Non-Verbal Communication Essay

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Non-verbal communication plays an immense role in the process of exchanging information. To begin with, Mahrebian (cited in Thiel 1997: 9 and Mc Kay and Davis 2002: 59) states that the total impact of a message is a function of a following formula: TOTAL IMPACT = 7% VERBAL + 38% VOCAL + 55% NON-VERBAL This equation clearly shows that more than 50% of information is sent via our behaviour, and not as it might be expected words and phrases (Boczek 1999: 25). Furthermore, our listeners judge us not on the basis of what we say but how we say it (Turk 1999: 166). Next, Steward (2003: 125) notices that gestures are perceived to be genuine and highly believable (West and Turner 2004: 138). And finally, Ekman (cited in Knapp and Hall 2000: 35) states that non-verbal clues grasp the attention of the audience and make greater impression on them. Therefore, it cannot be denied that body language is a very crucial element of public performances that can positively or negatively contribute to the image of every politician. Nonverbal communication is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as body language (kinesics), but nonverbal communication encompasses much more, such as use of voice (paralanguage), touch (haptics), distance (proxemics), and physical environments/appearance.[1] Typically overlooked in nonverbal communication are proxemics, or the informal space around the body and chronemics: the use of time. Not only considered eye contact, oculesics comprises the actions of looking while talking and listening, frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and blink rate. Even speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as
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