Non-Verbal Communication

Definition of Verbal
Verbal = communicating with words
and language (as opposed to
images, actions or behaviour)

Verbal communication is restricted to

language
 Definition of NVC
• All this leaves us with a definition of NVC as follows:

“All communication other than that involving words and

language”

• This is fine but could include everything from animal

communication to films to gardening. For our
purposes we will use a more restricted definition:

“Bodily communication, other than words and

language”
 Relationship between NVC,
Language & Culture
• When travelling, we do not, on the whole, make the
assumption that everyone will understand our first and
preferred language

• Most of us accept we must either learn a new language

or rely entirely on verbal signals for communication

• We assume we will have no difficulty in decoding non-

verbal clues

• We need to be aware of the enormous range and

diversity of non-verbal behaviour
What emotions do these facial
expressions portray?
 NVC, Language & Culture
• Even in the secure territory of your own
familiar culture, care is needed in the
interpretation of non-verbal clues

• Jumping to conclusions about meanings

of non-verbal clues can be dangerous
 Your Approach to NVC
• You should suggest possible meanings and
interpretations when analysing NVC, whilst
paying due regard to the influence of context
and culture and context
• Your own culture and context has an impact
on the deciphering of NVC
• Interpretations are both relative and
subjective
 Categorisation of NVC –
Paralanguage
PARALANGUAGE CONSISTS OF THE NON-VERBAL ELEMENTS
THAT ACCOMPANY SPEECH. IT INCLUDES:

- The way we speak (also known as prosodic features)

- Volume, pitch, intonation, speed of delivery, articulation, rhythm
- The sounds we make other than language
- Laughter, crying, yawning, sighing, screeching, coughing
- Filled pauses such as ‘Mmmm’, ‘Ahhh’, ‘Ummm’
- Unfilled pauses
 Categorisation of NVC -
Paralanguage
There are clear variations both within and between cultures in the use of
paralinguistic features.
David Crystal points out some cultural differences:

“A ‘breathy’ or ‘husky’ tone of voice conveys deep emotion or sexual desire in

many languages, but in Japanese, it is routinely used as a way of conveying
respect or submission. A ‘creaky’ or ‘gravely’ tone of voice is often used in
English to convey unimportance or disparagement; but in Finnish, it is a
normal feature of many voice qualities. And there is no equivalent in
English to the use of strongly nasalised speech to convey a range of
emotional nuances in Portuguese”
(Crystal, 1987)
 Accent & Paralanguage
Elocution lessons were once very popular amongst the
middle classes, especially for those young people who
were sent to ‘finishing school’ as a preparation for ‘polite
society.’

ACTIVITY – Read the extract from the Daily Telegraph

and then discuss the questions in a small group.
1. Why do you think that some parents still see the
advantage of elocution lessons?
2. Do you agree that children in the UK are ‘poor at
expressing themselves’?
 Categorisation of NVC – Physical
Appearance
• Clothing, hairstyle, make-up, body
adornment, jewellery, tattoos, piercings,
glasses, facial hair, accessories such as bags

• You only have to think of the huge industries

associated with the above examples to
recognise the cultural significance of physical
appearance
What do you assume about these
people?
Categorisation of NVC – Physical
Appearance
• Includes the things with which we cover
or adorn our bodies, but also the shape
and size of our bodies
• It is the body’s capacity to communicate
aspects of an individual’s identity which
makes us so aware of our physical
appearance
Categorisation of NVC – Physical
Appearance
• Self expression is a fairly recent
development in historical terms

