Nonverbal Channels Nonverbal communication has its own forms of displaying information called nonverbal channels.

The channels include ten key ways such as facial displays, eye behaviors, movement and gestures, touch and vocal behaviors, use of smell and space, physical appearance, and use of time and artifacts. We will not go into depth into all of these, but only in the channels in which I believe are the most important and easiest to catch onto. 1. Facial displays are the use of facial expressions used to enhance communication, and easiest of these are emotion. The human face allows individuals to show many emotions such as happiness, shock, fear, sadness, anger, and jealousy, some are harder to see than others. It is often best to catch the initial facial expression to see how one is truly feeling. Its been said that happiness is among all the easiest to spot, I could see being true since if one has ever been genuinely happy you can spot it on another from a mile away. When it comes to actually interpreting facial expressions, women and those who are fluent in sign language are said to be the best at observing and decoding them. Which could be easily understood since the signs themselves can be utterly meaningless, along with words, if the one communicating did not show intense use of facial expression. 2. A: Eye behavior receives a subsection in facial expressions due to the great detail of involuntary expression shown in them. The extent of detail is more in depth due to oculesics, the study of eye behavior. Most people would say eye contact plays a large role in communication, which it does but it varies as is goes amongst the cultures. In some cultures the more eye contact used means the more respect, sincerity, attraction, and attention devoted between the parties, whereas in eastern civilizations it shows disrespect to elders and/or superiors. B: Where involuntary eye behaviors come into play is when it comes to pupil size. The pupil is the center most part of your eye, the dark black part is the best way to describe it; it controls how much light is being let in, so in brighter environments they tend to shrink. Studies have shown that when one is aroused and/or attracted to someone or something the pupils enlarge, so when one is scared or excited this will occur. Overall, only detail orientated people or people who can study a moment at their own pace are the only ones who can catch these behaviors easiest and most accurately. 3. A: Proxemics is the study of spatial use, also known as the use of space. When communicating and socializing, how we use our personal space says a lot about an individual and where one descends from. On one hand, it varies based on your temperament and how you feel about a certain situation, and how comfortable you are. On the other hand, it also again varies based on culture. High-contact cultures consist of people who tend to touch frequently and maintain close proximity with others. Included in high-contact cultures are generally the Hispanics, southern Europeans. One could guess that low-contact culture is the opposite of high-

contact; low-contact cultures include, but are not limited to some Asian and Scandinavian cultures. B: There are four different levels of personal distance that take place during interaction and they are as following: 1. Intimate distance is the distance in which we maintain with our closest friends, family and intimate partners and it consists of 0 to .5 ft. 2. Personal distance is what we maintain with our average friends and relatives, which consists of the approximate distance of 1.5 to 4 ft. 3. Social distance entails 4 to 12 ft, and this is used with people we formally interact with. 4. Public distance is used during presentations to keep speaker safe and visible from and for all, and this generally consists of 12 to 25ft.