Nonverbal language is a key part of communicating in society. It influences our understanding of one another and can have profound effects on how we perceive the messages we send to each other.
While nonverbal language can positively impact spoken language, it can also cause some misunderstandings and other problems. That being said, it is important to understand the different types of nonverbal language and both their positive and negative impacts on communication.
One of the most understandable forms of nonverbal communication people use, even without realizing it, is body movement. Every gesture, posture, and movement we make can be interpreted as communicating different messages. Take for example a man and a woman conversing in a bar; as …show more content…
We all know that someone standing straight up is perceived as more confident than a person walking head down with a slouched posture. The strength of using body movement in communication is that it communicates so much. A person may unknowingly lean in closer to hear a person they are interested in or may speak to another with arms crossed, not really paying attention. Gestures can be used to communicate in more subtle ways also. A roll of the eyes can turn a compliment into a sarcastic, snide remark. The fact that often, people are unaware of their own body movement and posture during a conversation, is a weakness. Sometimes, people can unknowingly communicate a message. Maybe the woman at the bar mentioned earlier initiates a small amount of contact on accident and the man takes that as a positive thing and keeps the conversation going even though she is not interested. Now there is a misunderstanding that can impact communication in a negative way. While body gesture are often not subtle, the way we use our voices can be.
Voice inflection is something that we take for granted in everyday conversation, yet the lack of it is apparent. No one likes to listen to a dull speaker who does not use any voice inflection. These …show more content…
Shifting the emphasis from one word to another in a sentence can greatly affect the meaning of the sentence. This is especially apparent when using sarcastic remarks. Just as an eye roll is a subtle gesture that can turn a compliment into an insult, emphasis and tone can do the same. Pauses are another powerful form of paralanguage. Pauses can be vocal or non-vocal and both carry meaning and influence. Think of a person who uses non-vocal pauses to collect their thoughts.
They are often perceived as possessing quiet intelligence. Now compare that to a speaker that vocalizes their pauses using filler words, such as “like”, “uh”, or “um”. That speaker is seen as less intelligent or professional. Just as posture can change a person’s perspective of a speaker, so can pauses.
Physical space and setting are also nonverbal aspects of language that have an impact on how we communicate. While different cultures interpret physical space and distance differently, Edward T.
Hall defined four different zones of space for average North Americans—intimate (under 18 inches), personal (18 inches to 4 feet), social (4 to 12 feet), and public (outside 12 feet) distance.
While nonverbal language can positively impact spoken language, it can also cause some misunderstandings and other problems. That being said, it is important to understand the different types of nonverbal language and both their positive and negative impacts on communication.
One of the most understandable forms of nonverbal communication people use, even without realizing it, is body movement. Every gesture, posture, and movement we make can be interpreted as communicating different messages. Take for example a man and a woman conversing in a bar; as …show more content…
We all know that someone standing straight up is perceived as more confident than a person walking head down with a slouched posture. The strength of using body movement in communication is that it communicates so much. A person may unknowingly lean in closer to hear a person they are interested in or may speak to another with arms crossed, not really paying attention. Gestures can be used to communicate in more subtle ways also. A roll of the eyes can turn a compliment into a sarcastic, snide remark. The fact that often, people are unaware of their own body movement and posture during a conversation, is a weakness. Sometimes, people can unknowingly communicate a message. Maybe the woman at the bar mentioned earlier initiates a small amount of contact on accident and the man takes that as a positive thing and keeps the conversation going even though she is not interested. Now there is a misunderstanding that can impact communication in a negative way. While body gesture are often not subtle, the way we use our voices can be.
Voice inflection is something that we take for granted in everyday conversation, yet the lack of it is apparent. No one likes to listen to a dull speaker who does not use any voice inflection. These …show more content…
Shifting the emphasis from one word to another in a sentence can greatly affect the meaning of the sentence. This is especially apparent when using sarcastic remarks. Just as an eye roll is a subtle gesture that can turn a compliment into an insult, emphasis and tone can do the same. Pauses are another powerful form of paralanguage. Pauses can be vocal or non-vocal and both carry meaning and influence. Think of a person who uses non-vocal pauses to collect their thoughts.
They are often perceived as possessing quiet intelligence. Now compare that to a speaker that vocalizes their pauses using filler words, such as “like”, “uh”, or “um”. That speaker is seen as less intelligent or professional. Just as posture can change a person’s perspective of a speaker, so can pauses.
Physical space and setting are also nonverbal aspects of language that have an impact on how we communicate. While different cultures interpret physical space and distance differently, Edward T.
Hall defined four different zones of space for average North Americans—intimate (under 18 inches), personal (18 inches to 4 feet), social (4 to 12 feet), and public (outside 12 feet) distance.