Non-verbal

communication
 metacommunication and
Paralanguage
aNon-verbal communication is
anything other than words that
communicates a message.
aThe way we stand, walk, shrug our
shoulders; the clothes we wear, the
car we drive, or the office we
occupy; all communicate ideas to
others.
a—ll these things which we take into
account in interpreting what someone
is saying, over and the actual words,
are referred to as
µmetacommunication¶.
aµmeta¶ is Greek and means µbeyond or
µin addition¶; hence,
metacommunication is something µin
addition to communication¶.
ajowever, if you get additional
communication from the inflection of
her voice, then she communicated this
by means of what we call
µparalanguage¶.
aFrequently paralanguage conveys the
opposite of the words themselves.
aWhen this happens, we usually pick
up the meaning of the paralanguage
rather than the language being used
 µits not what he
says, but the way
he says it¶.
aNon-verbal channels are
the ones which seem to
be least aware in
ourselves, but most
aware in others
lets have a look at the
non-verbal language of
-silence
-time and
-body language
 The language of Silence
aYou think you have made a
fabulous speech and you ask
your audience to ask any
questions ± there is pin-drop
silence in the hall. jow do you
feel?
a³silence is golden¶, so the
saying goes, but is it?
a— long period of silence may be
golden for some people in certain
circumstances, but at times it can
be embarrassing and even rude
aIt could be boredom, rejection,
disagreement, total
satisfaction,«very ambiguous!
aWe are social creatures and our
society is made up of responses to
each other. We keep on seeking
reassurances
aOne of the cruelest social
punishments is µsolitary
confinement¶
aSilence builds walls- and walls are
barriers to communication.
a—t times silence can bean
effective technique in
encouraging feedback, or a
real two-way communication
aSilence is a powerful tool of
communication, but it must be
used skillfully
 The language of Time
a It is easy to assume that we all experience
time in much the same way
a —fter all an hour is an hour
a Yet time is experienced differently by
different nationalities, societies, and
cultures.
a There is a Christian calendar, muslim
calendar, jindu calendar and so on
aKven in the same culture different
communities will divide time into
different time periods.
aDifferent businesses have different
weeks, seasons.
aDifferent professions have different
time scales
amarkets, schools/colleges, tourist
seasons, courts, agriculture«
a Different people attach different value to
time
a µone minute¶, µnever¶, µas soon as
possible¶, µlet¶s call it a day¶,
a For some 9a.m. is sharp 9a.m. while for
the others it could be 10a.m., or 11a.m. or
even later
a Time is also used to show eagerness,
interest, enthusiasm, attitude,
seriousness«
aThere are cultural differences in the
uses of time, which a business traveler
should be aware of
a—t luncheon meetings the business is
discussed either before, during, or after
depending on that country¶s culture
aLocal customs, cultures, manners,
etiquettes and such, vary from place to
place, caste, creed, religion, income,
education, lifestyles, social status« the
variances are too many
 rody language or kinesics
a— favorite sport of many people is
µpeople watching¶ or, Desmond
morris has called his very popular
book, µmanwatching¶
aWhat do you do when you are waiting
on a railway platform, alone or at a
busy doctors clinic«
aPossibly you can¶t hear, so you are
actually listening/hearing/reading
their body language
aWhether we are aware of it or not, each
of us spends a lot of time decoding body
language, or as it also known as
µkinesics¶
aThe non-verbal communications often
come through louder than the words
that are actually being spoken and are
frequently the means by which we reveal
the emotional side of our
communications.
aThe non-verbal messages of a speaker
tend to reveal the degree of presence of
sincerity, conviction, honesty, ability and
knowledge; they reveal, too, a lot about
the speaker and their attitude and
feelings about the message they are
transmitting.
arody language of the receiver also
reveals a lot about them and their
feelings
arut, more important, it frequently tells
the speaker the extent to which their
audience is accepting or not accepting
the message.
aIn other words, body language provides
instant feedback to the speaker and tells
them how they are doing.
aIt is needless to state that to be a good
body language reader you have to
sharpen your powers of observation
 Space
arefore we try to understand the
movements of the various parts of
the body, we should first examine
our attitude to the space in which
that movement takes place.
aJust the way silence and time
speak, so does space.
aNot only does space affect the
way we communicate, but we
use space to communicate
aKach of us have space we feel
is our own
aµthe three bears¶ story
examples
aross¶s room/chair
amom and dad¶s bedroom
aJuniors hostel
aP.G. class
aLadies line
amembers enclosure«
 Space and status
aYour room- boss¶s room
aSmall car- big car
a1bhk-3bhk
aNapean sea road- Dharavi
aLLIm- IIm-—
 Territory

aSeashore- towel
aTrain seat- hanky
aTable no. 1
aFront/back bench
 —ssignment
ajow do you in a
hypothetical situation stake
your claim on a particular
territory?
ajow do you feel when
people invade into your
territory?
 Personal space

aIntimate distance
aPersonal distance
aSocial distance
aPublic distance
 Touch
aTouch is probably the
earliest form of
communication and still is.
jowever ,
society/cultures/surrounding
s/upbringing«bring in
inhibitions
 Orientation and posture
aWe can influence
communication and signal
our attitude not just by our
proximity to others but by
the position and posture we
adopt.
 rody language or kinesics

Kxercise
Look at the drawings on the
board. Which of the
following adjectives
describes which posture?
 ' —ngry

a—loof
a—shamed
aSad
aCasual
aSelf-conscious
aDescribing
aResigned
aDominating
aSelf-satisfied
aDoubtful
aShy
aImpatient
aSurprised
amodest
aSuspicious
aQuestioning
aUndecided
aangry
aUninterested
 Psychologists findings
aPosture 1 aPosture2
Uninterested Self-satisfied
Describing Impatient
Resigned Describing
Doubtful Casual
Questioning
—ngry
aPosture 3 aPosture 4
Shy Surprised
Self-conscious Dominating
—shamed Suspicious
modest Undecided
Sad —loof
 jead nods
aWe shake our heads up and down or
from one side to another
aIn some instances it is done at different
speeds
aThere are many reasons and
implications
aCould be a yes, no, go on, I want to
intervene and speak, encouragement,
disagreement, agreement and so on«
 Facial expressions
a Of all body movements, facial expressions are
the ones we are most able to control
a — person¶s face provides a commentary on
the reactions- surprise, disbelief, agreement,
disappointment, anger and so on
a —t times there is a mis-match between the
verbal words and facial expressions
a If this is combined with body movements it
becomes that much more complimented
 Kye movements
a In contrast to other body signals,
movements of the eyes have an effect quite
out of proportion to the physical effort
exerted
a Some eye movements are quite
uncontrollable but nevertheless send out
very strong messages which we receive
almost without being aware of them.
a They perform many functions«
 To indicate interest
aWhen two people are engaged in
conversation they look each other
in the eye intermittently
aUsually each looks between 25
and 75 percent of the time
aThe glances vary in length but we
tend to look twice as much while
listening as while talking
aThe amount of look is related to the
amount and kind of interest; if we are
interested in someone or what they are
saying we will look at them, whereas we
will tend to direct our gaze away if we
are uninterested
a—t times, long periods of looking may
indicate a desire for intimacy
aWhen a general glance in a train or a
lift or a public place becomes a second
glance and then a stare it means more
than just a passing interest
 To gain feedback
aPeople look primarily to
obtain information: to get
reactions, to gauge their
interests
arelievability, truth,
confidence and such things
get justified
 To synchronies speech
aKye movements, like head
nods and grunts, are also used
to synchronies speech.
aThey need to see how the other
person is reacting, thereby
continue with modifications if
necessary