Nonverbal Communication : Non Verbal Communication

Business communication is a skill not everyone has; it is however something that can be learned. Many people think of only verbal skills when working on their business communication; however some forget how nonverbal cues can affect a message. Nonverbal communication can make or break a business conversation. If a potential partner interprets nonverbal communication conveying a different message than the verbal does it can lead to complications when trying to close an opportunity. As the world has become more connected, the importance of knowing different culture’s interpretations of nonverbal cues has become more important than ever. Since 1950, the world trade has grown more than twenty-seven fold in volume terms (Expansion of International Trade section, para. 1). Technological advances have provided easier access to new markets and manpower which has changed the face of business as we know it. It is more important than ever to be aware of how nonverbal communication is received by others because nonverbal in order to be successful in business; nonverbal communication is just as important as verbal communication.

Non-verbal communication consists mainly of the things people do with their body language. There are times where words are expressed and non-verbal communication could help emphasize the message. A few examples of nonverbal communication are hand gestures eye contact, facial expressions as well as tone and volume. I was given this assignment to observe a situation and take note of the nonverbal communication that occurred. I also had to observe whether the non-verbals were able to execute the message and if the behavior was acceptable.

Body language (the process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious gestures and movements). People all of the world use body language or gestures to communicate nonverbally. I personally think that nonverbal communication and body language are one of the biggest barriers in communication especially between one culture to other. Body gestures can be misinterpreted as rude or disrespectful depending on the country, region, or even the city you’re from.

Over this summer course I have learned a lot about communication. I learned how significant nonverbal and verbal communication is, along with listening. I never fully understood how big communication is in our daily lives. I now realize that it is a huge aspect of how we continue in our lives. This course has showed me different levels of communication.

In this paper I will discuss and analyze the verbal communication, “the exchange of spoken or written language with others during interactions” McCornack, 2013, p. 191), and the nonverbal communication, “the intentional or unintentional transmission of meaning through an individual’s nonspoken physical and behavioral cues (Patterson, 1995)” (McCornack, 2013, p. 223), of a 2012 Third Party Presidential Debate between Jill Stein, Rocky Anderson, Virgil Hamlin, and Gary Johnson.

Actions speak louder than words. When having a conversation with someone, your body language speaks louder than your words. Men’s brains and women’s brains work differently, which causes them to have slightly different forms of interaction. Men have different proxemics, kinesics, and paralanguage than women do. Understanding these differences allow us to communicate effectively.

In the study implemented by Sauter (2010) they examined the how nonverbal emotional cues are recognized between polar cultural groups. In their study Sauter used native speakers from the perspective groups, but outside of the participant pool, to record a story in a neutral tone in order to use later in the experiment. In the actual study Sauter (2010) played the recording to the participants over headphones, and when they were finish she played two sounds and asked the participants “ which [sound] was the kind of sound that the person in the story would make.” (p. 2412) She found that vocal signals are cross culturally recognized, as well as that the vocal signals recognized in the research are the same as the those that are argued to be universally recognized through facial expression of emotion. These findings support the proposed findings that suggest that the emotions tested in this study are psychologically universal, which is due to an evolutionary set of basic emotion that are shared by all human beings. Our study revolved around the concept of understanding and recalling emotions based upon non verbal cues/ gestures. We find this furthered our understanding of emotions that could be used to look at understanding of emotions via nonverbal cues.

Characteristics of ones face might be the only nonverbal communication that is universal. There use to be only six common facial expressions: happy, sad, angry, fear, and surprise. Some researchers have suggested that embarrassment and looks of contempt are now universal expressions. Science Daily wrote an article about facial expressions, it basically states, “we are able to understand facial expression better when it’s moving naturally than when it’s frozen.” Different cultures might not have the same facial expression. For instance, Chinese people rely more on their eyes to represent facial expression. Western Caucasians rely more on their eyebrows and mouth to make a statement.

