Business Communication

Non-verbal Communication

‘The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.’

‘You cannot not communicate.’

Non-verbal communication refers to all stimuli (except meaningful words) generated by

individuals in a communicative set-up. The non-verbal message may accompany the verbal
message (a smile with a greeting) or it may occur alone (selecting the back seat in a staff
meeting). Non-verbal messages are typically more spontaneous than verbal messages but that
does not mean they are any less important. One study has shown that only 7% of the meaning
communicated by most messages comes from the verbal portion, with the remaining 93% being
communicated non-verbally.

Non-verbal communication occurs not only between people but also internally. People grimace,
stand in certain postures, and behave so as to reinforce to themselves certain positions, attitudes
and implicit beliefs. Unconsciously they suggest to themselves the role they choose to play:
submissive or dominant, trusting or wary, controlled or spontaneous.

Non-verbal or silent language has recently been shown to play an important role in two areas
directly related to management: how managers motivate their employees and how the executives
communicate their leadership and decision-making style. Studies have also shown the
importance of non-verbal cues in the processes of job interviews and advertising.

Advantages of learning non-verbal communication

The key benefit derived from the knowledge of NVC is ‘Understanding’- of others and
ourselves. This understanding sharpen our perception in many ways, for instance, we can gauge
what pleases some people, what offends others; and anticipate others’ reactions to specific
situations and influence their decisions for the better. Thus, such understanding makes
relationships smoother and more constructive.
Our attempts at understanding others reflect in our understanding of ourselves. We not only
receive the signals others send us, but we become increasingly aware of the signals we ourselves
send out. An awareness of the way in which we behave helps us transform our negative
behaviors into positive ones. This awareness will enable us to interpret our own and others’
body-language more objectively and meaningfully. It will help us empathize with others more
effectively.

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Functions of NVC

1) To create impressions: physical appearance, kinesics, chronemics and other cues.

2) To manage interactions: facial expressions, vocalics and even proxemics are used to
signal turns in conversation.
3) Expressing emotions
4) To send relational messages: non-verbal are used to convey affection, power, respect and
dominance
5) To convey deception

Types of NVC:

1) Kinesics: kinesics can be defines as the non-verbal behavior related to movement, either
of any part of the body, or the body as a whole. It is also the anthropological term for
body language. It includes facial expressions, postures and gestures.

a) Facial expressions: the face can be used to communicate emotional meaning more than
any other medium in inter-personal communication. Facial expressions tell the attitudes
of the communicator. Researchers have discovered that certain facial areas reveal our
emotional state better than others. Facial expressions also provide information about a
communicator’s thought process.
b) Posture: posture refers to the way we conduct ourselves in front of an audience- the way
we sit, stand, or move. In a nutshell, posture is indicative of attention, involvement,
relative status of persons, and the degrees to which another person is liked. Posture can
also reveal the intensity of emotional states and is almost always studied in conjunction
with other kinds of communication behavior.
c) Gestures: gestures are actions. In other words, the term refers to the movement of the
parts of body to express or elaborate some messages. Gestures can be broadly classified
into two categories: conscious and spontaneous.

2) Oculesics: Oculesics is the way eyes are used during a communication exchange. This
may include eye contact or the avoidance of eye-contact. It may also include all other eye
movements, such as looking up or away while talking. Oculesic movements are also
frequently associated with kinesic movements.

3) Haptics: Haptics or tactile communication or touch is an important form of

communication. Touch helps groups form bonds and stay peaceful. Touch can convey
many factors such as intentions, feelings- both positive and negative- relationships,
respect, and so on. In interpreting touch, you need to consider when, where, and how the
touch is used. The extent of touch you need, tolerate, receive and initiate depends upon
the extent and the kind of touch you receive in your family. In business situations,
touching suggests dominance.

4) Proxemics: proxemics is the study of the nature, degree, and effect of the spatial
separation individuals naturally maintain. It defines regions around people and the
acceptable social behavior in those zones. As the distance between two people decreases,

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 the degree of intimacy increases. Space, distance, and territory are factors related to
proxemic communication.

5) Personal appearance: personal appearance is a major factor used to judge a person simply
because the first impression of a person is based on his/her appearance. People can
change their appearance by changing their clothing styles, hairstyles, and other
accessories or artifacts. This channel of non-verbal communication confers meaning that
is transmitted by physical characteristics of the body, attire, and the accessories.

