Essay

Characteristics of nonverbal communication

1. Non-verbal messages primarily communicate emotions, attitudes.

2. Non-verbal cues substitute for, contradict, emphasize or regulate verbal message.

3. Non-verbal cues are often ambiguous.

4. Non-verbal cues are continuous.

5. Non-verbal cues are more reliable.

6. Non-verbal cues are culture bound.

7. Non-verbal behaviour always has communicative value.

8. Non-verbal communication is powerful.

Functions of nonverbal communication

non-verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. It is considered more polite or nicer to communicate attitudes towards others non-verbally rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations.[13]

there are five primary functions of nonverbal bodily behavior in human communication:[14]

• Express emotions

• Express interpersonal attitudes

• To accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers and listeners

• Self-presentation of one’s personality

• Rituals (greetings)

The relation between verbal and nonverbal communication

[edit] The relative importance of verbal and nonverbal communication

An interesting question is: When two people are communicating face-to-face, how much of the meaning is communicated verbally, and how much is communicated non-verbally? This was investigated by Albert Mehrabian and reported in two papers.[19][20] The latter paper concluded: "It is suggested that the combined effect of simultaneous verbal, vocal, and facial attitude communications is a weighted sum of their independent effects - with coefficients of .07, .38, and .55, respectively." This "rule" that clues from spoken words, from the voice tone, and from the facial expression, contribute 7 %, 38 %, and 55 % respectively to the total meaning, is widely cited. It is presented on all types of popular courses with statements like "scientists have found out that . . ....