Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University

Raisan Village, Gandhinagar – 382007

School of Technology
Name of the faculty: T. Hepzibah Mary

Non-Verbal Communication

1. Non-Verbal Communication:
It is well known that good communication is the foundation of any successful relationship, be it personal
or professional. It is important to recognize, though, that it is our non-verbal communication – our facial
expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice – that speak the loudest. The ability to
understand and use nonverbal communication, or body language, is a powerful tool that can help you
connect with others, express what you really mean, and build better relationships.

Nonverbal communication between people is communication through sending and receiving wordless
clues. It includes the use of visual cues such as body language (kinesics), distance (proxemics) and
physical environments/appearance, of voice (paralanguage) and of touch (haptics). It can also include
chronemics (the use of time).

When we interact with others, we continuously give and receive wordless signals. All of our nonverbal
behaviors—the gestures we make, the way we sit, how fast or how loud we talk, how close we stand, how
much eye contact we make—send strong messages. These messages do not stop when you stop speaking
either. Even when you are silent, you are still communicating nonverbally.

Oftentimes, what comes out of our mouths and what we communicate through our body language are two
totally different things. When faced with these mixed signals, the listener has to choose whether to believe
your verbal or nonverbal message, and, in most cases, they are going to choose the nonverbal because it is
a natural, unconscious language that broadcasts our true feelings and intentions in any given moment.

Non-verbal communication consists of all the messages other than words that are used in communication.
In oral communication, these symbolic messages are transferred by means of intonation, tone of voice,
vocally produced noises, body posture, body gestures, facial expressions or pauses. When individuals
speak, they normally do not confine themselves to the mere emission of words. A great deal of meaning is
conveyed by non-verbal means which always accompany oral discourse – intended or not. In other words,
a spoken message is always sent on two levels simultaneously, verbal and non-verbal.

2. The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication:

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” – Peter F. Drucker

Communication is very important as people spend about 75 % of their waking hours communicating of
which about 80 % happens non-verbally by understanding and sending non-verbal cues. Failure to act or
silence is also a way of communication, but the only difference is that results you get are not as you
intend. Actions are not always so parallel to words spoken. Thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings are
shared by people with expressions and movements. Even environmental factors can be taken as non-
verbal communication. Wordless communications are mostly true and are not faked. Verbal
communication and non-verbal communication occur simultaneously.
 Convey empathy and emotions – Non-verbal communication is used to show emotions like
happiness, anger, sadness, interest, curiosity, hurt, annoyance, anxiety, embarrassment, pleasure,
hope, etc. People show these emotions unconsciously most of the times. They express their
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 empathy through non-verbal communication too. People do not unconsciously fake non-verbal
communication but only sometimes do it deliberately. When you communicate, you must
compliment what you say with your gestures and body language. You should also work to notice
the non-verbal cues of the people you are interacting with.
 Proper interpretation – Interpretation of non-verbal signals is not very easy at all times as it
differs from person to person and culture to culture as well as non-verbal communication does not
have fixed meanings and is different according to contexts. But noticing and interpreting it
properly gives you an advantage over the other person. We learn to do it since childhood and we
try to interpret consciously when we need it. Misinterpretations can destroy relationships and
creates problems.
 Instinctive nature – As non-verbal communication is based on instinct mostly, people speak
truth. We should believe non-verbal massages more than verbal messages if there is a conflict
between two people. They show non-verbal cues as an instinct and accompany verbal
communication. Non-verbal communications are mostly natural like crying or laughing or having
a personal space. Not only humans, some animals also show this kind of behavior.
 Workplace efficiency – Non-verbal communication makes work in offices better. It can also help
in interviews and businesses. Many other professions like teachers, journalists, lawyers, doctors,
etc. need to communicate in regular basis. If their non-verbal communication is not up to the mark,
then their work will suffer. For example, eye contact in interviews and meetings show confidence
and interest. While eye contact shows those things, it can also show over confidence. It also shows
trustworthiness and accuracy of intentions.
 Understanding – Non-verbal communication increases understanding of messages. When verbal
communication and nonverbal communication are similar, it establishes better perspective on the
message being sent. The sender of message as well as receiver gets what is the intended meaning
of the message and can act accordingly. Process of sending and receiving of message is successful
and gets desired results.

