The Importance Of Nonverbal 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.

This paper, will discuss the processes of verbal and nonverbal communication, including associated components of each, the differences between listening and hearing regarding communications. Also covered will be the formal and informal channels of communication that may be used within criminal justice organizations and implemented strategies used to overcome communication barriers therein. Verbal and nonverbal communication are the two main divisions of communication, and each specific realm deals with its own unique subject matters, symbols, behaviors, and processes.

Nonverbal communication also reflects and shapes the relationships that are built with other individuals. As individuals make connections with one another, they use nonverbal communication. These include handshakes, smiles, and waves. Each of these send a message to another individual regarding a relationship. A handshake could represent a relationship between an employer and an employee. A smile can represent a wanted relationship between someone that an individual is attracted to. When waving to an individual it can be a way to shape a friendship.

My first personal experience with nonverbal communication occurred while shaking hands with a stranger in the coffee shop. I was waiting for my friend in the coffee shop once an evening. During that interval, one stranger came nearby to my table and raised his hand toward me. His intention was to shake hands with me. But surprisingly, he was unknown to me and I had no personal information about him. He seemed quite strange to me as it was really our first face-to-face meeting with him.

Nonverbal communication is communication through sending and receiving wordless cues such as body language between two people. Communication can be through gestures and touch, body language, posture, facial expression, or eye contact. Face to face interactions of nonverbal communication can be classified into three areas: environmental conditions, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during the interaction. Approximately two thirds of all communication is made up of nonverbal communication. “Scientific research of nonverbal communication and behavior began with the 1872 publication of Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Since that time, there has been an abundance of research on the effects and expressions of unspoken communication and behavior.” (Cherry)

Communication, something we must do every time when we interact with other individuals, and it also plays a vital role when trying to understand the issues employees can be facing on the production floor. Most people think that we might use verbal communication the most, but the nonverbal communication is what is really being used when trying to express what we really mean. Therefore, by understanding someone’s body language can be extremely crucial, and how to comprehend the body language being used is imperative.

Non-verbal Communications. Non-verbal Communications is an essential aspect of cross-cultural business communication is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication used more often than verbal communication, as approximately seventy percent of our conversation is non-verbal. Non-verbal communication can take the form of eye contact, the firmness of a handshake, the speaker distance, facial expressions, touching and hand gestures are all critical factors to consider when approaching international business assignments (see Appendix B). A non-verbal behavior can cause mixed signals and misunderstandings, which do not reflect well on a representation of the company. Eye contact and eye movement have very different meanings across cultures. In North America when doing business with a client, it is courteous to establish eye contact, which shows the client you are listening to his opinions and proposals (Sweeney & Hua, 2010). However many cultures differ in the way eye contact is considered respectable. Various researchers have conducted to identify the different methods that should intertwine within the speech, gestures, facial expressions, and body language. In Mexico, for example, looking someone in the eye can be regarded as aggressive (especially among males), and flirtatious when made between men and women. In Mexico, look at clients near the eye, but not actually in the eye (Mintu-Wimsatt et al., 2002). Many North Americans who do not understand this cultural

Nodding your head during an interview while you are being spoken to will allow the interviewer to see your nonverbal communication, which shows that you are listening and acknowledging what they have to say. It also helps you seem confident and focused, which can be a necessity when it comes to picking the right individual for the job.

Communication without the use of words is what we call “Nonverbal communication”. There are different four different forms of nonverbal communication. The four major forms would be; proxemics, touch, kinesics, and paralanguage. According to theorists, nonverbal communication can only take place if you’re displaying gestures that are seen by someone else, communication will not take place if you’re presenting gestures alone by yourself. Showing gestures does give a person certain benefits. For examples, practicing nonverbal cues will allow you to understand others more and the way you want to be understood. The more you properly practice sending nonverbal messages your popularity will increase and others might think this makes you more attractive. The power and the importance of nonverbal communication can help get your feelings across when words can’t. We can display subtle or strong emotions through simple gestures that we may or may not have intended. Of course, there are some nonverbal gestures that are more obvious than others, such as smiling, frowning, or rolling of the eyes are more clear ones. Gestures that include body positioning that would be less obvious and could be unconscious, some brief examples would be standing close to a person that you’re smitten with or leaning closer when a speaker is talking about a topic that interests you. Another example of nonverbal and unconscious behavior would be pupil dilation, although pupil dilation can have a few different