6) Paralanguage/ vocalics: Paralanguage refers to all vocally produced sound that is not a
direct form of linguistic communication. Thus, paralanguage includes utterances that may
have strong signifying traits but no semantic meaning. This ‘non-lexical’ vocal
communication, in its broadest sense, as it can suggest many emotional nuances.

7) Chronemics: chronemics refers to the use of time as a message system, including

punctuality, amount of time spent with another, and waiting time.

Body Language in Business

John Mole (1999) gives graphic descriptions of the four basic modes of body language in
business.

Open

Responsive Reflective

Forward Back

Combative Fugitive

Closed

Open- These are gestures indicating ‘Open’ attitudes- open palms, open arms, open body; (no
physical gestures like crossed arms or crossed legs) face- to- face body direction.

Closed- into this category fall the most obvious gestures and postures, like crossed arms, crossed
legs, body turned away.

Forward- this involves postures that indicate a person is active in the communication process. He
will lean forward, feet firmly planted on the ground; he points towards you when he actively
accepts or rejects a message.

Back- this indicates leaning-back postures, staring at the ceiling, doodling, or cleaning one’s
glasses, signaling whether the person is passively absorbing or ignoring the message.
One can find combinations of these posture groups in four basic modes, as follows:

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The responsive mode- Open-forward: There is active acceptance. Watch out for such gestures as
leaning forward, open body, open arms and palms, open legs, a sprint position, or feet under the
chair, hands flat on the table.

The reflective mode- Open-Back: there is interest and receptivity, but no active acceptance.
There will be body language cues such as tilted head, smiles, plenty of eye contact with frequent
blinks, or looking up and to the right, and nods. The person may sit with legs crossed in the
figure-4 position, or stand with arms behind his back. He may use mouth-feeders such as the
frame of his glasses or a pencil, or he may stroke his chin.

The fugitive mode- Closed- back: there is an attempt to escape, either physically out of the door
or mentally into boredom, clear clues will be the blank stare, frowning, clenched hands, and
slumped posture, legs crossed at the knees, foot tapping, looking around, and feet pointing to the
exit.

The combative mode- Closed- Forward: there is active resistance. Obvious cues are staring,
frowning, pointing, and tapping a finger and / or foot, leaning forward, or hands on hips. If the
person is lying, he will cover his mouth, touch his face, pull an ear, glance at you, shift in his
seat, keep his eyes on the floor, or look down and to the left.

In terms of salesmanship, when a person is responsive, it is time to close a sale, ask for
agreement or demand a concession. In the reflective mode, it is advisable to close the sale or ask
for agreement or present further facts and incentives. Or, as an alternative, keep quiet and give
the client time to mull things over. In a fugitive- mode situation one must do all in one’s power
to arouse the interest of the client. In a combative situation, confrontation must be avoided, anger
diffused, and the client steered into the reflective mode.

The 7 Cs of non-verbal communication:

1) Cluster- Gestures come in clusters. These reveal several attitudes of the person.
Gestures must not be interpreted in isolation.
2) Context- The overall situation or context of the person- his surroundings,
environment- is relevant to the interpretation of a gesture cluster. For instance, a
gesture like holding a hand as a ‘mouth guard’ would generally mean that a
person is withholding a secret; but in a different context, like in a dentist’s waiting
room, his gesture would indicate that the person has a tooth problem.
3) Congruence-This means perceiving if each gesture matches the other gestures or
the verbal content that accompanies it. A person may wear a (false) smile to
pretend he is ‘open’ but this might be mismatched with his avoiding looking the
other in the eye, lack of body movement, giving clipped answers, all of which
indicate that he has a closed mind.
4) Control- A person may try to control his gestures and ‘put up a front’ to hide his
real feelings or to cover up a lie. But there are bound to be ‘leakages’ if one
observes his body movements closely, especially his eyes, that may give him
away. This applies also to those who ‘fake’ gestures.

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 5) Culture- One must be sensitive to the cultural variations that are found in gestures
that appear similar but mean different things in different cultures.
6) Commonality- Most gestures have similar meanings universally; they cut across
the boundaries of caste, color, creed, and culture: the smile, the frown, the head
nods, the shrugging of shoulders, clenched fists, clapping, pointing a finger and so
on.
7) Caution- One must be cautious in interpreting gestures, facial expression, body
movement, and proximity, given the above distinctions. Many facial expressions
are fleeting (one fifth of a second). One must observe them closely and take
concomitant gestures and verbal statements into consideration before making
judgments and labeling a pattern of non-verbal behavior.

