Quote: "Nonverbal communication (NVC) is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, use of objects and body language."
The roles of nonverbal communication in language use, including the study of gesture and other forms of body language.
Body language: The use of facial expressions, gestures, and postures to communicate nonverbally.
Proxemics: The study of how humans use space during communication and how distance affects communication.
Haptics: The study of touch communication, including how touch signals different emotions and can be used to establish intimacy and dominance.
Paralanguage: The nonverbal aspects of speech, such as tone, pitch, and intonation, that convey meaning beyond the actual words spoken.
Chronemics: The study of how time influences communication, including cultural variations in attitudes toward punctuality and the use of time in communication.
Physical appearance: How appearance (including clothing, hairstyle, makeup, and body adornments) signals different messages about individuals and groups.
Eye contact: How the use of eye contact (including gaze aversion and staring) can affect communication and convey different meanings.
Vocal characteristics: How vocal qualities (including volume, speed, and rhythm) can convey meaning and signal different emotions or attitudes.
Cultural variations in nonverbal communication: How different cultures use nonverbal communication in different ways and how cultural norms influence communication.
Cross-cultural misunderstandings: The potential for misunderstanding and misinterpretation in cross-cultural communication due to differences in nonverbal communication practices.
Facial Expressions: They are the most common and universal way of expressing emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, and disgust.
Body Movement: It includes the way we move our arms, hands, legs, and the way we walk, stand or sit.
Eye Contact: It indicates attention, interest, or hostility, and helps to establish a connection with the person we are communicating with.
Touch: It can convey emotions like love, comfort, or aggression. It includes handshakes, hugs, and even a pat on the back.
Posture: It displays our level of confidence, power, and authority. We can slouch, straighten up, or stand tall to convey different attitudes.
Proxemics: It measures the distance between people in different social and cultural contexts. It includes personal space, territoriality, and cultural expectations.
Paralinguistics: It refers to the nonverbal aspects of speech, like tone of voice, pitch, volume, and rhythm. It can convey nuances of meaning that words alone cannot express.
Artifacts: It includes the objects, clothing, or jewelry we wear, which can indicate our identity, status, or affiliation.
Environment: It includes the physical setting where communication takes place and can affect the way we communicate, think and behave.
Time: It includes the use of time, punctuality, and the pace of speech or task completion, which can vary between cultures and contexts.
Quote: "It includes the use of social cues, kinesics, distance (proxemics) and physical environments/appearance, of voice (paralanguage) and of touch (haptics)."
Quote: "A signal has three different parts to it, including the basic signal, what the signal is trying to convey, and how it is interpreted."
Quote: "These signals that are transmitted to the receiver depend highly on the knowledge and empathy that this individual has."
Quote: "The study of nonverbal communication started in 1872 with the publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin."
Quote: "Darwin began to study nonverbal communication as he noticed the interactions between animals such as lions, tigers, dogs etc. and realized they also communicated by gestures and expressions."
Quote: "Today, scholars argue that nonverbal communication can convey more meaning than verbal communication."
Quote: "Ray Birdwhistell concludes that nonverbal communication accounts for 60–70 percent of human communication."
Quote: "Just as speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, as well as prosodic features, so written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the physical layout of a page."
Quote: "much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on interaction between individuals, where it can be classified into three principal areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during interaction."
Quote: "Nonverbal communication involves the conscious and unconscious processes of encoding and decoding."
Quote: "Encoding is defined as our ability to express emotions in a way that can be accurately interpreted by the receiver(s)."
Quote: "Decoding is called 'nonverbal sensitivity', defined as the ability to take this encoded emotion and interpret its meanings accurately to what the sender intended."
Quote: "For example, in the picture above, the encoder holds up two fingers, and the decoder may know from previous experience that this means two."
Quote: "Both of these skills can vary from person to person, with some people being better than others at one or both."
Quote: "women are found to be better decoders than men since they are more observant of nonverbal cues, as well as more likely to use them."
Quote: "Culture plays an important role in nonverbal communication, and it is one aspect that helps to influence how learning activities are organized."
Quote: "In many Indigenous American communities, for example, there is often an emphasis on nonverbal communication, which acts as a valued means by which children learn."
Quote: "Within cultures around the world there are extreme differences and similarities between a lot of nonverbal gestures or signals."
Quote: "In this sense, learning is not dependent on verbal communication; rather, it is nonverbal communication which serves as a primary means of not only organizing interpersonal interactions but also conveying cultural values, and children learn how to participate in this system from a young age."