ecoding Non-Verbal Communication
r. Vipin K Sharma vipinaravali@gmail.com
bstract: What people say could often be very different from what they're thinking or feeling. It's very easy to say something untrue or insincere, so we can never rely on words alone. Fortunately, there's a proven way to accurately decode nonverbal communication i.e. people’s thoughts, mental and physical states, emotions or mood - and that's by reading their body language. People may lie, but their body silently and unconsciously speaks the truth. We communicate without words in all of our face-to-face interactions. Nonverbal communication plays a profound role in the messages we receive from others and gives others a wealth of information about our personalities. Having the ability to decode body language (kinesics) can have astonishing effects in almost every aspect of your life. Our body language transmits both subtle and not-so-subtle messages to other people, as well as animals, which are often highly attuned to our nonverbal communication. By becoming more aware of unconscious, nonverbal signals, we can more accurately decode the messages that other people send you. Many cultural differences can confuse the meaning of a message. It would be impossible to correctly decode the nonverbal signals we receive without being aware of cultural norms. Some cultural differences include whether eye contact is seen as respectful (as in the U.S.) or disrespectful (as in some Asian countries), and whether people of the same sex would kiss each other or shake hands as a greeting. Your own body language signals can also influence what other people may think or feel about you. If you do it right, you will be liked and trusted. But if you send the wrong signals (even if you're unaware of it) - your business, career, relationships, and even self-esteem may suffer.
Many cultural differences take the form of nonverbal communications. The nonverbal area is relatively new and still is being studied and developed; however, most of us have had enough experience to be aware of its existence and importance. One must be careful to keep this area in perspective and to consider nonverbal elements as only a part of the total communication effort—while the nonverbal may be important, it is not always the whole story. If a person frowns while listening to you speaks, it may indicate doubt or disagreement; on the other hand, the person may have a headache or the light may be bothersome. It is important for you to remain alert to nonverbal signals, but it is also essential that you decode them accurately.
Role of Nonverbal Communication in ecoding a Message: We communicate without words in all of our face-to-face interactions. onverbal communication plays a vital role in the messages we receive from others. It also gives others a wealth of information about our personalities. Our body language transmits both subtle and not-so-subtle messages to other people, as well as animals, which are often familiar to our nonverbal communication. By becoming more aware of unconscious, nonverbal signals, we can more accurately decode the messages that other people send us.
Both encoder and decoder send nonverbal messages as part of the total communication process. The nonverbal messages of the encoder tend to reveal the degree of presence or absence of sincerity, honesty, conviction, ability, and qualifications; body language reveals a lot about the encoder and this person's attitude and feelings about the message being transmitted. Whilst mastery of communication techniques is important, it is essential that the encoder be sensitive to the human relations aspects in the communication process, and these human elements are often revealed vividly in body language and other nonverbal communication.
anxious. Often people hide these feelings with their voice and expressions while displaying them in less noticeable ways, such as shaking their legs while sitting.
Types of Non-Verbal Communication: on-verbal communication is anything other than words themselves that communicates or affects (positively or negatively) the message "contained" in the words. Meta communication is a word used to describe the nonverbal process. Meta is from the Greek and means "beyond" or "in addition to"; hence, Meta communication is something in addition to the communication. Anything which can be taken into account as relevant to our interpretation of what another is saying or doing beyond the manifest 'content' of what he is saying or doing can be referred to as Meta communication. Many times, a person conveys a message by showing it rather than telling it. People can exhibit several nonverbal signals at once. Thus, when we decode a message, we usually have many more nonverbal than verbal clues about what it truly means.
Paralanguage: Inflections or emphasis applied vocally to a message are known as paralanguage. Someone rightly says, 'It's not what he said, it's the way he said it."
Modulation or inflection can have an effect on the impact of a message; and while inflection is applied to words, it is a nonverbal treatment which can completely change the meaning a person would be expected to attach to the words. Inflections or emphasis applied vocally to a message are known as paralanguage.
Paralanguage sounds just the opposite from the words themselves. Someone may have greeted you with a "good morning!" but the tone of the words revealed that it was anything but a good morning. There are, of course, some messages which are transmitted entirely in a nonverbal manner through gestures and facial expressions for example communicating encouragement to the people by raising two fingers in the familiar 'V for Victory' sign, perhaps each of us has had the experience of making a statement that was greeted either by a raised eyebrow (indicating surprise) or by a wrinkled brow (indicating confusion or doubt).
we find out how we are doing in our effort to communicate; we do this through feedback. Silence can be an effective technique to encourage feedback. By silence I mean nonverbal elements held to a minimum.