General principles of non-verbal communication

1) You cannot stop sending nonverbal messages

2) Non-verbals are highly ambiguous in themselves.
3) If there is a contradiction between the verbal and non-verbal signals, non-verbals are
likely to display the true meaning of the message, hence they are more likely to be trusted
by the interpreter.

Neuro-linguistic programming:

Bridging the fields of verbal and nonverbal communication is the concept known as neuro-
linguistic programming or NLP.
NLP is the technology for studying the structure of subjective experiences.
It involves a) the identifying of language patterns b) observing body language
By the studying of these two areas, the thought processes of an individual are interpreted.

The ‘science’ behind NLP-

The world is known to us through our senses-sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Each
experience of ours goes through these senses to a particular part of the brain where it is
processed and stored. This data, after undergoing transformations, becomes our perception.
These individual models of assimilation are known as ‘representational systems’. Since they are
formed from our senses, these systems are named after them; ‘visual’ (for sight), ‘kinesthetic’
(for feeling), ‘auditory’ (for hearing), and ‘olfactory’ (for smell and taste). In body language, we
deal largely with the first three.

NLP theorizes that an individual has all these representational systems in his/her neurological
network, but one system dominates. We may say a person is predominantly visual or kinesthetic
or auditory. S/he may use a combination of each of these categories at different times. By
observing the way a person talks and moves, an NLP practitioner would be able to tell which
system the speaker is operating from.
Predicates:

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The descriptive words and phrases that people use to communicate their experiences are called
‘predicates’ in NLP. The way a person speaks, the predicates s/he uses, gives a good idea of the
system s/he is using at that time. If a person prefers a particular system over the others, over a
period of time, most of his/her predicates will be with reference to that system.
Accessing Cues:

Besides the application of predicates (speech patterns), NLP works on the basis of cues.

1. Physiological cues: These are physical (body-type) indicators.

2. Ocular accessing cues: The movement of the eyes
3. Breathing cues
4. Voice cues
5. Memory accessing cues

The Representational Systems-

The ‘Visual’ Person----

A person who is primarily ‘visual’ tends to see reality in pictures. S/he accesses the visual part
of their brain in communication. They attempt to put words to their pictures and so speak in
‘visual metaphors’. They describe how things look to them, generally using phrases like ‘I see
what you mean’ and ‘Let me see if I can remember.’

• Visual people are generally thin; they tend to stand erect, neck straight and stiff. Their
movements are stiff and jerky.
• The movement of the eyes is up right and eyes defocused.
• Breathing high and fast with irregular and shallow breaths is their characteristic.
• Voice is high-pitched and nasal and maybe strained.
• While accessing memory, they straighten their body, look up and gesture.

The ‘Kinesthetic’ Person----

Persons who are primarily kinesthetic react to feelings. They relate to
the physical world, using phrases such as ‘I feel…’ ‘I have been in touch with….’ ‘I have to get
a hold on things’.
• Kinesthetics have a soft, full body. They have rounded shoulders and lean slightly
forward while speaking or listening.
• They will look up and then down while reflecting to answer a question.
• Deep breathing is the characteristic of this individual
• Voice is a low, deep one.
• While accessing kinesthetic information, s/he will tend to look down.

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The ‘Auditory’ Person----
Those who are primarily auditory are selective about the words they use. There is a great
resonance in their voice; they speak in a slow, rhythmical, and paced manner. They value words,
and this can be seen in their careful choice of words. They use phrases such as ‘I can hear what
you are saying’ ‘Does that sound alright?’
• Auditory persons are usually slim
• Even breathing patterns with a typically prolonged exhalation is the hallmark of the
auditory person.
• The voice is clear and resonant
• While accessing auditory information, s/he will look at the side, slant the head and cross
the arms.

How NLP helps:

After observing a person and perceiving which system s/he prefers, it is easy for the observer to
establish immediate rapport and trust by using predicates that match his/hers.

For instance, if we identify a person as ‘visual’, it is necessary to look at him while speaking or
listening. If we turn our head away while he is speaking, he will take it for granted that we are
not listening.

Moreover, while dealing with a visual person we must keep our distance; getting too close makes
him uncomfortable, because he likes to take in a complete picture of his surroundings. He will
generally keep a physical distance so that he can observe our every movement. This distancing
and observation may give the impression that he is ‘looking down on’ us, but actually he is not.
Kinesthetic persons interpret reality through feelings. They move physically close to the person
they are interacting with, close enough to touch them. They obtain their information through
closeness and touch.

Auditory persons will position themselves close enough to be able to hear the other, but will
avoid both physical and eye contact. They will down and away from the other while listening so
that they do not get distracted.