Non Verbal

Communication
“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t
said” (Peter Drucker)

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Non Verbal Communication is an elaborate secret code that is

written nowhere, known by none, and understood by all” (Anon)
OUTLINE
• Characteristics
• Relationships between verbal and non verbal communication
• Categories of non verbal communication
• Impression management
es. In a normal two-person conversation 60 to 93% of communicative meaning is transmitted through
Non Verbal Communication
non verbal behaviours.

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr

 • CHARACTERISTICS
• NVC occurs constantly (ceaseless)
• NVC depends on the context
• NVC is more believable than verbal
communication
• NVC is a primary means of expression
• NVC is related to culture
• NVC is ambiguous
• NVC is primarily relational
 Differences between verbal and non verbal messages
•SINGLE VERSUS MULTIPLE CHANNELS –
•DISCREET VERSUS CONTINUOUS –
•CONSCIOUS VERSUS UNCONSCIOUS –
•THE TYPE OF CONTENT FOR WHICH THEY ARE
BEST SUITED –
•SENDING UNCOMFORTABLE MESSAGES –
WHY STUDY NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Carries most of the meaning of a message, particularly feelings and

attitudes towards others.
• It is a frequent source of misunderstanding.
• It is not governed by a set of universal rules
• It is multi-channeled, complicated and ever-changing
• It is context and culture-bound
• It is more likely than verbal communication to be spontaneous and
unintentional
• It is powerful and more believable than verbal communication
• It is critical in relationship initiation, development and termination
 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VERBAL AND NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION
• NVC adds life to our exchanges by complementing, repeating, regulating and substituting for our words. We
even use it to deceive others.
• COMPLEMENTING – completes, describes or accents a verbal message. A person needs help immediately, so
he yells as loudly as he can.
• REPEATING – expresses a message identical to the verbal one, for emphasis too. A person says yes and nods
his head up and down. Giving street directions.
• REGULATING – Controls flow of communication. A person shakes his head up and down as a way of
communicating “I am interested in what you are saying,” implying “tell me more.”
• SUBSTITUTING – Replaces a verbal message with non-verbal signs to exchange thoughts. Occurs where
verbal communication is impossible, undesirable or inappropriate. Two people use hand signals to
communicate because it is too loud and noisy to hear each other’s voices.
• DECEIVING – Non verbal cues that purposely disguise or mislead to create a false impression. Doctor
examining a patient diagnoses a serious problem, but the doctor’s facial expressions remain neutral so as not
to alarm the patient.
• ACCENTING/MODERATING – Use of non verbal cues to pitch (strengthen/weaken) your message. It is used
to escalate or tune down verbal messages. Hugging a friend and telling him that you really care about him is
a stronger statement than using either words or bodily movement.
• CONTRADICTION – Occurs when your verbal and non verbal messages conflict. This often occurs
accidentally. It also occurs intentionally in humour or sarcasm. A child angry at a teacher/parent, “I am
fine.”
CATEGORIES OF NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Kinesics
• Proxemics
• Chronemics
• Haptics
• Paralanguage
• Olfatics
• Dressing and artifacts
• Somatotype
• Environment
• Silence
• Visuals and graphics
 Kinesics

• Body language, how people communicate through facial expression, eye movement, gesture,
posture, stance and movement.
• Posture refers to the way we stand, sit or walk. It takes two dimensions, IMMEDIACY (degree of
closeness you feel to another). RELAXATION (demonstrates openness or willingness to
communicate). Echo-posture occurs when one copies the posture of another he or she likes.
• Facial expressions are configurations of the face that can reflect, augment, contradict, or be
unrelated to a speaker’s vocal delivery. Facial expressions are windows to our emotions. The
UPPER FACE best expresses emotions of happiness, sadness and surprise. The LOWER FACE best
expresses happiness, surprise, friendliness and co-operation.
• For gestures a distinction can be made between RESTRAINED CULTURES and ANIMATED
CULTURES.
• Illustrators – used to show something, e.g. pointing in the direction of something.
• Effect displays- involve facial expressions that show happiness and sadness through smiling and
frowning
• Adaptors- gestures which show internal feelings
• Regulators- are gestures that control speaking (via eyes or hands)
• Emblems – are substitutes for words
• ALL THESE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY WORDS
 Proxemics
• The study of the use of space and territoriality.
• Edward T Hall’s four distance zones explain this use of space;
• Zone 1 Intimate Space (0-1,5 feet) this zone is most personal, open to those who are well
acquainted unless closeness is physically forced upon us e.g. crowded train or elevator.
• Zone 2 Personal Space (1,5-4 feet) for close friends and relatives. Intrusion leads to
feelings of discomfort and violation.
• Zone 3 Social Space (4-12 feet) professional conversations and group interactions e.g.
meetings.
• Zone 4 Public Space (12 feet plus)
• Everyone is surrounded by a physical bubble of space. The bubble contracts and
contrasts depending on one’s cultural background and emotional state.
• Territory is divided into three; body (area we regard as our own), home (physical area
one regards as his home, be it in a room or an office) and neutral space, (where
someone claims the right to own a certain territory which is not his or hers legally, “seat
in a kombi.”)
 Chronemics “Chinouraya inguva.”

• Time perceptions include punctuality, willingness to wait

and willingness to listen.

• Monochronic cultures (m-time cultures) see time as a

commodity that can be controlled, that needs to be saved
and not wasted. Time is perceived as “linear.”

• Polychronic cultures (p-time cultures) do not schedule their

time, “There is no hurry in Africa.” Establishing and
maintaining a relationship is more important than time.
Time is “circular,” just like the seasons.
 Haptics
• Touching is referred to as tactile communication
• It is significant in encouragement, expressing tenderness, showing emotional support.
• The kind and amount of touch that are appropriate vary according to the individuals,
their relationship and the situation.
• Categories include 1. Functional professional 2. Social-polite 3. Friendship-warmth 4.
Love- intimacy 5. Sexual arousal.
• According to Nancy Henly men have access to women’s bodies, but women do not
have the same access to men’s bodies. This, according to her, may be a man’s way of
exerting power because touch represents an invasion of private space.
• Can be with or without permission.
• Touch can be of oneself (licking, holding or scratching) or of another.
• There are TOUCH CULTURES and NON TOUCH CULTURES (Islam). Holding hands,
kissing, hugging, handshakes and a pat on the back all communicate clear messages.
• Touch avoidance is a possible signifier that someone has been abused before.
 Paralanguage

•  Also called paravocalics

• It is a ‘language’ which accompanies ordinary language.
• Includes vocal characterisers (laughter, yelling, crying),
• vocal qualifiers (pitch, vocal force, intensity, speech rate, quality and
pauses)
• and vocal segregates (vocal fillers “ummmmm, errrrr”).

• “Words represent your intellect. The sound, gesture and movement

represent your feeling.”
• “Words, words, words, no substance from the heart.” 
 Olfactics
• – the study of smell is important in our society.
• Much is spent on perfumes, deodorants, air spray and
soap. It is likely that when smells are pleasant, we feel
better about ourselves.
• Americans, according to Peter Abraham, have the most
smell aversive culture in the world. “We base many of
our perceptions on smell, for example, when food smells
good to us, we assume that it will taste good as well. . .”
• However many cultures consider natural odours to be
normal, a person’s smell is an extension of that person.
 Environment
•Environment refers to the context.
•It refers to a situation and its
associated surroundings.
•Environments can be physical or
psychological.
 Somatotype

•Body type
•It is comprised of a combination
of height, weight and
masculinity.
 Dressing and Artifacts
• Artifacts – are personal adornments or possessions that
communicate information about us.
• Such things as cars, sunglasses, clothing, hair, body piercing
and tattoos can all communicate our age, gender, status,
role, class, importance, personality and relationships with
others.
• Effective communicators learn to adapt their use of artifacts
to specific situations and not to judge others by appearance
alone. It is important to use artifacts consistent with and
which reinforce our intended message.
• If a certain artifact is not reinforced by other things then we
risk being judgemental or wrong in our assessment.
Visuals and Graphics
 Silence
• “The most destructive criticism is indifference.”
Impression management
• How can the following enhance their image?
• a.) individuals
• b.) organizations
• c.) countries
ORGANISATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
• Organisational systems
• Organisational networks
• Group dynamics
• Organisations are social collectives, or groups of
people, in which activities are co-ordinated to
achieve both individual and collective goals
• Hence ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION refers to
the ways in which groups of people both maintain
structure and order through their symbolic
interactions and allow individual actors the freedom
to accomplish their goals
ORGANISATION TYPES
• 1) Economic production orientation – manufactures products and offer
services for consumers. These are “self sufficient” and profit oriented.
• 2) Political goals – generate and distribute power and control within society;
legislative bodies, government offices, local government, police, military.
• 3) Integration goals – help to mediate and resolve discord among members
of society; legal offices, court system, public interest groups.
• 4) Pattern maintenance goals – organizations promoting cultural and
educational development and regularity with society. They teach individuals
how to participate effectively in society (family, schools and religious
organizations promote pattern maintenance.) because they help preserve
society by
Characteristics
• Communication practices often depend on knowledge of these facts.
Ideally, organizational structures allow productivity and achievement
of high quality outcomes.
• PRODUCTIVITY – entails the ratio of input to output, as material and
human resource expended to achieve individual and organizational
output decline, productivity increases.
• QUALITY – deals with levels of performance outcome measured in
ability to meet or exceed customer or other stakeholder expectations.
Quality is also conformity to standards.
Characteristics cont…
• DIFFERENTIATION –ORGANISATIONS ARE DIVIDED
INTO SECTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
FUNCTIONS TO BE FULFILLED BY EACH DEPARTMENT
• INTEGRATION – ATTEMPTS TO UNIFY THE
DIFFERENTIATED STRUCTURAL LEVELS
• COMMUNICATION NETWORKS – Are patterns of
relationships through which information flows in an
organisation.
• Stohl (1995) describes communication networks as
capturing “the tapestry of relationships – the complex
web of affiliations among individuals and
organizations as they are woven through the
collaborative threads of communication.”
• Communication networks emerge in organizations
based on FORMAL and INFORMAL communication.
FORMAL NETWORKS
1. Downward
2. Upward
3. Horizontal – Lateral
4. Diagonal
INFORMAL NETWORKS
• Grapevine – ubiquitous network
• Unstructured network
• emergent network
• Conrad and Poole (1998) argue, “Formal
communication networks allow people to handle
predictable, routine situations but they are inefficient
means of meeting unanticipated communication
needs, for managing crises, for dealing with complex
or detailed problems, showing personal information
or exchanging information rapidly.”
• Rumour vs Gossip
Group dynamics
• Tuckman’s model???
• 1. Forming
• 2. storming
• 3. Norming
• 4. Performing
• 5. Adjourning