VERBAL AND NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATION
 Verbal communication is a spoken
communication . The use of sounds
and words to express yourself,
especially in contrast to using
gestures or mannerisms . An
example of verbal
communication is saying “No”
when someone asks you to do
something you don't want to do
Important skills for effective
Verbal Communication:

(a) Listening Skills

(b) Nonverbal Communication
(c) Clarification
  You acquire more than 40% of
Listening is your information through
trying to get listening
the meaning  Most people usually only
of what you remember about 17 to 25% of
the things they listen to.
hear.

•listening is an active,
conscious process

•listening is with the mind while

hearing is with the senses
 Ten Principles of Listening
1. Stop talking
2. Prepare to listen
3. Put the speaker at ease
4. Remove distractions
5. Empathize
6. Be patient
7. Avoid prejudice
8. Listen to the tone
9. Listen to ideas
10. Watch for nonverbal cues
Clarification the
action of making a
statement or situation
more comprehensible.

Because communication can be 'difficult' for

many reasons, clarifying is important. Perhaps
sensitive emotions are being discussed - or you
are listening to some complex information or
following instructions.
  “Micro-expressions” are a
Nonverbal better predictor of true
communication is feelings.
communication
through sending  The ability to read body
language is related to
and receiving emotional/social intelligence.
wordless clues

•It includes the use of visual cues such

as body language (kinesics), distance
(proxemics), physical
environments/appearance, voice
(vocalics), touch (haptics) and time
(chronemics)
 Guidelines for sending Nonverbal messages

1. Understand That Nonverbal Communication Is

Multichannel
2. Understand That Nonverbal Communication
Affects Our Interactions
3. Understand How Nonverbal Communication
Regulates Conversations
4. Understand How Nonverbal Communication
Relates to Impression Management
5. Increase Competence in Specific Channels of
Nonverbal Communication
 Nonverbal Channels

A. Vocalics
The following guidelines may help you more effectively
encode nonverbal signals using paralanguage.

Verbal fillers are often used

subconsciously and can negatively affect
your credibility and reduce the clarity of
your message when speaking in more
formal situations. In fact, verbal fluency is
one of the strongest predictors of
persuasiveness (Hargie, 2011).
Vocal variety increases listener and speaker
engagement, understanding, information
recall, and motivation. So having a more
expressive voice that varies appropriately
in terms of rate, pitch, and volume can
help you achieve communication goals
related to maintaining attention,
effectively conveying information, and
getting others to act in a particular way
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Who got
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my cookie jar?
Cookie Monster is
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Who got
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my cookie jar?
Overjoye
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Cookie Monster is
asking…
Who got
cookies from
my cookie jar?
Anxiou
s
Cookie Monster is
asking…
Who got
cookies from
my cookie jar?
Cookie Monster is
asking…
Who got
cookies from
my cookie jar?
ducti ve
Se
or s
a t i ou
Fl i rt
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asking…
Who got
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n at i c
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B. Proxemics
The following may help you more
effectively encode nonverbal signals
related to interpersonal distances.
C. Kinesics- nonverbal messages sent using your
hands, arms, body, and face.

1. Gestures
2. Eye contact
3. Facial Expressions

D. Haptics- nonverbal signals using touch

These are types of touch to avoid (Andersen,
1999):

1. Avoid touching strangers unless being

introduced or offering assistance.
2. Avoid hurtful touches and apologize if
they occur, even if accidentally.
3. Avoid surprising another person with
your touch.
4. Avoid interrupting touches such as
hugging someone while they are talking to
someone else.
These are types of touch to avoid (Andersen, 1999):

5. Avoid moving people out of the way with

only touch—pair your touch with a verbal
message like “excuse me.”

6. Avoid combining touch with negative

criticism; a hand on the shoulder during a
critical statement can increase a person’s
defensiveness and seem condescending or
aggressive
-When breaches of personal space occur, it is a social norm
to make nonverbal adjustments such as changing our
body orientations, and using objects to separate
ourselves from others. To reduce immediacy, we engage
in civil inattention and reduce the amount of eye contact
we make with others. We also shift the front of our body
away from others since it has most of our sensory inputs
and also allows access to body parts that are considered
vulnerable, such as the stomach, face, and genitals
(Andersen, 1999). When we can’t shift our bodies, we
often use coats, bags, books, or our hands to physically
separate or block off the front of our bodies from others.
E. Chronemics
The following guideline may help you more
effectively encode nonverbal signals related to
time
-Our lateness or promptness can send messages
about our professionalism, dependability, or
other personality traits. Formal time usually
applies to professional situations in which we are
expected to be on time or even a few minutes
early. You generally wouldn’t want to be late for
work, a job interview, a medical appointment,
and so on. Informal time applies to casual and
interpersonal situations in which there is much
more variation in terms of expectations for
promptness.
-Quality time is an important part of interpersonal
relationships, and sometimes time has to be
budgeted so that it can be saved and spent with
certain people or on certain occasions—like date
nights for couples or family time for parents and
children or other relatives.

F. Personal Presentation and Environment

The following guidelines may help you more
effectively encode nonverbal signals related to
personal presentation and environment.
-Recognize that personal presentation carries much weight
in terms of initial impressions, so meeting the
expectations and social norms for dress, grooming, and
other artifactual communication is especially important
for impression management.

-Where you choose to sit can also impact perceived

characteristics and leadership decisions. People who sit
at the head or center of a table are often chosen to be
leaders by others because of their nonverbal accessibility
—a decision which may have more to do with where the
person chose to sit than the person’s perceived or actual
leadership abilities. Research has found that juries often
select their foreperson based on where he or she happens
to sit (Andersen, 1999). Keep this in mind the next time
you take your seat at a meeting.
 Guidelines for Interpreting Nonverbal
Messages

1. There Is No Nonverbal Dictionary

2. Recognize That Certain Nonverbal Signals Are
Related
3. Read Nonverbal Cues in Context
4. Interpreting Cues within Specific Channels
Written Communication
- a type of communication that uses written
language.
- indispensable in formal business communication
and legal documents.
-often asynchronous rather than synchronous
-it can be collaborative and can be revised and
edited.
 Suggestions in Selecting Words
1.use familiar words
2.choose short over long words
3. use technical words with caution
4. select words with the right strength and vigor.
5. use concrete language
6. use the active voice
7. avoid overuse of camouflaged verbs
(e.g. The new policy involved the standardization of the
new procedures
vs
The new policy standardized the new procedures)