICS
Proxemics is the study of the use of space, distance, and proximity in interpersonal
communication. Reducing or widening of distance in interpersonal communication conveys
powerful nonverbal message. You often feel that somebody is “close” to you, while somebody
else always tries to maintain some “distance” with you. Thus you willy-nilly communicate by the

way you use your space. It will be interesting to note how people in general use space to
communicate their power or lack of it. The richer and powerful a person, the greater the space
s/he occupies. For example, in train and in aircraft, you will find that a larger space is given to
the people who can afford to pay more. The first class ticket or the Executive class offers nothing
but extra space. It gives more space for the legs and the body to stretch. To the contrary, space in
the second class, the third class, and subsequent lower classes, gradually reduce until it gets too
crammed and congested. You can note this feature in the palatial houses where the rich and the
powerful live in contrast with the slum areas where the poor and the down-trodden live.
The frequency in which we can contact a person also determines the level of likeness in a
relationship. Celebrities know that “familiarity breeds contempt,” hence, they would minimize
their exposure to the public. The less they meet their fans, the more they are longed for.
Successful politicians command respect by creating more space between them and the public.
Yet, the popular ones try to minimize the distance between them and the people by often going
close and shaking hands with them.
The importance of space can also be seen in its degree of formality. In an informal situation,
when the husband drives the car, the wife is generally expected to sit next to him on the front
seat. If, on a particular day, the wife is seen seated
on the back, it can indicate a communication gap in
the relationship. The exception could be that the
wife is physically unwell and the doctor had
advised her to take the backseat. Perhaps
owing to her morning sickness, the doctor
had asked her to avoid direct sunlight. So,
when you learn some non-verbal symbols,
you should also learn to use them with
caution. You should not jump into
conclusions without considering possible
physiological or environmental factors
that could also impact one’s use of
proxemics.
Similarly, when we sit in a park, we

leave space for the strangers and reduce it
for a friend. Interestingly, when physical
space is not available, we try to create

psychological space such as in an overcrowded lift. We tighten our muscles, shrink our
shoulders, keep a stiff posture and avoid eye-contact.
TERRITORY
You will realize your sense of territoriality, if you find a stray dog lying on your bed, or a car
parked in your designated parking space. Whether you own a particular area geographically or
not, you psychologically assume that the area belongs to you. That’s why you will find big truck
drivers, owing to their larger sense of territory, bullying small car drivers on highways.
Territory, in terms of types of interpersonal distance, is divided into intimate, personal, social
and public spaces. In public space, when a leader communicates with the public, depending on

the power status of the leader, the space will be twenty five feet or greater. At a close level, it is
about twelve to twenty five feet. In case of social space, the far level is seven to twelve feet and
the close level is four to seven feet. When it comes to personal space, the far is from two and half
to four and half feet, and close is one and half to two and half feet. Finally, the intimate space is
just six to eighteen inches, where one can sit close to the other, and in close situations, it reaches
the level of touching, holding hand, hugging, kissing, etc., where it is zero proxemics.
What do we do when somebody attacks or invades our space? We become protective

and sometimes behave aggressively like animals. Initially, we indicate clearly by
our facial expressions and body movement that we feel troubled. We avoid a
conversation, minimize eye
contact, place objects in
between and focus
elsewhere. However, if the
person ignores these signal and
continues to encroach on our territory, then
we get aggressive. If the invasion continues,
we will even retaliate.
So, in this lecture, you learnt about the facial expression, oculesics, haptics, and proxemics as
types of nonverbal communication. In the next and the final lecture of this module, I will discuss

in detail about chronemics and paralinguistics. I will conclude the module by giving you some
tips on interpreting nonverbal cues and on ways in which you can aspire to become a competent
communicator.

REFERENCES
• Anderson, Peter A. Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions. Mountain

View,
CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1999.
• Darwin, Charles. The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals. London:
John
Murray, 1872.

