Non-Verbal Communication
Non-Verbal Communication

Reflection exercise 8.2: Briefly discuss the importance of nonverbal communication. Think about your personal space and ask a friend to start a discussion with you then come as close to you during a normal conversation.

What is nonverbal communication? Just like many aspects of this course, non-verbal communication is exposed to us in almost all cases during our interaction with others on a daily basis. It is a powerful tool to grasp and understand, whilst growing your self-awareness may also enhance this skill further, understanding another person’s body gestures whilst determining whether yours is either making the conversation awkward or favorable is important. Nonverbal communication is ambiguous (Eunson, 2012) and is more important than verbal communication, as it determines a person’s true state of mind. It comprises of body gestures and movements (Robbins, Judge, Millett & Boyle, 2014), including intonations or emphasis on their words and sentences, facial expressions and the physical distance between the sender and the receiver.

There are many instances where you may be exposed to nonverbal communication. Below I have provided a video blog providing a few examples of subtle or obvious nonverbal communication cues;

https://www.wevideo.com/view/472481886

When we discuss about our personal space, Edward T. Hall  is famously known for his innovation of his ‘Proxemics Theory’. Whilst studying human behaviours and intercultural communication he founded the model of human space within the context of culture (CSISS, 2011) as seen in the diagram below. As cultural expectations about personal space, varies wildly considering that (CSISS, 2011) ‘people will maintain differing degrees of personal distance depending on the social setting and their cultural backgrounds’. Hall’s proxemics theory inspired many innovative developments in which continue til this day. The below illustrates the proximity of a person’s “bubble” of space:

300px-Personal_Space.svg
Edward T Hall’s reaction “bubble” of space

Whilst there are many studies, theories and literature on nonverbal communication and/or rules about personal space. We are still involving with the times, in creating ‘unspoken’ rules to coincide with daily situations as provided within the below video clip. Understanding the basics, and complexity of nonverbal communication is an important facet in being an effective listener, it is even more highly regarded within our professional careers. Thus it is a powerful means of communication.

 

References: 

Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS) 2011, Edward T. Hall: Proxemic Theory, 1966, viewed 23 Septmeber 2015, http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13

Eunson, B 2012, Communicating in the 21st century, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton.

Robbins, S, Judge, T, Millet, B & Boyle, M 2014, Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.