Nonverbal communication is interpreted as interaction, communication without the use of verbal means of communication, using body movements, gestures, sensory and bodily contacts. At the same time, nonverbal communication is often not realized by a person, it is controlled by the subconscious, making it the most informative. Using nonverbal communication, a person transmits up to 80% of information, and only 20% is through verbal communication.
William Condon, John Gottman, Paul Ekman, and Allan Pease studied the issue of nonverbal communication.
Communication nonverbal communication
The surrounding society can learn a lot about an individual solely by his manner of choosing clothes and conversation, gestures used, etc. As a result of many studies, it was revealed that non-verbal methods of communication have two types of source of origin, namely biological evolution and culture. Nonverbal means of communication are necessary for the purpose of:
- regulating the flow of the process of communicative interaction, creating psychological contact between interlocutors;
- enriching the meanings conveyed through words, guiding the interpretation of the verbal context;
- expressing emotions and reflecting the interpretation of situations.
Non-verbal communications include well-known gestures, facial expressions and bodily postures, as well as hairstyle, clothing style (clothes and shoes), office interior, business cards, accessories (watches, lighters).
All gestures can be divided into gestures of openness, suspicion, conflict or defense, thoughtfulness and reasoning, uncertainty and doubt, difficulty, etc. Unbuttoning a jacket or reducing the distance between a conversation partner is a gesture of openness.
Rubbing your forehead or chin, trying to cover your face with your hands, and especially avoiding eye contact and looking away to the side indicate suspicion and secrecy. Gestures of conflict or defense include crossing your arms and clenching your fingers into a fist. The thoughtfulness of the interlocutor is indicated by pinching the bridge of the nose, a hand on the cheek (the “thinker” pose). Scratching the space above the earlobe or the side of the neck with your index finger means that the interlocutor doubts something or indicates his uncertainty. Scratching or touching the nose indicates a difficult situation for the person talking. If during a conversation one of the participants lowers his eyelids, then such an action communicates his desire to end the conversation as soon as possible. Scratching the ear demonstrates the interlocutor's rejection of what the partner is saying or the way he is pronouncing it. Stretching the earlobe reminds that the partner is already tired of listening, and he also wants to speak out.
Non-verbal communications also include handshakes, which express the different positions of the participants in the communication interaction. Grabbing the hand of one of those meeting in such a way that its palm is down indicates the authority of the interlocutor. The equal status of those meeting is indicated by a handshake, in which the hands of the participants are in the same position. Stretching out one hand with the palm facing up indicates submission or submission. Emphasizes the different status of those meeting or a certain distance in position, or expresses disrespect by shaking with a straight, unbent hand. Extending only the tips of your fingers for a handshake indicates complete disrespect for the other individual. A handshake with two hands indicates trusting sincerity, excess of feelings, and closeness.
Also, handshakes of citizens of different countries may differ. For example, Americans are characterized by strong, energetic handshakes. After all, they talk about strength and efficiency. For people from the Asian part of the continent, such handshakes may cause bewilderment. They are more accustomed to soft and long handshakes.
Nonverbal communication plays an important role in business communication. For example, picking up lint from a suit is a gesture of disapproval and disagreement in negotiations. In order to prolong the pause before making the final decision, you can take off your glasses and put them on or wipe the lenses. You can also highlight actions that will non-verbally indicate the desire to complete the meeting. These include: pushing the body forward, with the hands placed on the knees or on the armrests. Hands raised behind the head demonstrate that for the interlocutor the conversation is empty, unpleasant and burdensome.
Nonverbal language of communication is even evident in the way an individual smokes. A closed, suspicious communication partner directs the exhaled stream of smoke downward. Stronger hostility or aggression is indicated by exhaling smoke from the corners of the mouth downwards. The intensity of smoke exhalation is also important. The rapid exhalation of smoke indicates the interlocutor's confidence. The faster it is, the more confident the individual feels. The more intense the flow is exhaled downwards, the more negative the interlocutor is. Ambition is indicated by exhaling smoke through the nostrils with the head raised up. The same thing, but with the head down, indicates that the individual is very angry.
Verbal and non-verbal means of communication during communicative interaction are perceived simultaneously, as a result of which they should be analyzed as an indivisible whole. For example, during a conversation with a smiling, nicely dressed person with a pleasant timbre of voice, his interlocutor, without realizing it, may still leave his partner because he does not like the smell of his eau de toilette. Such a non-verbal action will make the partner think that not everything is all right with him, for example, with his appearance. Understanding this may cause you to lose confidence in your own words, your face to turn red, and ridiculous gestures to appear. This situation indicates that verbal and nonverbal means of communication are inextricably linked. After all, gestures that are not supported by words are not always meaningful, and words in the absence of facial expressions are empty.