3. Advantages of Non-Verbal Communication:

There is a proverb “Actions speak louder than words”. In essence, this underscores the importance of non-
verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is especially significant in intercultural situations.
Researches in communication suggest that many more feelings and intentions are sent and received non-
verbally than verbally.
 Complementary – Non-verbal cues complement a verbal message by adding to its meaning. You
can pat someone you offended at the back as you say sorry to him or her.
 Easy presentation – Information can be easily presented in non-verbal communication through
using visual, audio-visual and silent means of non-verbal communication.
 Substituting – Non-verbal message may substitute for the verbal message especially if it is
blocked by noise, interruption, long distance etc. for example: gestures-finger to lips to indicate
need for quite, facial expressions – a nod instead of a yes.
 Accenting – Often used to accent a verbal message. Verbal tone indicates the actual meaning of
the specific words.
 Reducing wastage of time – The message of non-verbal communication reaches the receiver very
fast. For this reason it reduces the wastage of valuable time of the communicator.
 Quick expression of message – Non-verbal cues of communication like sign and symbol can also
communicate some messages very quickly than written or oral messages.

4. Disadvantages of Non-Verbal Communication:

 Vague and imprecise – Non-verbal communication is quite vague and imprecise since in this
communication there is no use of words or language which expresses clear meaning to the
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 receiver. No dictionary can accurately classify them. Their meaning varies not only by culture and
context but by degree of intention.
 Continuous – It is possible to stop talking in verbal communication, but it is generally not
possible to stop nonverbal cues. Also, spoken language has a structure that makes it easier to tell
when a subject has changed, for instance or to analyze its grammar. Nonverbal does not lend itself
to this kind of analysis.
 Multi-channel – While watching someone’s eyes, you may miss something significant in a hand
gesture. Everything is happening at once and therefore it may be confusing to try to keep up with
everything. Most of us simply do not do so, at least not consciously.
 Culture-bound – Non-verbal communication is learnt in childhood, passed on to you by your
parents and others with whom you associate. A few other gestures seem to be universal. Evidence
suggests that humans of all cultures smile when happy and frown when unhappy. However, most
nonverbal symbols seem to be even further disconnected from any “essential meaning” than verbal
symbols. Gestures seen as positive in one culture (Like the thumbs-up gesture in the USA) may be
seen as obscene in another culture.
 Lack of formality – Non-verbal communication does not follow any rules, formality or structure
like other communication. Most of the cases people unconsciously and habitually engaged in non-
verbal communication by moving the various parts of the body.
 Distortion of information – Since it uses gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, sign,
sound, paralanguage etc. for communicating with others, there is a great possibility in distortion of
information in non-verbal communication.

