Chp 6: Nonverbal Communication

Chp 6: Nonverbal Communication

BOOK: pgs. 83-96

PDF: pgs. 93-106

What you need to know

• Define nonverbal comm.
• What are the functions of nonverbal comm.? (repeating; accenting, substituting with emblems; complementing with illustrators; regulating; contradicting/conflicting)
• What are emoticons and emojis?
• Types of Nonverbal Comm.
  • Body movement and the study of kinesics;
  • Vocalics and paralanguage, pitch, volume and rate, disfluencies;
  • Appearance and artifacts;
  • Touch and the study of haptics;
  • Oculesics - the study of eye movement;
  • Space and the study of proxemics;
  • Environment; and time and the study of chronemics,
  • Olfactics communication related to smell;
• Nonverbal communication competence (pay attention to reliable nonverbal cues; perception checking; self-monitoring)
• Practice quiz: http://fountainheadpress.com/commpath/quizzes/commpath_ch06/

Nonverbal Communication

• Nonverbal communication - the process of intentionally or unintentionally signaling meaning through behavior other than words.
• Kinds of human messages and response not expressed in words
• Elements of communication other than the words spoken themselves
• But they transmit meaning, and can display more emotional meaning (except for a poker face)
• People extract meaning more from nonverbal than verbal, typically
• Often spontaneous and, unintentional
• More believable than verbal communication (channel discrepancy)

Nonverbal Communication Principles

• They convey emotional and relationship information
• They maintain a relationship with verbal messages
• They rely on context for meaning
• But are we having communication discrepancies wearing a mask?

Nonverbal Functions

• Repeating: the physical actions that follow (are after) the verbal message reinforce what’s being said - saying hi and then waving. Illustrators
• Accenting - behavior that makes something greater (augment) such as pounding fists - increasing the intensity of a message
• Complementing - nonverbal behavior more subdued, that occurs at the same time as the verbal message. Similar to accenting, but no such amplifying of a message. Illustrators
• Substituting - nonverbal replaces the verbal message. Emblems are gestures with a specific meaning
• Regulating - actions that govern the course of an interaction with another in conversation - help regulate/manage our interactions
• Conflicting - when a verbal message says one thing, but the nonverbal indicates another

Types of Nonverbals

• Kinesics - gestures and body movements
  • Nonverbal behaviors that relate to the movement of the body
  • Open and closed body posture
  • Mirror
  • Affect displays, nonverbals that convey emotion, feelings, and reactions
  • Adaptors, satisfy bodily needs
• Oculesics - the study of eye movement
  • Use eye contact to convey feelings, attitudes, and thoughts
  • Maintaining it in the US is perceived as respectful
  • It shows attention to the speaker, too
  • Other cultures it is viewed negatively
• Proxemics - the study of how we use of and communicate with space
• Edward T. Hall identified 4 distanced zones in Western culture
  • Intimate distance - a foot and a half apart; their own space
  • Personal distance - from a foot and a half to about four feet apart; friendships or collegiality
  • Social distance - four feet to twelve feet apart; people with little to no connection
  • Public distance - from twelve feet on; conveys a formal situation
  • Be familiar with the measurements: T/F question on the exam
• Haptics - touch
• Use touch in a variety of ways to send messages
  • Functional/professional - the least intimate type of touch used by certain workers such as dentists, hairstylists, and hospice workers, as part of their livelihood
  • Control/power - touch used to exert power over a person
  • Love/intimate - touch most often used with one’s romantic partners and family
  • Excitement - most intimate level of personal contact with one another
  • Anger - touch used for physical harm
• Chronemics - the study of how people perceive the use of and meaning in time
  • How people treat, value, react to, and construct time
• How someone uses time conveys
  • Emotions - who you choose to spend time with shows how you feel about them and how you prioritize them in your life
  • Personal values - respecting another person’s desire to respond and not “hogging the air” illustrates an understanding of time in a conversation and the right all people have to a share of that time
• Differs across groups and cultures
  • Monochronic people (doing things one at a time). Like to be on time like the Germans.
  • Vs.
  • Polychronic people (doing several tasks at once - more fluid with time) not as concerned whether someone is on time or not. More fluid approach to time (like the Spanish)
• Olfactics - meaning of smells
• Meaning to different smells differs by culture
• Smell triggers memories, too, thus meaning
• Vocalics - meaning of voice. The goal is to have good vocal variety, inflection,
• Paralanguage - vocalized sounds that accompany words:
  • Pitch - how high or low your voice sounds when you speak
  • Volume - how loud or soft a person’s voice is
  • Tone (warmth) - the emphasis placed on syllables, sounds, words, and phrases
  • Rate - how fast you deliver a message
  • Pauses, silent and vocalized
  • Silent pauses - occur when there’s a momentary cessation of any sound
  • Vocalized pauses - occur when people use sounds and words like “uh,” “um,” and “y’know” to fill the void (filler words)
  • Gasps and sighs - the use of breath to convey a message
  • Gasps - surprise or fear
  • Sighs - frustration, tiredness, or uncomfortableness
  • How to sound smart in your Ted Talk

Type of Nonverbals Artifacts

• Objects or accessories used to communicate information about yourself to others (Attitudes, Feelings, Moods, Beliefs, Interests, Hobbies, Ideologies)
• What about tattoos today?

Technology Influences Nonverbal Communication

• Using technology sometimes results in the loss of paralinguistic cues (your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally, “His manner of speaking was quite abrupt”; “Her speech was barren of southernisms”; “He spoke quickly”)
• Emoticons :) using keyboard keys
• About Emojis “pictographs”):

Guidelines for Dialogic NV Communication

• Ask clarifying questions about NVs
• Don’t assume others understand your NVs
• Control your nonverbal reactions
• Use situation-appropriate NVs
• Learn cultural differences in NV meanings
• Connected, but alone by Sherry Turkle (more email and less nonverbals, is this a good thing?): https://www.ted.com/talks/sherryturkleconnectedbutalone?language=en

Key Terms

1. Nonverbal communication - the elements of communication that do not involve words but nevertheless transmit messages
2. Repeating - the function of nonverbal communication whereby physical actions that follow verbal messages reinforce what is said
3. Accenting - the function of nonverbal communication whereby nonverbal behaviors augment a message while it is delivered
4. Complementing - the function of nonverbal communication whereby nonverbal behavior occurring at the same time as the message displays the same content
5. Substituting - the function of nonverbal communication whereby physical actions take the place of verbal messages
6. Regulating - the actions that govern the course of an interaction with another person
7. Conflicting - when a verbal message says one thing while corresponding nonverbal communication indicates something different
8. Kinesics - nonverbal behaviors related to the movement of the body
9. Open posture - the posture achieved when the majority of one’s body faces the audience or other person
   10. Closed posture - the posture achieved when one shields his or her body from the other person
   11. Mirror - the practice of replicating the posture of the other person to indicate mutual interest
   12. Oculesics - the use of eye contact to send messages
   13. Proxemics - how we use space to convey information
   14. Haptics - the study of how touch expresses meaning
   15. Chronemics - the branch of nonverbal communication that involves how people, treat, value, react to, and structure time
   16. Monochronic - the category of chronemics marked by liking to do things one at a time, breaking time up into small, manageable units
   17. Polychronic - the category of chronemics marked by trying to do several tasks at the same time and having a more fluid approach to scheduling time
   18. Olfactics - the dimension of nonverbal communication related to smell
   19. Vocalics - those things that contribute to the maintenance or creation of sound in your voice that help convey meaning
   20. Artifacts - objects used to communicate information about yourself to those around you

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