The World Beyond Words

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Comparing Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
Similarities
Differences
Both are symbolic. Both are rule guided. Both can
be intentional or unintentional. Both are
culture-bound.
Nonverbal communication is usually perceived as
more believable. Nonverbal can be
multichanneled. Nonverbal is continuous.
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Nonverbal Behavior
Accounts for 65 - 93 of the total meaning of
communication
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Nonverbal Communication

• Kinesics (body motion)
• Haptics (touch)
• Physical appearance
• Artifacts
• Paralanguage
• Silence
• Environmental factors
• Proxemics and personal space
• Chronemics (time)

Everything except the words!
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• When nonverbal and verbal messages are
  inconsistent, we tend to believe the nonverbal.

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Principles of Nonverbal Communication

• May supplement or replace verbal communication
• May regulate interaction
• Often establishes relationship-level meanings
• Responsiveness
• Liking
• Power
• Reflects and expresses cultural values

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• Content level of meaning
• The literal, or denotative, information in a
  message

• Relationship level of meaning
• Meaning that expresses the relationship between
  communicators

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KinesicsBody positions and movement including
those of the face

• Posture can signal self-assurance.
• Posture can tell others if we are open to
  interaction.
• The face is capable of over one thousand
  different expressions.
• Nonverbal behaviors such as positioning, smiling,
  close seating and gazes signal how we feel about
  others.

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Eyes The mirrors of the soul

• We tend to look at eyes to judge
• Emotions
• Honesty
• Interest
• Self-confidence

Microsoft Photo
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Haptics (touch)

• Touching and being touched are essential to a
  healthy life.
• Touch can communicate power and status.
• Women tend to touch to show liking, while men
  often use touch to exert power.

Microsoft Photo
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Who Touches the Most?

• Teacher or student?
• Doctor or patient?
• Manager or worker?
• Minister or parishioner?
• Police officer or accused?
• Business executive or secretary?

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The higher status person is usually permitted to
touch the lower-status person.
What implications does this behavior have?
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Sexual Harassment

• Creation of a hostile or uncomfortable
  environment
• Unwelcome gestures
• Body language
• Conversation
• Sexually oriented printed material

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Physical Appearance

• What message do you wish to send with your choice
  of clothing and personal grooming?

Microsoft Photo
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Artifacts
Personal objects we use to announce our
identities and heritage and to personalize our
environments
Microsoft Photos
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Environmental Factors

• Elements of settings that affect how we feel and
  act
• Architecture
• Colors
• Temperature
• Sounds
• Smells
• Lighting

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Proxemics and Personal Space

• Every culture has norms for using space.
• In the U.S. we interact with acquaintances from
  4 to 12 and within 18 or less for close
  friends or intimates.
• In China families often share bathrooms and
  kitchens with other families.
• People who want to even out power seek out
  neutral territory.
• Greater space may be assumed by those with higher
  status.
• Those with greater power often invade others
  territory.

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Proxemics and Personal Space

• How people arrange space reflects how close they
  are and whether they want interaction.
• Home furniture arranged comfortably and close
  invites conversation.
• Offices with seating open rather than a desk
  separating people invites interaction.
• Restaurants can arrange seating to encourage
  people to spend time or to eat quickly and leave.

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Chronemics (time)

• How do we manage and react to others management
  of time
• Duration
• Activity
• Punctuality

Microsoft Photo
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Paralanguage
Communication that is vocal but that does not use
words themselves

• Sounds (gasps and murmurs)
• Vocal qualities
• Volume
• Rhythm
• Pitch
• Inflection
• How we pronounce words
• The accents we use
• Complexity of our sentences

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Silence

• Silence can be a disconfirming symbol.
• When you talk to someone and they do not reply
• When children are disciplined by being ignored

• Silence can be comforting.
• When intimates are so close they do not need to
  talk
• When there is an absence of disturbing noise

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Interpretation of others Nonverbal Cues

• Research has shown that the lower status person
  has more skills at interpreting the nonverbal
  cues of people with higher status.
• Women were once thought to have intuition now we
  may think it is only because they had lower
  status.
• Who would be the least skilled at interpreting
  others nonverbal cues?

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Experiencing Communication in our Lives . . .

• View the following video clip and then answer
  the questions that follow based on material
  presented in this chapter. A script of the
  scenario can be found at the end of Chapter 6.

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Wadsworth Thomson Wood Scenarios
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• Identify nonverbal behaviors that regulate
  turn-taking within the team.
• Identify nonverbal behaviors that express the
  relational level of meanings. What aspects of
  team members nonverbal communication express
  liking or disliking, responsiveness or lack of
  responsiveness, and power?
• How do artifacts affect interaction among members
  of the team?
• If you were the fifth member of this team, what
  kinds of communication might you enact to help
  relieve tension in the group?
• You may go to your student CD that accompanies
  the text to compare your answers to Julia Woods.

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To improve our communication . . .

• We need to monitor our own nonverbal
  communication and exercise care in interpreting
  that of others.

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