Why Non Verbal Communication is Important

By Geraldine Kilbride -

What is communication?

It is a process that involves exchange of information, thoughts as well as ideas and emotions.

Based on the channels used for communicating, the process of communication can be broadly classified as verbal communication and non verbal communication.

Non verbal communication is the most important method of communication that we have available as human beings. It is estimated that 55% of our communication is based on the non verbal communication methods, and only 38% is attributed to vocal communication, whereas written communication comes third with only 7% of our total.

The process of communication involves a sender that encodes and sends a message, which is then carried via the communication channel to the receiver. He/she decodes the message, processes the information and sends an appropriate reply via the same communication channel. This process is similar whether we are employing verbal or non verbal methods of communication.

Communication includes written and oral communication, whereas the non verbal communication includes body language, facial expressions and visuals, such as diagrams or pictures, all of which are used as a means of communication.

Important non verbal methods of communication

There are eight main methods of non verbal communication. Generally we are very familiar with the idea of ‘body language’. But this is a general term which covers different types of non verbal communication such as Gesture, Posture and Eye-Gaze.

1. Eye gaze

Eye contact can indicate interest, attention, and involvement. Gaze includes the actions of looking while talking, maintaining eye contact while listening, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation and blink rate.

2. Facial expression

Universal facial expressions signify anger, fear, sadness, surely and disgust. If you smile, frequently, you’ll be perceived as more likable, friendly, warm and approachable.

3. Posture

Your posture, including the pose, stance and bearing of the way you sit, slouch, stand, lean, bend, hold and move your body in space. It can immediately affect the way people perceive you.

4. Gesture

May be articulated by the movement of hands, arms or body, and also includes the movement of the head, face and eyes such as winking, nodding or rolling one’s eyes.

Speaking without gesture, can be seen as boring, stiff and unanimated.

5. Haptics

The word given to ‘touch’ as it refers to communication, includes handshake, holding hands, kissing, backslapping, high fives, a pat on the shoulder and brushing an arm.

The meaning conveyed from touch is highly dependent upon context, the relationship between communicators, and the manner of touch.

6. Paralanguage

This term refers to the non verbal cues of the voice. Acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch and accent can all give off a non verbal cues

7. Proxemics

This refers to the non verbal study of space and distance. The concept of territorial space refers to the area around the person that another person is not allowed to enter without consent. For example, the intimate zone is said to be up to 2 feet around the person and is reserved for close friends and loved ones.

8. Clothing and bodily characteristics

Finally, elements such as physique, height, weight, hair, skin colour, gender, odour and clothing send non verbal messages during interaction. They cannot be ignored.

Geraldine M. Kilbride is a Business Psychologist and owner of http://CrucialSkills4Leaders.com, Europe’s foremost resources for developing your leadership talent. Working with executives to understand and realise their unique leadership potential, CrucialSkills4Leaders uses classroom situations, experiential workshops as well as individual and group coaching to develop performance. The coaches and facilitators employed by CrucialSkills4Leaders are all regularly called upon by the London Business School, Number 1 for MBAs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Geraldine_Kilbride
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Non-Verbal-Communication-is-Important&id=4815054

About: Guest Contributor:
The "Guest Contributor" represents an article chosen from EzineArticles.com or that was submitted on an random basis.

View the original article here

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF?

Sometimes, when all our doubts, fears and insecurities wrap ourselves up, we always come up with the idea of “I wish I was somebody else.” More often than not, we think and believe that someone or rather, most people are better than us.- when in reality, the fact is, most people are more scared than us.

You spot a totally eye-catching girl sitting by herself at a party, casually sipping on a glass of Asti Spumanti. You think to yourself, “she looks so perfectly calm and confident.” But if you could read thru her transparent mind, you would see a bunch of clouds of thoughts and you might just be amazed that she’s thinking “are people talking about why I am seated here alone?... Why don’t guys find me attractive? …I don’t like my ankles, they look too skinny… I wish I was as intelligent as my best friend.”

We look at a young business entrepreneur and say “Wooh… what else could he ask for?” He stares at himself at the mirror and murmur to himself, “I hate my big eyes… I wonder why my friends won’t talk to me… I hope mom and dad would still work things out.”

Isn’t it funny? We look at other people, envy them for looking so outrageously perfect and wish we could trade places with them, while they look at us and thinks of the same thing. We are insecure of other people who themselves are insecure of us. We suffer from low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence and lose hope in self improvement because we are enveloped in quiet desperation.

Sometimes, you notice that you have an irritating habit like biting off your finger nails, having a foul mouth, and you – of all people, is the last to know.

I have a friend who never gets tired of talking. And in most conversations, she is the only one who seems to be interested in the things she has to say. So all of our other friends tend to avoid the circles whenever she’s around, and she doesn’t notices how badly she became socially handicapped – gradually affecting the people in her environment.

One key to self improvement is to LISTEN and TALK to a trusted friend. Find someone who you find comfort in opening up with even the most gentle topics you want to discuss. Ask questions like “do you think I am ill-mannered?”, “Do I always sound so argumentative?”, “Do I talk too loud?”, “Does my breath smell?”, “Do I ever bore you when were together?”. In this way, the other person will obviously know that you are interested in the process of self improvement. Lend her your ears for comments and criticisms and don’t give her answers like “Don’t exaggerate! That’s just the way I am!” Open up your mind and heart as well. And in return, you may want to help your friend with constructive criticism that will also help her improve her self.

One of Whitney Houston’s songs says “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” True enough. In order to love others, you must love yourself too. Remember, you cannot give what you do not have.

Before telling other people some ways on how to improve themselves, let them see that you yourself is a representation and a product of self improvement. Self improvement makes us better people, we then inspire other people, and then the rest of the world will follow.

Stop thinking of yourselves as second-rate beings. Forget the repetitive thought of “If only I was richer… if only I was thinner” and so on. Accepting your true self is the first step to self improvement. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others only to find out at the end that we’ve got 10 more reasons to envy them.

We all have our insecurities. Nobody is perfect. We always wish we had better things, better features, better body parts, etc. But life need not to be perfect for people to be happy about themselves.Self improvement and loving yourself is not a matter of shouting to the whole world that you are perfect and you are the best. It’s the virtue of acceptance and contentment. When we begin to improve ourselves, we then begin to feel contented and happy.