5. Proxemics:
Proxemics is the study of human use of space and the effects that population density has on behavior,
communication, and social interaction. It is the branch of knowledge that deals with the amount of space
that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others. Basically, proxemics is the study of
space and how we use it, how it makes us feel more or less comfortable, and how we arrange objects and
ourselves in relation to space. The term was coined by the anthropologist Edward Hall. Hall was
interested in understanding how humans use space in communication. There are 4 kinds of distance that
people generally use in communication. This can vary by place and different cultures have different
standards. It has in four zones: intimate space, personal space, social space, and public space.
 Intimate distance for embracing, touching or whispering (0 – 18 inches) – This zone extends
from actual touching to eighteen inches. It is normally reserved for those with whom one is
intimate. At this distance the physical presence of another is overwhelming. Intimate space is for
people who you are very close to. In this case, you are probably less than a foot away and you
might even be touching the other person. This is the space you are in with a romantic partner, for
example.
 Personal distance for interactions among good friends or family (18 inches – 4 feet) – This zone
extends from eighteen inches to four feet. This is the distance of interaction of good friends. This
would also seem to be most appropriate distance to discuss personal affairs. Personal space is even
closer. In this case, you are probably about one foot to four feet away from someone. This is
reserved for talking to friends or family.
 Social distance for interactions among acquaintances (4 feet – 12 feet) – Social space means we
are getting a little closer, about 4-12 feet away. This is the kind of space you are probably in if you
are talking to a colleague or a customer at work. It seems to be an appropriate distance for casual
friends and acquaintances to interact.
 Public distance used for public speaking (Beyond 12 feet) – Public space is the space that
characterizes how close we sit or stand to someone, like a public figure or public speaker. So, if
you are at an event listening to a professor give a lecture, you are probably about 12-25 feet away.
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6. Kinesics:
It is the study of body movements, gestures, facial expressions, etc., as a means of communication. It is
the study of the way in which certain body movements and gestures serve as a form of non-verbal
communication. Kinesics is the interpretation of body motion communication such as facial expressions
and gestures, nonverbal behavior related to movement of any part of the body or the body as a whole. The
equivalent popular culture term is body language. Kinesics was first used (in 1952) by Ray Birdwhistell,
an anthropologist who wished to study how people communicate through posture, gesture, stance, and
movement
 Facial Expressions – A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles
beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to
observers. They are a primary means of conveying social information between humans. Facial
expressions are responsible for a huge proportion of nonverbal communication. Consider how
much information can be conveyed with a smile or a frown. The look on a person's face is often
the first thing we see, even before we hear what they have to say. While nonverbal communication
and behavior can vary dramatically between cultures, the facial expressions for happiness, sadness,
anger, and fear are similar throughout the world. Facial expression is integral when expressing
emotions through the body. Combinations of eyes, eyebrow, lips, nose, and cheek movements help
form different moods of an individual. Humans can adopt a facial expression voluntarily or
involuntarily. Voluntary facial expressions are often socially conditioned and follow a cortical
route in the brain. Conversely, involuntary facial expressions are believed to be innate and follow
a sub cortical route in the brain.
 Gestures – A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in
which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction
with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Deliberate
movements and signals are an important way to communicate meaning without words. Common
gestures include waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numeric amounts. Other gestures
are arbitrary and related to culture. Gestures are movements made with body parts (e.g. hands,
arms, fingers, head, legs) and they may be voluntary or involuntary. Gestures allow individuals to
communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and
affection, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak.
 Body Language – Posture and movement can also convey a great deal on information. Research
on body language has grown significantly since the 1970's, but popular media have focused on the
over-interpretation of defensive postures, arm-crossing, and leg-crossing. While these nonverbal
behaviors can indicate feelings and attitudes, research suggests that body language is far more
subtle and less definitive that previously believed. Body language is a kind of nonverbal
communication, where thoughts, intentions, or feelings are expressed by physical behaviors, such
as facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space.
 Eye Contact – Eye contact occurs when two people look at each other's eyes at the same time. In
human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large
influence on social behavior. The eyes play an important role in nonverbal communication and
such things as looking, staring and blinking are important nonverbal behaviors. When people
encounter people or things that they like, the rate of blinking increases and pupils dilate. Looking
at another person can indicate a range of emotions including hostility, interest, and attraction.
People also utilize eye gaze as a means to determine if someone is being honest. Normal, steady
eye contact is often taken as a sign that a person is telling the truth and is trustworthy. Shifty eyes
and an inability to maintain eye contact, on the other hand, is frequently seen as an indicator that
someone is lying or being deceptive. Eye contact and facial expressions provide important social
and emotional information. People, perhaps without consciously doing so, search other's eyes and