As the therapy began, the client was looking down and looking away, the client let out a sigh before she began to speak. She did not make eye contact and she fidget with her hands. When she began to address her feelings she crunched her face, and let out an, “MMMMM” sound. She addressed the sort of guilty feelings in regards towards the relationship between her sister, and her. She also brings up the passing of her mother seven years ago. She smacks her mouth on and off. She continued to crunch her face, and fidgets with her fingers. When she addressed the love she and her sister have for one another, she slightly smiled. She stated that her sister and her usto fight a lot and really love each other and she reassured me of this my stating,” We really do, we are crazy about each other.” This reassuring statement expresses to me that she wants to validate that there is love, in spite of fighting, and she is protecting herself from judgment. Her gestures express that the subject is uncomfortable to address. She addresses how much they miss each other since they live in different states, but after a couple days “they can not stand each other.” When she is speaking about these feeling, she has a confused, puzzled look on her face. As if she does not understand why this happens between them. She shared that her sister is going to have a big birthday, her fiftieth and her face crunch up, but she did smile as she continue to talk. This expresses to me that she is happy her sister is turning fifty, but she is worried about what comes along with the party that will be occurring. She discloses that her sister did give her plenty of notice on the up coming event, and smiles/smirks when speaking about not attending and not wanting to be there. When she gets to the part of how tired she is of the cycle, her tone of voice, changed it becomes low, and I could feel how draining this is to her. Her body become limb like for a couple of seconds. When she expressed that she does want to enjoy the party but wants to get there and back. Her voice changed sped up and she used an emphasizing tone. She continued to use a lot of hand and finger gestures. She brings up her guilt

There are many aspects that add on or change conversations within people that sometimes is hard to notice or is sometimes looked over. This is because there are many ways humans add on to conversations with, for example, what is known as “body language.” Sometimes human do not change their body language on purpose and its pure human instinct. There are also other ways to show emotions with the way humans say thing. For example, if someone is feeling mad, they might be more harsh when they say things rather than more careful wording when someone is feeling sympathetic for someone else. These two different aspects that add into communication within one another are known as verbal and nonverbal symbols. In the show, Law and Order: Special

In most instances, non-verbal message may complement and reinforce the message and some cases contradict the verbal message. In the American culture, a nod reinforces while a wink contradicts the message.

Culture has a huge influence on verbal and nonverbal cues because “ culture is a shared pattern of thought, behaviour, and norms which are common to an organization or society, and are learned through the process of socialization” Hofstede (1997). If person belongs to the same culture then you will see a pattern in how they interact with each other. You will see similarities in those characteristic because they have acquired their behavior from what members of society see in their everyday culture. In a case study conducted in Ibis Africa with the purpose

The following are the 10 nonverbal communication tips for my friend before attending an interview:-

The quote by Drucker is a great example of how important it is for people to pay attention to nonverbal behavior, rather than only what is verbally communicated. Nonverbal communication has the ability to deliver information more effectively than verbal communication. Interpersonal communication is more effective when a conversation is complimented with non-verbal communication (Bello, et al, 2010). Nonverbal communication is not limited to any environment or surroundings because we are always communicating through nonverbal cues consciously and subconsciously. Whether a person is at a business meeting, bar, park, or his/her house, the transmission of verbal and nonverbal communication is continually being sent and received.

Communication exists of both verbal and nonverbal messages with the objective to achieve shared meanings, for example, both parties understand equally. However, in intercultural communication, the chance of really understanding each other is quite low. Intercultural, includes that at least two parties from different cultural backgrounds are involved. The way we interpret, verbal and nonverbal messages are based on our culture and this is the major difficulty in intercultural encounters. There are no cultures which are similar, it means that each culture interprets gestures, nonverbal signs, cues and symbols in a differently way, not to mention the language itself. Thus, the greater the difference between the two cultures involved, the more difficult it is for the parties to understand each other (Samovar et al., 2014).