Non Verbal Communication

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NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION INTRODUCTION Body language is defined as all human communication events that transcend the written or the spoken word. Body language encompasses the tone of the voice, macro (big) gestures like hand and feet movements, and smaller macro signals which are difficult to control, such as your breathing, the dilation of your pupils, the colour changes of the skin, the flaring nostrils the dryness of throat, the amount of sweat secreted. Communication can be broken down in three parts: • What we say (10-15%) • How we say it (15-25%) • Body language (60-70%) Need to be sensitive to non-verbal Cues • We rely on first impressions to make up our minds about people –can be inaccurate. • Judge strangers in terms of our own beliefs about appearance and non-verbal behavior. • First impressions are hard to change. • Often use non-verbal people stereotypes for judging. Non-verbal differs from verbal: • In face-to face – Communication is continuous. • Non-verbal is usually trusted more than words. • More effective way of showing emotions. Problems with interpretation: • Can be ambiguous • Meaning must be established from context, not behavior. • Have to interpret in clusters. NON-VERBAL CATEGORIES Kinesics known also as body motions, includes gestures, movements of the body, posture, facial expressions Paralanguage deals with how something is said and not what is said. Includes pitch, rhythm, articulation, tone and vocalizations such as laughing, yawning, coughing, and things such as “uh-huh”, “um”, “uh” and “ah”. Haptics (tacesics) also known as touching behaviour, includes stroking, hitting, holding etc., also who may touch whom and where Proxemics also known as territoriality, is concerned with how we use space, socially and personally
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