• Many societies had (and some still do

have) highly regulated codes of dress,
often linked to rank and status
Tudor monarchs, such
as Elizabeth I, used
Sumptuary Laws and
Statutes of Apparel to
control what people
could wear eg. only royalty
were permitted to wear
ermine trims while fox and
otter trims were restricted
to members of the nobility.
Categorisation of NVC – Physical
Appearance
• Self expression in contemporary culture is
also limited by requirements to wear
uniforms or to observe dress codes
• Not necessarily restricted to schools and
public services
• Many corporations and organisations expect
employees to communicate a corporate
rather than an individual identity
 Further Categories of NVC -
Activity
Read the information sheet on some more
categories of NVC – on the task sheet, jot
down the key points for each type. We will
then take whole-class feedback.
- Body movement (kinesics)
- Closeness (proxemics)
- Touching (haptics)
- Eye movement (occulesics)
- Smells (olfactics)
Body Movement - Kinesics
• Gesture, facial expression, posture, head
nodding, orientation
• Emblems – gestures with specific cultural
meanings attached
• Illustrators reinforce words of speakers
• Adapters are unconscious gestures to relieve
stress or boredom
• Posture is heavily laden with value
judgements
 Closeness - Proxemics
• Study of how we use space and
distance
• Includes seating arrangements, queuing
and territoriality
• Ideas of ‘personal space’, ‘invasion of
personal space’ and ‘comfort zones’
• Use of objects as ‘markers’ to indicate
ownership of space
Touching - Haptics
• Physical contact such as holding,
hitting, kissing, stroking, shaking hands,
guiding
• Linked to proxemics
• Touch is very important in our early
development
• Many rules and taboos regulating
physical contact
 Eye Movement - Occulesics
• Eye movement, length and direction of
gaze, changes in pupil size
• We are hypersensitive to information
imparted by eyes
• Can be argued eyes reveal the
truthfulness of what is being said
Smell - Olfactics
• Humans do not have a particularly well-
developed sense of smell compared
with other species
• Perfumes and deodorants send
powerful messages, as can the natural
body odours we try to suppress
• A rapidly growing industry has
developed around the use of smells
 Complex Messages
• Rare for these non-verbal codes to operate in
isolation from one another, or separately
from language
• We create and perceive messages using signs
from a range of verbal and non-verbal codes
• To make this even more complex, these signs
and codes to not always pull in the same
direction
 Communicative Competence
This idea refers to our ability to use language not just
accurately but appropriately. A competent
communicator will:

- Recognise and use different verbal and non-verbal

styles as they are suited to different social situations
- Recognise the subtle interplay of verbal and non-
verbal elements in communication
- Compensate for possible misinterpretations in
communication with others
 The Functions of NVC
• Communicating feelings, emotions and
attitudes

• Replacing and regulating language

• Other Functions
 Communicating Feelings,
Emotions and Attitudes
• NVC has a particularly important role in establishing
and maintaining relationships, otherwise known as
an affective function
• We rely more heavily on NVC in this area of
personal communication
• Looks, glances, changes in orientation allow others
to know what sort of relationship we want to have
• We use NVC to establish a mutually acceptable level
of intimacy
• Non-verbal leakage – messages
‘slipping out’ in spite of our attempts to
control them – ensures that high
credibility is given to non-verbal cues in
the area of feeling, emotion and
attitude
• Puts a lot of power in the hands of a
skilled communicator
• Interpersonal attitudes can also be
indicated by body closeness and
orientation
 Communicating Power & Status

• Within organisations such as the army,

positions within the hierarchy are
clearly signalled by uniforms, badges
and behavioural codes such as saluting
• In other organisations the non-verbal
rules of the pecking order may not be
so overt, but they are just as carefully
observed
Peter Collett’s Handshake Theory
• The Bonecrusher
• The Limp Handshake
• The Firm Handshake
• The Limpet Handshake
• The Clammy Handshake
• The Reinforced Handshake
• The Relocated Handshake
• The Upper Handshake
The Limp Handshake may seem the most likely to offer evidence of submissiveness,
but this is not necessarily so, as Collett’s more detailed explanation reveals:

“A limp handshake occurs when someone offers a hand that is totally relaxed. It
doesn’t exert any pressure on the other person’s hand and it doesn’t contribute
to the mutual production of the handshake. A person who offers a limp
handshake is someone who, in more senses than one, doesn’t connect with the
other person. Like their hand, they remain passive and detached – they’re
simply not focused on the person they’re greeting. This often happens with
people who are self-important or who have to shake hands with a lot of people…
Women who want to cultivate an impression of languid femininity often present
a rather limp hand to the person they’re greeting. Strong people often do the
same, but in their case it’s to emphasise their strength. It’s said that Mike
Tyson offers a relaxed, almost tender hand when he greets people outside the
boxing ring – the complete opposite to what happens inside the ring.”
(Collett, 2003)
Replacing & Regulating Language

• The role of NVC in inflecting the

meaning of a sentence can be explored
by ‘performing’ the following sentence
in different ways

Well, I really enjoyed the party last night.

