UNIT-IV

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION AND PERSONAL

COMMUNICATION
DIMENSIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION – PERSONAL APPEARANCE – BODY
LANGUAGE-PARALANGUAGE – ENVIRONMENT – USE OF
CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, TABLES AND VISUAL AUDIO AIDS FOR
COMMUNICATION – LISTENING – PROCESS OF IMPROVING
LISTENING – TEAMS – TYPES – DYNAMICS-IMPROVING GROUP
COMMUNICATION – UNDERSTANDING OTHERS AND SELF,
SELF CONCEPT – INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION – FEEDBACK
 Non-verbal Communication
2

 It is defined as the messages expressed by

nonlinguistic means.

 Includes silent behaviors, environment, artifacts, and vocal

intonation
 Is a powerful mode of communication
 Characteristics
3

 Nonverbal Communication is Primarily Relational.

 Nonverbal Communication is Ambiguous.

 Nonverbal Communication Reflects Cultural

Values.
Types of Non-verbal Communication
4

 Proxemics
 Haptics
 Chronemics
 Kinesics
 Artifacts
 Vocalics or Paralanguage
 Environment
 PROXEMICS (distance)
5

 Different cultures have different comfort levels of

distance
 As children grow older and become less dependent
on parents they require more space
 Men tend to take up more space than women

Example: When you go to the movies with someone

of the opposite sex who usually gets the armrest?
 HAPTICS (touch)
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 Touching is considered essential and therapeutic.

 Touching can influence liking and compliance.

 Is used to show intimacy or power/control.

 People with high status touch others/invade others’

spaces more than people with lower status
 CHRONEMICS (time)
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 Our use of time reflects:

 Power/status

 Cultural norms

 Expectations

 Interpersonal priorities
 KINESICS (behavior)
8

 Facial expressions
 Eye contact
 Body language
 Gestures
 Physical appearance
 Facial expressions
9

 A popular saying goes like this; “The face is the

index of the heart”. Whatever we feel deep within
ourselves is reflected on the face. Many times it
determines the consequences of personal
communications.
For example,
our facial expressions are generally asociated with
happiness, surprise, fear, anger, sadness,
astonishment etc.,
 Eye contact
10

 Every one knows that eye contact is of paramount

importance in all face-to-face communications.

 When we look at somebody’s face, we focus primarily

on his eyes and try to understand what he means.

 The eyes along with the eyebrows, eyelids and the

size of pupils convey our innermost feelings.
 Body Language
11

 It refers to the non-verbal signals that we use to

communicate. It is a form of mental and physical
ability of human non-verbal communication, which
consists of our postures, gestures, facial expressions.

 Individuals send and interpret such signals almost

entirely subconsciously.
 Posture
12

 Posture refers to the way one stands, sits and walks.

The position of hands and legs and other parts of the
body reveals not only an individual’s state of mind-
whether he is vibrant, alive, dynamic or nervous,
confidence etc., but also his grip on the subject-
matter of communication.
 VOLCALICS (Paralanguage)
13

 Consists of vocal tone, speed, pitch, volume,

number and length of pauses, and disfluencies
(“um”s, “ah”s), etc.
 Paralanguage tends to be more powerful than
language
 Affects how other’s perceive us
 Stereotyping (e.g., accents, vocabulary, grammar
 Influenced by culture, gender, class (intentionally
or unintentionally)
 Physical Appearance
14

 “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”

 We tend to notice obvious things first (gender, race),
then note attractiveness
 Physically attractive people generally are perceived
better
 Importance placed on physical appearance can be
very damaging
 It’s what we do with it that’s most important
 ENVIRONMENT
15

 Communicates something about you

 We surround ourselves with things that are
important/meaningful to us
 Use artifacts to define our territory

 Can influence interactions

 How people use an environment communicates
something about them
Functions of Nonverbal Communication
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 Repeating
 Substituting
 Complementing
 Accenting
 Regulating
 Contradicting
 Deceiving
 Listening
17

 The process of receiving, constructing meaning from,

and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal
messages; to hear something with thoughtful
attention
 Listening vs. Hearing
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 Hearing- physical process; natural; passive

 Listening- physical & mental process; active; learned

process; a skill
 Advantages of listening
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 Listeningis the most powerful form of

acknowledgment.

 Listening builds stronger relationships.

 Listening promotes being heard.

 Listening creates acceptance and openness.

 Listening leads to learning.

 Barriers to Listening
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 Uninteresting Topics.

 Speaker’s Delivery.

 External Distractions.

 Mentally Preparing Response.

 Equate With Hearing

 Bad Listening Habits
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 Criticizing the subject or the speaker

 Getting over-stimulated
 Listening only for facts
 Not taking notes OR outlining everything
 Tolerating or creating distraction
 Letting emotional words block message
 Wasting time difference between speed of speech
and speed of thought
 Ways to improve listening
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 Concentrate on speaker’s words, not his looks.

 Keep recalling the points.
 Relate the speaker’s words to your experience.
 Don’t get distracted.
 Have a positive attitude.
 Listen for between-the line message.
 Take notes.
 Ask questions.