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 faces for positive or negative mood signs. In some contexts, the meeting of eyes arouses strong
emotions.
 Appearance – Our choice of color, clothing, hairstyles, and other factors affecting appearance are
also considered a means of nonverbal communication. Appearance can also alter physiological
reactions, judgments, and interpretations. Just think of all the subtle judgments you quickly make
about someone based on his or her appearance. These first impressions are important, which is
why experts suggest that job seekers dress appropriately for interviews with potential employers.
 Posture – Posture means the position in which you hold your body when standing or sitting. It is
an important body language that has specific meaning. The manner in which one sits, walks or
stands may communicate specific feelings. Emotions can also be detected through body postures.
Research has shown that body postures are more accurately recognized when an emotion is
compared with a different or neutral emotion. In humans, posture can provide a significant amount
of important information on nonverbal communication and emotional cues.

7. Paralanguage:
Paralanguage is the area of non-verbal communication that emphasizes voice nuances as means of
expressing thoughts and feelings. Various aspects of paralanguage include volume, pitch, tone, intonation
and tempo. It is the set of non phonemic properties of speech, such as speaking tempo, vocal pitch, and
intonational contours, that can be used to communicate attitudes or other shades of meaning. The main
difference between body language and paralanguage is that body language analyses the movements and
poses of the whole body whereas paralanguage observes the nonverbal components of speech.
Paralanguage may be expressed either consciously or unconsciously. In paralanguage, nonverbal
components of speech such as speech speed, pitch of voice, tone, volume, modulation, inflection, accent,
and accentuation are observed to understand the emotions conveyed through them. For example, a person
talking in a uniform pitch and firm tone conveys a sense of authority. A person speaking in a high pitch
and bitter, accusatory tone usually conveys anger. Silences, pauses, and breaks in speech, as well as
respiratory aspects of speech like gasps and sighs, are also studied under paralanguage. These features
also help us to determine the feelings and emotions of a person. For example, gasps may be an indication
of shock, disgust or disbelief.

How words are pronounced is most important than what they literally mean. There is a strong relation
between our emotional state and clues we convey through pronunciation. Emotions and feelings can be
conveyed and interpreted with the help of voice only. Humans have well developed system for creating
different sounds by varying tone, volume, pitch and annotations.

 Pitch – Pitch is the placement of the voice on the musical scale ranging from high to low. Usually
men speak in lower pitch (about 120 Hz) than women (220 Hz). It is the quality that makes it
possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies.
Studies that have been made in the area of paralanguage indicate that low-pitch speaking voices,
both for men and women are preferred by the listeners. Whether deserved or not, low-pitch talkers
are associated with authority, credibility, strength and self-confidence. Many actors, singers and
public speakers consciously bring their voice pitch down to sound more rich, expressive, appealing
and persuasive.
 Volume – Volume refers to the power of loudness of your voice. Clearly, the volume of the voice
should not be too high so that it sounds as if you are shouting or too low, where your listeners have
difficulty hearing you. If you are a soft-spoken person, you can be perceived as shy or insecure.
While, if people have to hold their phone 5 inches away from their ear while talking to you, you
might give the impression of someone, who loses their temper easily.
 Intonation – Intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words; instead it