Replacing & Regulating Language
• Paralinguistic features, such as pitch, tone
and emphasis
• Throw in other non-verbal cues such as
eyebrow lifting or illustrators such as the use
of the index and first finger of both hands to
indicate inverted commas around a word
• Number of potential meanings rapidly
increases
Replacing & Regulating Language
• Non-verbal cues also make a significant contribution
of conversation management
• Rules of turn taking allow us to have coherent
discussions without constantly talking over the top of
each other
• Paralanguage, gaze, eye contact and head
movement all play a part
• It’s a set of rules that takes some time to grasp
• Women typically have a more cooperative
conversational style whereas men tend to provide
less non-verbal feedback
 Other Functions
• Many other uses to which we put our
non-verbal codes including:
- self expression
- group membership
- persuasion and rhetoric
- indicating role
Nonverbal Communication
 What is nonverbal
communication?
• “Oral and nonoral messages expressed
by other than linguistic means.”
• Messages transmitted by vocal means
that do not involve language
• Sign language and written words are
not considered nonverbal
communication
 Nonverbal communication is
powerful
• 60% of all communication is
nonverbal
(Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall,1989)
 There are 7 types of
nonverbal behavior
• Proxemics
• Haptics
• Chronemics
• Kinesics
• Artifacts
• Vocalics or Paralanguage
• Environment
 PROXEMICS (distance)
• 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?
 Edward T. Hall’s 4 levels of
distance
• Intimate: 0 to 18 inches
• personal: 18 inches to 4 feet
• social: 4 to 10 feet
• public: 10 feet to infinity
 HAPTICS (touch)
The power of touch:
• A (1997) study found that strangers that were
touched were more likely to return change left in
a phone booth(Klienke)
• A (1992) study found that food servers who used
touch received larger tips (Hornick)
• Library study (1976) found that students who
were slightly touched by clerk while checking out
library books evaluated the library much more
favorably than those who were not touched.
 CHRONEMICS (time)

How is time used to communicate?

 What does it mean to you when someone is
always late?
 A study conducted by Burgoon (1989) found
that people who arrive 15 minutes late are
considered dynamic, but much less
competent, composed and sociable than
those that arrive on time.
 KINESICS (behavior)
• Facial expressions
• Eye contact
• Body language
• Gestures
• Physical appearance
 Facial expressions
• The face is capable of conveying
250,000 expressions (Birdwhistle, 1970)
• Smiling increases sociability, likeability,
and attraction(LaFrance & Hecht, 1995)
• Food servers who smile more often earn
increased tips (Heslin & Patterson, 1982)
• Studies conducted on students caught
cheating found that students who
smiled were treated with more leniency
(LaFrance & Hecht, 1995)
 Eye contact
• Successful pan handlers establish
eye contact (Beebe, 1974)
• People are more likely to comply
when more eye contact is used
• Eye contact conveys a sense of
sincerity
• Eye contact establishes a
connection between persons
 Body language
• Mirroring – building rapport with others
by mimicking their nonverbal cues
• People like those who are similar or
equal to them
• “Mirroring” body language facilitates
compliance
• Many self-help books suggest mirroring
techniques to get people to like them
Example: The book Unlimited Power by,
Anthony Robbins
 Gestures
• Gestures can be seen as subtle or not
so subtle cues
• We use gestures to take the place of
words, or help us to increase
understanding of what is being said
 Physical Appearance
• More attractive people are judged to be
happier, more intelligent, friendlier, stronger,
and kinder and are thought to have better
personalities, better jobs, and greater marital
competence (Knapp, 1992)
• Attractive people get more dates, higher
grades, higher tips, and lighter court
sentences than unattractive people (Dunn,
2000)
• Example:
• In a 1980 study 73 defendants who had
been rated on physical attractiveness went
to trial. Results showed that the more
attractive defendants received
significantly lighter sentences
(Stewart).
 ARTIFACTS (Dress,
Belongings, etc.)
• Material objects as an extension of oneself
• Clothing has the power to influence
• Change left in a phone booth was returned to
well dressed people 77% of the time, poorly
dressed people only 38% of the time
• Several studies show that fancy suits, uniforms
and high-status clothing are related to higher
rates of compliance.
• The situation governs appropriate dress
 VOLCALICS (Paralanguage)
• Use of voice to communicate
includes elements such as pitch,
rate, pauses, volume, tone of
voice, silences, laughs, screams,
sighs, etc.
• Studies have found that people who talk
louder, faster, and more fluently are
more persuasive
• Deep voices are often viewed as more
credible
• Powerless style of communication
(pauses, umhs, uhs, tag questions) lowers
perceptions of credibility
 ENVIRONMENT
• What we surround ourselves with
• Example: The way we decorate our
house tells others a lot about us
 Environment is often used to
influence nonverbally
• Several researchers have found that
supermarkets strategically place
products