Nonverbal communication, unlike verbal communication, is often unintentional and easily misconstrued. Nonverbal communication follows a set of unwritten rules, which vary by culture and society. Many societies greet one another with a kiss on the cheek or a hug, while in American society, it’s normal to shake one’s hand, if that. While some cultures value intimacy, closeness and personability, American nonverbal “rules” rely greatly upon personal space and privacy. Because of this, when asked to violate and analyze one of these rules, I selected proxemics, or personal space.

The most cited aspect of assessment that nurses found challenging was pain assessment. Nurses who relied solely on verbal communication described feelings of inadequacy, ’We don’t know what they want’ (Brorson et al., 2012, p.318). Clarke et al., (2014), found that only 1/7th of nurses interviewed used pain assessment tools in practice, despite considering themselves competent at assessing pain. However, Lawrence et al., 2011 found that nurses should be adept at using nonverbal communication clues such as facial expressions, movements and changes in the individual when assessing pain. It is widely discussed that behaviors that challenge in dementia are a form of communication, not only resulting from pain, but a variety of unmet needs (Cohen- Mansfield, 2001 and Algase et al., 1996). Guidance suggests that medication to reduce behavior that challenged should be given only in exceptional circumstances, reviewed on a regular basis and most importantly, individualised care plans are devised to support the person’s needs (NICE, 2010).

Theorists view body language, gestures, symbols, tones, language, and more to figure out human conversations. Although they may be subtle and unconscious, they are important. Analyzing how a married couple communicates and resolves problems reflects many aspects of communication. In the show, Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit, season 19, episode 1, this is done with the use of powerful and powerless language, communication accommodation theory, and nonverbal codes in the characters of Karla and Frank. This married couple has a distinct conversation that makes it significant to analyze for this paper. When her rapist is caught after six years of looking for him, Karla is asked by the special victims unit if she is willing to testify against him in court. She is excited to put her rapist in jail; however, her husband, Frank, has something else in mind, and he does not care about Karla’s traumatizing experience at all. Throughout this interaction, the usage of verbal and nonverbal communication within the couple establishes what type of relationship they have because of the way he speaks with Karla, giving off the impression of an unhealthy relationship.

The movement of the body or kinesics behavior understands in a characteristic way the gestures, the bodily movements, those of the extremities, the hands, the head, the feet and the legs, the facial expressions (smiles), the behavior of the eyes (flicker, direction and duration of the gaze and dilation of the pupil, and also the posture). frowning, dropping shoulders, or tipping the head are all behaviors included in the field of Kinesics. Obviously, there are different types of non-verbal behavior. Some non-verbal cues are very specific and more general. Some have intentions to communicate, others are merely expressive. Some provide information about emotions while others give personality traits or attitudes. In an effort to orient themselves in the relatively unknown world of non-verbal behavior, Ekman and Friesen developed a system declassifying non-verbal behaviors. The following categories include:

Before analysing the video is important to define what is communication. Communication is an act of transmitting information such as thoughts, ideas, and emotions furthermore, those elements can also be expressed with verbal communication and nonverbal gestures, signs, and symbols (Hargie, 2011). Moreover, it is necessary to understand the difference between conventional implication and conversational implication. In the first case the linguistical meaning is attached to the message itself and in the second case, the meaning of the message is implied therefore is different from the linguistic meaning (Blome-Tillmann, 2013).

In human’s daily life, communication is something that we do every day. It is an indispensable part in people’s activities. It divided into two types, verbal communication and nonverbal communication. In general, verbal communication means that people communicate with each other by means of language. Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Non-verbal communication includes Kinesics (face and body motion), Haptics (touch), Physical appearance, Artifacts (personal objects), Proxemics (personal space), Environmental factors, Chronemics (perception and use of time), Paralanguage (vocal qualities), Silence. (Wood, J, 2015)