Communication
and Emotional Life. London: Macmillan, 2007.
• Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Michigan:

• Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal.
New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1967.


Module 3
Lecture 5
In the previous lectures of this module, I have been talking about the importance of nonverbal
communication with special emphasis on body language. I discussed the origin of nonverbal
communication, and in this context, the nature-nurture debate, and then I proceeded to explain
the various types of nonverbal communication. In this concluding part, I will begin with a
discussion on chronemics, olfactics, paralinguistics, and then throw light on some of the
limitations of using body language and end this module by giving you tips on how to enhance
your professional image by improving your nonverbal communication skills.
CHRONEMICS
Chronemics is the study of the way we structure and use time.

Using time implies the meaning we attach to it. The way we value
time will be reflected in our nonverbal communication in terms of
spending time, wasting time, postponing time, minimal use of time,
maximum use of time, etc. The time perception that is associated
with our nonverbal behaviour is what we call us “chronemics.”
People arrive early or late depending on their inherent sense of
time. The one who arrives in time is generally sincere to work and
values time and appointments. The one who arrives late may not be
insincere to work, but s/he may not value committing to timely
appointments seriously. Moreover, there are high-status
individuals, such as doctors or politicians, who may deliberately
arrive late to assert their importance to the waiting people.

The time taken for an event is also quiet symbolic. The release of big-budget movies coincides
with important festivals and major holidays. In interviews, more time is spent
for candidates that the panel members are interested in. In offices, higher
authorities choose to whom they should give more time, and to whom they
should not be giving any time at all. There are bosses who give approval to
requests of some people immediately than to those of others. Most of our
nonverbal behavior with regard to time emanates from our time perception, which
is either monochronic or polychronic.
MONOCHRONIC PERSPECTIVE OF TIME
In monochronic perspective, time is seen in a linear fashion as if it is

a single compartmentalized unit. It is a scarce resource and hence it
is budgeted, rationed and controlled. People who have monochronic
perception of time, literally believe that time is gold and time is life.
Success is associated with how better you are able to plan and utilize
time. Americans generally have a monochronic perspective of time.
That is why they emphasize schedules, appointments, segmentation,
planning, managing, and promptness. They do one thing at a time
and concentrate fully on the job at hand. They do not appreciate
unsolicited visitors and unplanned activities. Similarly, they do not
easily pardon late arrivals.
POLYCHRONIC PERSPECTIVE OF TIME
In polychronic perspective, time is flexible. Time is not

compartmentalized and people with this perception are on auto-pilot
mode and handle their life as it comes. They use time in a flexible
manner for the maintenance of harmonious relationships. In the
Middle East, Latin America, and most parts of the South Asia, the
general perception about time is polychronic. People with
polychronic perception enjoy handling multiple tasks. They like to
do several things at the same time. They are highly distractible, and
they do not bother about getting distracted frequently. In fact, some

of them welcome it and they think it adds to the spontaneity of life and human relationships.
They treat time commitments casually and do not keep their appointments in a timely fashion.
What is significant from the point of view of professional communication is that

knowing the individual’s perception of time helps in minimizing
miscommunication. If a boss with polychronic perspective fixes an appointment,
one should be prepared for delay or even cancellation. Conversely, if a boss with
monochronic perspective fixes an appointment, it will be wise on the part of the
employee to reach the venue before time. While in the former case, the boss will be happy if
you even intrude into his office without an appointment, in the latter, the boss will frown at you
and be rude to you.
PROS AND CONS

Both of these time perspectives have their own merits and demerits.
There are certain jobs which we need to pay full attention and finish it
immediately before we go to the next one, which suits a monochronic
time perspective. However, there are certain other jobs which actually
need a flexible time frame (for example, most of the creative jobs) and
a polychronic time perception will do justice to them. A judicial use of
time according to these perceptions can help in executing jobs without
conflicts. It is important that you modify your own perception of time
according to the expectation in the work environment to ensure
successful business communication.