• Staples such as dairy, meat and produce are

in the back or on opposite sides of the store,
in order to force shoppers to meander
through aisles where they’ll be tempted to
buy all kinds of other products
• Children’s products are usually placed on
lower shelves where they can easily be
viewed

• Snack foods, which appeal to impulsive

buyers are usually placed near check-out
areas and at the end of isles where they are
more likely to be snatched up

(Field, 1996; Meyer, 1997: Tandingan, 2001)

 Functions of Nonverbal
Communication
• Repeating
• Substituting
• Complementing
• Accenting
• Regulating
• Contradicting
• Deceiving
 Repeating
• The use of nonverbal behavior to say
what you are saying in words
• Emblems- are the nonverbal behaviors
that we use to display what we mean
• Example: head nods at the same time
as someone saying “yes”
 Substituting
• The use of nonverbal behaviors to say
things rather than words
• We often answer questions others ask
by responding nonverbally rather than
verbally
Example: Nodding your head to answer a
question rather than saying “yes”
 Complementing
• The use of nonverbal behaviors to strengthen
what is being said with words.

• Illustrators- nonverbal behaviors that

support what is being said verbally

• Example: A friend says “I am so sorry” and

at the same time makes a sincerely sad face
 Accenting
• The way we emphasize certain words in
order to clarify what we mean.

Example: “NO!” or “No????”

 Regulating
• Nonverbal behaviors that control the
flow of the conversation, and tell us
when it is our turn to talk, or when the
other person is finished talking.
Example: while telling a story to a friend,
one may pause to allow room for
comments
 Contradicting
• When people are saying one thing yet
their nonverbal behavior is telling us
something completely different.

Example: A friend says, “I am so sorry”

while smiling
 In conclusion
• A knowledge of the several factors
involved with nonverbal communication,
and an awareness of its power will
improve our ability to communicate with
others.
• In the United States, 'stop' is depicted
by showing the palm with all the fingers
pointing upward. This form of hand
gesture also has other connotations like
'stay away' or 'talk to the hand'. In
Malaysia raising the hand is explicitly
done to summon waiters or someone
for conveying a message.
• OK is a positive symbol, wherein the tip of the thumb
touches the tip of the index finger. You raise your
hand and the remaining three fingers remain raised
from the side of the index finger. This gesture means
'great', 'perfect' or 'absolutely fine' in the U.S. while
in Europe it signifies an insulting overtone. The circle
formed by curling the index finger into the thumb
means that the person pointed at is 'zero' and
insignificant. In Brazil and Germany it is a symbol of
slang and a homosexual individual.
• The least popular TED Talkers
used an average of 272 hand
gestures during the 18-minute
talk.
• The most popular TED Talkers used
an average of 465 hand gestures—
that’s almost double!
• Hand gestures make people listen to
you. Spencer Kelly, professor of psychology
and neuroscience at Colgate University and
co-director of the school’s Center for
Language and Brain, found that gestures
make people pay attention to the acoustics of
speech. Kelly said, “Gestures are not merely
add-ons to language – they may actually be a
fundamental part of it.”
• Pointing fingers normally mean indicating
someone or some object. Extending the index
finger to point something is probably the most
common hand gesture. You will also find babies
pointing their fingers at objects they want.
People also believe that pointing fingers could
also mean placing blame on someone. Western
countries consider finger-pointing to be one of
the most obscene hand gestures. Pointing the
middle finger is a symbol of sexual disgrace.
Extending the index find and curling its tip
means beckoning someone. When you call
someone or try to seek attention, then you
usually follow this gesture. In the U.S. it is
used to summon waiters or it could also be
a gesture of seduction. Displaying such
gestures is condemned to be rude in Japan
while in Singapore curling index fingers
represents death. Curling the index finger is
popularly known as the 'dog call'.
• Thumbs Up/Down
• The thumb raised upward with other fingers
curled inward is universally acknowledged as
'well done' or 'things are great'. In Western
culture it is a symbol of optimism. In the Middle
East, Latin America, Greece, Russia, and West
Africa, thumbs-up means insulting others.
Thumbs-down (the thumb pointing the ground)
signifies non acceptance, failure and rejection
• • Shaking your head up-and-down
means "yes" in the
• United States and left-to-right means
"no."
• ‘If you look at the seating position –
their lower legs,’ ‘they are both in the
male, alpha position saying “I am a
man”.’ However, Obama’s legs are sat
further apart, which demonstrates that
he is subconsciously telling Trump ‘I am
still in charge.’
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
time_continue=65&v=KSJujGOnCts
AND FINALLY