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 is used for a range of functions such as indicating the attitudes and emotions of the speaker,
signaling the difference between statements and questions, and between different types of
questions, focusing attention on important elements of the spoken message and also helping to
regulate conversational interaction.
 Speech Pace – Pace of speech is the first and probably the most important part of paralanguage,
which basically describes the speed at which we say our thoughts out loud. Our speech pace is
largely influenced by our emotional state, such as nervousness or excitement. Talking at a pace
that is too high makes it challenging for people to mentally keep up with the message and follow
the trace of thought. It also gives the impression that the speaker is agitated, loves to chat, lacks
seriousness and can be easily manipulated. On an average, it has been found that people speak at
about 150 words a minute. When a person speaks much higher or lower rates, he may have a
negative impact. Fast speech often makes people nervous, while slow speech causes boredom or
leads people to believe that the speaker is not quite sure about what to say next.
 Pronunciation and Enunciation – Good pronunciation is the correct oral delivery of a word. The
vowel sounds must be said correctly and the right syllables must be accented. People who
mispronounce words are thought to be not well educated as those who pronounce words correctly.
Thus, the way you pronounce words may play an important role in building your image.
Enunciation also relates to the correctness of how a word is pronounced, but is more a matter of
clear articulation. People with poor enunciation drop word endings, slur their speech or do not
speak clearly. Poor enunciation may indicate carelessness but overly precise enunciation may
sometimes seem phony or pretentious.
 Voice qualifiers – Temporary variations in pitch, volume and rate of speech are known as voice
qualifiers. If one is aware of the normal voice qualities of a person, it is easy to detect the voice
qualifiers in his speech. For instance, if your secretary, who normally talks in a low, even tone,
suddenly starts talking faster and louder, you should be able to tell that something is not quite
right. He may be conveying impatience, anger or excitement.
 Vocal characteristics – All of you are familiar with certain audible sounds like sighing, laughing,
crying, clearing the throat, whistling and groaning. These sounds, which serve to communicate
some meaning, are called vocal characteristics.
 Silence – Silence implies different things across cultures. Silence can be used for face-saving,
conveying positive or negative emotions, communicating consent or dissent, marking approval or
disapproval, or for social bonding or alienation.
 Fillers - There are cross-cultural differences in the use of non-word fillers such as ‘ahem’, ‘uh-
huh’, ‘um’, ‘er’, ‘you know?’, ‘okay’ etc.

8. Chronemics:
Chronemics is the study of the role of time in communication. It is one of several subcategories of the
study of nonverbal communication. Chronemics can be defined as the interrelated observations and
theories of man's use of time – the way in which one perceives and values time, structures time, and reacts
to time frames communication. Time perception plays a large role in the nonverbal communication
process. Time perceptions include punctuality, willingness to wait, and interactions. The use of time can
affect lifestyle, daily agendas, speed of speech, movements, and how long people are willing to listen.
Time can be used as an indicator of status.
 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.
 A polychronic time system is a system where several things can be done at once, and wider view
of time is exhibited and time is perceived in large fluid sections. Examples of polychronic
behaviors include: typing while answering telephones or taking notes while sitting participating in
meetings.
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 Chronemics is the study of how time is used in communication. Time can be used as a communication
tool in many ways, from punctuality, to expectations around waiting and response time, to general
principles around time management.

9. Haptics:
Haptic communication refers to the ways in which people and other animals communicate and interact via
the sense of touch. As well as providing information about surfaces and textures, touch, or the haptic
sense, is a component of communication in interpersonal relationships that is nonverbal and non visual.
Touch is extremely important for humans and is vital in conveying physical intimacy. Touch can be
categorized in terms of meaning as positive, playful, control, ritualistic, task-related or unintentional.
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 gives off nonverbal messages as to the touching person's
intentions/feelings. They also cause feelings in the receiver, whether positive or negative. “Haptic
Communication” is an important part of effective communicating. By just using a simple touch, we can
communicate hundreds of different messages; from being seductive, to showing respect, to even showing
love. A mother giving her child a hug is a perfect example of haptic communication. Haptics can be
effectively used, or effectively misused. Over-touching in conversation can be looked at as being rude, or
even a little weird, and is most often associated with someone who has little respect for personal
boundaries.

Haptics is the study of touching and how it is used in communication. Handshakes, holding hands,
kissing, back slapping, high fives, brushing up against someone or pats all have meaning. Touching is the
most developed sense at birth and formulates our initial views of the world. Touching can be used to
sooth, for amusement during play, to flirt, to expressing power and maintaining bonds between people
such as with baby and mother. Touching can carry distinct emotions and also show the intensity of those
emotions. Touch absent of other cues can signal anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude and sympathy
depending on the length and type of touching that is performed.