OLFACTICS
Olfactics is the study of nonverbal communication through scent and smell. Although this is a
much neglected aspect of body language, it is nonetheless important because people give a lot
of psychological significance to the way they smell and get attracted to those whose fragrance
appeal to them. That is why, in developed countries, people spend billions of dollars on scent.
In America, for instance, many people daily use scent, cologne, deodorant, aftershave apart
from a lot of antiseptics and sanitizers. Body odors, especially with bad smell, repel people.
Many consider bad smell from mouth or armpits as unsophisticated and uncivilized. In terms of
memory, of all the senses, the images linked with odor lasts for a long time. There are many
instances where adults remember the fragrance of their childhood girlfriends, be it emanating
from hair or entire body. What is important for communication is that scent and smell can be
used effectively to create a good nonverbal impression. Often, the perfume that one uses in
critical situations like job interviews can make or mar one’s career. A busy panel of experts
smelt pungent jasmine fragrance before the entry of the interviewee. All of them expected an
attractive and dainty girl to appear. But when a clumsy boy entered, the experts immediately
noted the incongruity in the personal appearance of the candidate. A male using a female
scent? Needless to say that the candidate was rejected by the panel despite the boy’s excellent
academic credentials.
PARALINGUISTICS
When we talk about verbal communication, generally we think of human speech transmitted in
the form of linguistic communication. However, we do not pay much attention to the
paralinguistic or meta communicative aspect of it. Paralinguistics or vocalic refers to the study
of the nonverbal elements of the voice. This includes vocal qualities such as pitch, rhythm,
tempo, resonance, control, and pace. In addition to these qualities, the study of vocalic
examines purely nonverbal elements as screaming, yelling, sighing, laughing, crying and vocal
segregates as “ah,” and “um.”
Whether the voice is vibrant, thick or flat indicates the confidence level of the speaker.
Similarly, no two intonations are alike. Which means that the person stressing on a particular
syllable will differ from another depending on the way s/he is brought up. Similarly, the
rhythm and accent used by a speaker will reveal the speech-community s/he hails from. The
way a person pronounces and chooses words (vocabulary) gives style to his/her speech.

INTERPRETING NONVERBAL CUES
Albert Mehrabian identified three primary dimensions for interpreting nonverbal cues, namely,
Immediacy, Arousal and Dominance.
By Immediacy, he meant the nonverbal cues we use to communicate our liking and pleasure.
We gravitate towards people whom we like and avoid or move away from those we dislike.
Our decision to like someone is usually unconscious and instinctual. Nonetheless, we will soon
find our reasons to support our attraction for someone.
By Arousal, Mehrabian did not mean sexual arousal but something like animated liveliness.
He says that if we are interested in a person then we tend to be more animated. We become
lively, we become fully alive and respond favorably.
Finally, by Dominance, Mehrabian indicated the balance of power in human relationships.

Understanding the power-balance is significant in various human bindings such as boss and
worker or husband and wife. By observing the power balance, you can get information about
status and position. High-status people have relaxed body posture, and sit on the chair in a very
relaxed manner.
In addition, Mehrabian indicated that one should always look for Context, Cluster and
Change in terms of nonverbal cues before attributing meaning to them. Environment plays a
crucial role in determining the context of a communicative situation. For example, a beautiful
girl enters the auditorium and spots for her a seat next to a boy in the middle row though there
are many other vacant seats on the side rows. The boy should not jump into the conclusion
(using proxemics) that the girl is attracted towards him because she chose to sit close to him. In
reality, the girl did not want to sit close to the air-conditioning vents as she was suffering from
cold and chose a seat in the centre. It was a sheer coincidence that the boy sat in the middle-
row where a seat was also vacant for her.
Hence, looking at a cluster of nonverbal cues helps in making an error free judgment. For
instance, a child trying to tell a lie will put its hand over the mouth, might sweat, and avoid eye
contact. Moreover, observing change in the behaviour such as avoiding hand shake (when
every day the person gives a hand shake) can help in making an accurate reading of nonverbal
cues.
The main point in studying nonverbal cues is that you should not apply one piece of
information as meaning everything. You must carefully observe possible factors in the