Features of nonverbal communication
The positions of the body, head, arms and shoulders that are most difficult for self-control are of greatest importance in communication. This is precisely the peculiarity of nonverbal communication during a conversation. Raised shoulders indicate tension. When relaxed they fall down. Dropped shoulders and a raised head often indicate openness and an attitude toward successful problem solving. Raised shoulders combined with a lowered head are a sign of displeasure, isolation, fear, and uncertainty.
An indicator of curiosity and interest is a head tilted to the side, and for the fair half this gesture can express light flirting or advances.
The expression on his face can tell a lot about an individual during a conversation. A sincere smile indicates friendliness and a positive attitude. Dissatisfaction or withdrawal is expressed by tightly compressed lips. The bend of the lips, as if in a grin, speaks of doubt or sarcasm. Gaze also plays an important role in nonverbal communication. If the gaze is directed to the floor, then this demonstrates fear or a desire to stop communication interaction; if to the side, it speaks of neglect. You can subjugate the will of your interlocutor with the help of a long and motionless direct gaze into the eyes. Raising the head in conjunction with looking up means a desire for a pause in the conversation. Understanding is expressed by a slight tilt of the head combined with a smile or a rhythmic nod of the head. A slight movement of the head back in combination with furrowed eyebrows indicates a misunderstanding and the need to repeat what was said. In addition, a rather important feature of nonverbal communication is the ability to distinguish between gestures that indicate a lie. After all, most often such gestures are expressed unconsciously, so they are quite difficult to control for an individual intending to lie.
These include covering the mouth with a hand, touching the dimple under the nose or directly to the nose, rubbing the eyelids, looking away to the floor or to the side of the gaze. Representatives of the fair sex, when lying, often draw a finger under the eye. Scratching the neck area, touching it, or pulling the collar of a shirt is also a sign of lying. The position of his palms plays a big role in assessing the sincerity of a communication partner. For example, if the interlocutor, extending one or both palms, opens them partially or completely, then this indicates frankness. Hidden hands or motionless gathered hands indicate secrecy.
Nonverbal and verbal means of communication
Communicative interaction or communication is a rather complex multifaceted process of first establishing and then developing contacts between individuals, caused by the need for joint activities and covering the exchange of messages, the development of a general direction or strategy of interaction and perception with subsequent understanding of another subject. Communication interaction consists of three components:
- Communicative, representing the direct exchange of information between communicating people;
- Interactive, which consists in organizing interaction between subjects;
- Perceptual, consisting in the process of individuals perceiving each other and establishing mutual understanding.
Communicative interaction can be verbal and non-verbal. In the process of everyday life, individuals talk with many people, using both verbal and non-verbal language. Speech helps people share knowledge, worldviews, make acquaintances, establish social contacts, etc. However, without the use of non-verbal and verbal means of communication, speech will be difficult to understand.
Features of nonverbal communication and verbal interaction consist in the use of various tools for accepting and analyzing incoming data during communications. Thus, people use intelligence and logic to perceive information conveyed by words, and they use intuition to understand nonverbal communication.
Verbal communication implies an understanding of exactly how speech is perceived by a communication partner and what impact it has on him. After all, speech is one of the fundamental means of interpersonal communication.
For the human individual, a phenomenon begins to exist in the full sense when it is named. Language is a universal means of human interaction. It is the basic system by which people encrypt information and the most important communication tool. Language is considered a “powerful” encryption system, but at the same time it leaves room for destruction and the creation of barriers.
Words make the meaning of phenomena and circumstances clear; they help individuals express thoughts, worldviews and emotions. Personality, its consciousness and language are inseparable. Often the language is ahead of the flow of thoughts, and often does not obey them at all. An individual can “blurt out” something or systematically “waffle his tongue” at the same time, practically without thinking about the fact that with his statements he forms certain attitudes in society, directs them to a specific reaction and behavior. Here we can apply the saying: “what comes around, comes around.” With the correct use of words, you can control such a response, predict it, and even shape it. Many politicians master the art of using words correctly.
At each stage of communication interaction, obstacles arise that hinder its effectiveness. In the course of interaction, the illusory nature of mutual understanding between partners often arises. This illusion is due to the fact that individuals use the same words to denote completely different things.
Data loss and information distortion occur at every stage of communication. The level of such losses is determined by the general imperfection of the human language system, the inability to accurately and completely transform thoughts into verbal structures, personal attitudes and aspirations (wishful thinking is perceived as reality), literacy of interlocutors, vocabulary, and so on.
Interpersonal communication interactions are mainly carried out through the use of non-verbal tools. Nonverbal language is considered richer than verbal language. After all, its elements are not verbal forms, but facial expressions, body positions and gestures, intonation characteristics of speech, spatial frames and time boundaries, a symbolic communicative sign system.
Often, nonverbal language of communication is not the result of a deliberate behavioral strategy, but a consequence of subconscious messages. That is why it is very difficult to fake. The individual unconsciously perceives small non-verbal details, considering such perception as a “sixth sense”. Often people unconsciously notice discrepancies between spoken phrases and non-verbal signals, as a result of which they begin to distrust the interlocutor.
The importance of sensorimotor signals
The ability to correctly interpret nonverbal signals is of great importance in modern human life. After all, it is precisely such gestures that most fully express human feelings and experiences. In some cases, emotional experiences can be so strong that without verbal signals it is almost impossible to convey the whole gamut of overwhelming emotions. In addition, these gestures allow you to establish deeper communication contact between interlocutors.
Often, such knowledge allows one to achieve certain results in entrepreneurial activity. The main feature of nonverbal signals is that a person cannot control them. Examples of using such means of communication allow you to learn to detect false notes in the words of your interlocutor and avoid attempts to manipulate your behavior.
A person who knows the basics of nonverbal communication better understands the interlocutor, which allows him to distinguish lies from the truth.
Types of nonverbal communication
Nonverbal interaction plays a significant role in the process of mutual exchange of emotions.
Types of nonverbal communication:
- voice, gestures, appearance (including clothing, body position);
— facial expressions (presence of a smile, direction of gaze);
- movements (nodding or shaking the head, swinging limbs, imitating some behavior, etc.);
- gait, touching, hugs, handshakes, personal space.
Voice is the sound that an individual makes during a conversation, when singing or shouting, laughing and crying. Voice formation occurs due to vibration of the vocal cords, which create sound waves as exhaled air passes through them. The voice cannot develop without the participation of hearing; in turn, hearing cannot develop without the participation of the vocal apparatus. So, for example, in an individual suffering from deafness, the voice does not function due to the absence of auditory perceptions and stimulation of speech motor centers.
In nonverbal communication, it is possible to convey the enthusiastic or interrogative nature of a sentence using just one voice intonation. Based on the tone in which the request was stated, one can conclude how important it is for the speaker. Often, due to the wrong tone and intonation, requests can sound like orders. So, for example, the word “sorry” can have completely different meanings depending on the intonation used. Also, using the voice, the subject can express his own state: surprise, joy, anger, etc.
Appearance is the most important component of nonverbal communication and it implies an image that a person sees and perceives around him.
Nonverbal business communication begins to be built precisely from the assessment of the external attributes of the individual. Acceptable appearance depends on the following characteristics: neatness, good manners, natural behavior, presence of manners, literacy in speech, adequate reactions to criticism or praise, charisma. In life, it is very important for each individual to be able to correctly use the capabilities of his own body when transmitting information to his interlocutor.
Non-verbal communication in business communication is absolutely necessary. After all, business people often have to convince their opponents of something, persuade them to their own point of view and perform certain actions (concluding deals or investing a significant amount in the development of an enterprise). It will be easier to achieve this if you can demonstrate to your partner that the interlocutor is honest and open.
No less important is the position of the body (posture) during the conversation. Using posture, you can express subordination, interest in a conversation, boredom or a desire for a joint partnership, etc. When the interlocutor sits motionless, his eyes are hidden under dark glasses, and he covers his own notes, the other person will feel quite uncomfortable.
To achieve success, nonverbal business communication does not imply the use of postures at business meetings that demonstrate closedness and aggressiveness. It is also not recommended to wear glasses with tinted lenses during any communications, especially at the first meeting. Since, without seeing the eyes of a communication partner, the interlocutor may feel awkward, because the lion's share of information remains inaccessible to him, as a result of which the general atmosphere of communicative interaction is disrupted.
The poses also reflect the psychological subordination of the participants in the conversation. For example, the desire for submission or dominance.
Thus, nonverbal communicative interaction is one of the tools of personal representation of one’s own “I”, an instrument of interpersonal influence and regulation of relationships, forms the image of the interlocutor, clarifies and anticipates the verbal message.
1.4. Facial expressions
Facial expressions are movements of the facial muscles, and this is the main indicator of feelings. Studies have shown that when the interlocutor's face is motionless or invisible, up to 10-15% of information is lost. There are more than 20,000 descriptions of facial expressions in the literature. The main characteristic of facial expressions is its integrity and dynamism. This means that in the facial expression of the six basic emotional states (anger, joy, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust), all movements of the facial muscles are coordinated. And although each face is a configuration of the entire face, the main informative load is carried by the eyebrows and lips.
