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A significant amount of the communication that goes on

between people is non-verbal. Although most people do
not realize it, people are constantly using their bodies to
send signs to each other. These signs can indicate what
they are truly feeling at the time or they can be
misinterpreted by the other person and misunderstanding
can result. Thus, understanding your body language and
correctly reading the body language of others can be
critical in effective communication.



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Non-verbal communication is usually understood as the
process of sending and receiving wordless messages.
Such messages can be communicated through gesture,
body language or posture, facial expression and eye gaze,
object communication such as clothing, hairstyles,
features of speech such as intonation and stress and other
paralinguistic features of speech such as voice quality,
emotion and speaking style.
Non-verbal communication can occur through any
sensory channel; i.e., through sight, sound, smell, touch or
taste. Non-verbal communication can be conscious and
purposeful or unconscious. Also, non-verbal
communication comes in many forms at the same time.
For example, a person's dress, tone of voice, attitude, and
movement all contribute to the communication going on
in a certain situation. It can be very helpful in facilitating
communication or it can be very derisive.

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A few of the most common types of non-verbal
communication are discussed below. A person can learn
how each of these affects his/her interactions with others
and can learn to modify their non-verbal communications.
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The most common form of object communication is
clothing. The types of clothing that people wear are often
used to assess, accurately or inaccurately, their
personality traits. Social groups often use a common form
of clothing to set themselves apart from other, presumably
unaligned social groups. Object communication extends
beyond clothing to other body adornments, such as
wedding rings or bindis to indicate marital status, tattoos,
piercings¶, and brands. Also included in object
communication is anything used as a status symbol .
2.Ê Haptics (touch):
Haptics is the study of touching as nonverbal
communication. Touches that can be defined as
communication include handshakes, holding hands,
kissing (cheek, lips, hand ), back slap, "high-five",
shoulder pat, brushing arm, etc. Each of these give off
nonverbal messages as to the touching person's
intentions/feelings. They also cause feelings in the
receiver, whether positive or negative. Communicating by
touch is by far the most important among the various
types of nonverbal communication. Mother's touch, to a
child in infancy and childhood is considered to be an
important factor in the development of an individual.
Touch also plays an important role in conveying emotions
such as love.

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The study of the role of eyes in nonverbal
communication is sometimes referred to as "oculesics".
Eye contact can indicate interest, attention, and
involvement. Gaze comprises the actions of looking while
talking, looking while listening, amount of gaze, and
frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation,
and blink rate.
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Paralanguage (sometimes called vocalic) is the study of
nonverbal cues of the voice. Paralinguistic is indeed vocal
communication, but it's different from normal spoken
language. The tone, pitch and softness / loudness of the
voice are the prominent aspects of paralinguistic. A strong
tone indicates the confidence level of a person, while a
hesitant tone indicates lack of confidence or lack of
interest.


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Proxemics is the amount of personal space we need

or maintain when we indulge in any sort of activity.
This can be attributed to various factors including
social norms, familiarity with the other person and
personal characteristics of an individual. The amount
of space between two people in conversation most
often indicates their closeness (or the lack of it) to
each other.

6.Ê 
 

Kinesics¶ is communicating by body movement and is
perhaps the most well-known non-verbal form of
communication, although it is not the only way to talk
with others without words.
  

The way that the body is held can communicate many
different messages.
An open body that takes up a lot of space can indicate
comfort and domination, whilst a closed-in body that
makes itself small can signal inferiority. Copying of the
other person's body shows agreement, trust and liking.
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Gesture is communicating through the movement of
body and arms.
Gestures are deliberate movements or signals made to
convey something to another person. Most commonly
used gestures are waving of hands and pointing fingers
to the object we want, etc. There also exist some
gestures which are attributed to a particular culture or a
community. Various sign languages have been
developed with the aim of conveying messages through
signals and gestures.

   
 

Facial expressions are one of the most important
attributes of nonverbal communication. Just a smile or a
frown can speak thousands of words for us. Facial
expressions to depict happiness, sadness fear or anger are
same throughout the world and hence they prove to be
very advantageous when it comes to language barriers.
Reading facial expressions can give us insights into the
thoughts and feelings of other people
When we communicate with others, we look mostly at
their face. This is not a coincidence as many signals are
sent with the 90-odd muscles in the face. The way the
head tilts also changes the message.
The eyes are particularly important, and when
communicating we first seek to make eye contact. We
then break and re-establish contact many times during
the discussion.
Eyebrows and forehead also add significant signals,
from surprise to fear to anger.
The mouth, when not talking can be pursed, downturned
or turned up in a smile
AÊ

  
 


Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal
communication. The way we perceive time, structure our
time and react to time is a powerful communication tool,
and helps set the stage for communication. Time
perceptions include punctuality and willingness to wait,
the speed of speech and how long people are willing to
listen. The timing and frequency of an action as well as
the tempo and rhythm of communications within an
interaction contributes to the interpretation of nonverbal
messages.
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A monochronic time system means that things are done

one at a time and time is segmented into precise, small
units. Under this system time is scheduled, arranged and
managed.
The United States is considered a monochronic society.
This perception of time is learned and rooted in the
Industrial Revolution, where "factory life required the
labor force to be on hand and in place at an appointed
hour For Americans, time is a precious resource not to be
wasted or taken lightly. "We buy time, save time, spend
time and make time. Our time can be broken down into
years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and even
milliseconds. We use time to structure both our daily lives
and events that we are planning for the future. We have
schedules that we must follow: appointments that we
must go to at a certain time, classes that start and end at
certain times, work schedules that start and end at certain
times, and even our favorite TV shows, that start and end
at a certain time.´
As communication scholar Edward T. Hall wrote
regarding the American¶s viewpoint of time in the
business world, ³the schedule is sacred.´ Hall says that
for monochronic cultures, such as the American culture,
³time is tangible´ and viewed as a commodity where
³time is money´ or ³time is wasted.´ The result of this
perspective is that Americans and other monochronic
cultures, such as the German and Swiss, place a
paramount value on schedules, tasks and ³getting the job
done.´ These cultures are committed to regimented
schedules and may view those who do not subscribe to
the same perception of time as disrespectful.
Monochronic cultures include Germany, Canada,
Switzerland, United States, and Scandinavia.
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A Polychronic time system is a system where several

things can be done at once, and a more fluid approach is
taken to scheduling time. Unlike Americans and most
northern and western European cultures, Latin American
and Arabic cultures use the Polychronic system of time.
These cultures are much less focused on the preciseness
of accounting for each and every moment. As Raymond
Cohen notes, Polychronic cultures are deeply steeped in
tradition rather than in tasks²a clear difference from
their monochronic counterparts. Cohen notes that
"Traditional societies have all the time in the world. The
arbitrary divisions of the clock face have little saliency in
cultures grounded in the cycle of the seasons, the
invariant pattern of rural life, and the calendar of religious
festivities".
Instead, their culture is more focused on relationships,
rather than watching the clock. They have no problem
being ³late´ for an event if they are with family or
friends, because the relationship is what really matters. As
a result, Polychronic cultures have a much less formal
perception of time. They are not ruled by precise
calendars and schedules. Rather, ³cultures that use the
Polychronic time system often schedule multiple
appointments simultaneously so keeping on schedule is an
impossibility.´
Polychronic cultures include Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Mexico, Philippines, India, and many in Africa.
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