surroundings that may be contributing to the other person’s movements including things like
temperature, climate and weather.
HOW DO WE CONTROL OUR BODY LANGUAGE?
Although our nonverbal behaviour reveals our inner feelings, it is really possible to exercise
control over the negative nonverbal cues. The best way to control body language is to be aware
of it. So what do you do? Record your own pictures and take help in analyzing them. Identify
what looks negative and keep that in mind when you are put in situations where you may
repeat the negative behaviour. Your conscious awareness will certainly help you control
negative nonverbal behaviour.
Moreover, like an actor, you should train yourself to express emotions with your body in a
proper manner. You can do this by emulating the gestures of people who have positive body
language. A positive body language includes smile, open posture, forward lean, appropriate
touch, eye contact, gestures and nods.
COMPETENT COMMUNICATORS
Now, coming to the final question, how does one become a competent communicator? The
simple answer is by carefully observing and constantly emulating the body language of
competent communicators. How to identify competent communicators? Competent
communicators are good at monitoring their nonverbal messages and messages from others.
They develop a wide range of nonverbal behaviors to use in different situations. They
spontaneously gather nonverbal cues from their surrounding and infer meanings by clustering
them and by looking for any change in behaviour pattern.
Before I conclude this module, can you take a quick look at the picture below and (based on
the nonverbal cues) identify who is more interested in the ongoing transaction.

You are right if you identified that the woman is more interested in exchanging her commodity
with the man. You could have noted such nonverbal cues as her hair in the front, her leaning
forward, and hand in the front offering something (as against the man’s hands turned to back).

REFERENCES
• Anderson, Peter A. Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions. Mountain

View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1999.
• Darwin, Charles. The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals. London:
John Murray, 1872.

• Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Michigan:

• Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.


Non Verbal Communication

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Non Verbal Communication

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NPTEL- COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Communication Skills: Lecture No.5

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

2. A dishonest person avoids eye contact.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

6. Crossing the hands, legs or the ankles is a defensive gesture.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

7. Steepling with the fingers and hands shows confidence.

8. Smoking a cigarette before an interview or other such activities is considered a sign

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

9. Resting your head on the hand indicates interest in the subject.

10. Showing your thumbs up indicates a successfully completed job or victory.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

11. Babies are more sensitive to body language than adults.

12. Non-verbal communication is less intense and impactful than verbal

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

INVOLUNTARY BODY LANGUAGE

14. Involuntary body language reveals a person’s inner thinking or feelings.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

2) A dishonest person avoids eye contact. True.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

6) Crossing the hands, legs or the ankles is a defensive gesture. True.

7) Steepling with the fingers and hands show confidence. True.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Babies actually start communicating non-verbally (even before communicating verbally) by

People either operate with monochromatic or polychromatic aspect of time. While a

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

YOUR SCORE ANALYSIS:

Now, let’s move on to preview quiz 2.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

1. Silence can be used as a powerful means of dominance.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

2. Non- verbal communication can contradict verbal meaning.

3. Non-verbal communication can be used as a substitute for verbal communication.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

4. Some non-verbal signs are universal and commonly acceptable.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

6. The face is the most powerful channel of non-verbal communication.

7. We move away from persons we dislike.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

9. Awareness of your body language can help you control it.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

10. It is difficult to fake body language for a long period of time.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

1. Silence can be used as a powerful means of dominance. True.

2. Non- verbal communication can contradict verbal meaning. True.

3. Non-verbal communication can be used as a substitute for verbal communication.

4. Some non-verbal signs are universal and commonly acceptable. True.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

6. The face is the most powerful channel of non-verbal communication. True.

7. We move away from persons we dislike. True.

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

YOUR SCORE ANALYSIS:

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Communication Skills: Lecture No.6

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION?

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur