Nonverbal Communication

Drew Bronger

Professor Rickert

COM 101

November 30, 2014

Nonverbal Communication

A man by the name of Peter Drucker once said “the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” He is referring to the nonverbal communication that takes place between the speaker and the listener. Nonverbal communication is basically the sending and receiving of messages in various ways that do not include words or sounds. It’s a key aspect of the communication process because it is the communication that speaks the loudest to people. Nonverbal communication is something we use everyday constantly. These symbols are ongoing whether we realize that we are doing them or not so it is very relevant to our lives. It is important to understand the functions of nonverbal communication and why it matters. The purpose of my research is to explain why nonverbal communication is so important and why it matters.

When we communicate with others, we are constantly giving and receiving wordless signals, sometimes intentional, and sometimes unintentional. Some nonverbal behaviors include touch, glance, eye contact, volume, proximity, gestures, facial expressions, dress, posture, and smell, (Wieser, Flaisch & Pauli, 2014). These can send very strong messages. A lot of the times, what we are saying and what we are communicating with our body language is two different things. Wieser, Flaisch and Pauli conducted a study of three different hand gestures and three different facial expressions with a wide variety of participants. The combination of faces and hand gestures were counter-balanced across participants. The order of the stimuli within each block was pseudo-randomized such that no more than two of the same faces ever occurred consecutively during the different phases. As the results showed, certain faces and hand gestures demonstrated would case a different feeling for the participants, (2014). If someone were to smile at you, you are more likely to believe they...