Body Language: It is a well developed discipline of study. There is a lot of difference in what people are saying, thinking or feeling. It's very easy to say something false or hypocritical, so we can never rely on words alone and therefore it’s significant to know what the body is saying. It includes facial expressions, eye contact, voice modulation, posture and gestures, attire, appearance, handshake, space, timing, behavior and smile. In all probability the best-known type of nonverbal communication, at least to the layperson, is body language. Body language is also known as kinesics. A pioneer in the field, Ray Birdwhistell, writes, "The isolation of gestures and the attempt to understand them led to the most important findings of kinesics research. This original study of gestures gave the first indication that kinesics structure is parallel to language structure. By the study of gestures in context, it became clear that the kinesics system has forms which are astonishingly like words in language."
There is a proven way to accurately decode people's thoughts, emotions or mood - and that's by reading their body language. People may lie, but their body silently and unconsciously speaks the truth. Adequate knowledge of body language helps us to find out what our friends, co-workers, spouse, customers or anyone else, may be hiding from you. We can understand other people's thoughts or feelings better than they do. Interpreting body language correctly is the most effective way to find out hidden desires, thoughts, or emotions. You can't make a good first impression through your words alone. In fact, nonverbal communication is between 60 to 75% of the impact of a communication. But despite being the most important aspect, body language is also the most misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Facial Expressions: Being considered as the index of the mind, it expresses the thoughts of the mind and the feelings of the heart. A wrinkled forehead, a raised eyebrow and many idiomatic phrases like to carry a mask on one’s face, to make a face; the smile of recognition, the face that launched a thousand ships etc play a vital role in decoding process.
expression through the eyes. In the expression of love, affection and sincerity the eye contact become crucial. Some of the words and expressions uses in common parlance are twinkling, wary and sad look, cold and unsettling stare, eyes emitting fire and furtive glance. Most of us have decoded "eye language" even if we did not know about body language or nonverbal communication. These are very useful in legal cross-examination, in counseling sessions, in negotiations and other routine life activities.
Voice: Human voice through their variations, convey different meanings. Voice modulation refers to the variation of the pitch or tone while speaking. Voice has many significant features like tone (harsh, soft, whisper), pace (rapid or slow), pitch (high-low) and the quality.
Postures and Gestures: Posture refers to the carriage, state and attitude of body or mind. It may be physical or mental, erect or upright. Gesture refers to any significant movement of limb or body and a deliberate use of such movement as an expression of feeling. odding, smiling, clasping hands, touching, patting the back, putting the hand over one’s shoulder, yawning and crossing or uncrossing the legs are among some of the physical actions and gestures used to convey some meaning. o doubt each of us knows someone who "talks with his or her hands. Some people interpose communications with such excessive gestures like in a card game drum or tap incessantly and constantly click the on-off switch of ballpoint pens that it is extremely dangerous to get too close to their nonverbal exclamations. On the other hand, if nonverbal signs reveal the emotional side of a communication, it is often important for you to try to determine what message is being transmitted along with the verbal one. Sometimes they are the same; other times they are drastically different.
Attire, Appearance and Handshake: These are other facets of body language that are subject to interpretation by the audience with whom one interacts. Attire plays a vital role in big organizations where there is a formal or own unwritten dress code that is well understood. Any breach of this is likely to dilute the effectiveness of the communication. It proclaims and creates the first impression.
meeting on occasions speak not merely with their words but with their total personality. It helps in making a positive and constructive impact.
Handshake is common form of well accepted greeting and introduction among men and women. Handshake are also varies like other aspects of body language and some of them are- a firm handshake, a limp handshake, a clasp and a vice-like handshake.
Smile: A smile is a patent form of facial expression and opens doors to communication. The saying, ‘You are never fully dressed unless you wear a good smile’ shows its significance. It speaks the language of love, compassion, sincerity, confidence, courtesy and dependability. It should be well intended and not sarcastic. It is out of place here to say, “There are hundreds of languages in the world and a smile speaks all of them.”
Actions and Behaviour: Actions convey messages more forcefully than words. It is said that examples set through actions are3 far more effective in communicating intentions and concern than words. Managers should set an example by being polite and courteous. Behaviour refers to conduct, manners shown by a person towards others and is governed by thoughts and feelings. The qualities of head and heart decide the behavior of a person in a given situation. Great leaders recognize the power of actions and behavior and use them for effective communication.
Personal Space: It is physical distance between persons that indicates familiarity and closeness. The close gap by the peers in an organization and a proper distance maintained by their subordinates and the same is between rich and the poor. This factor has its own significance thereby we have to appreciate it for making a good communication. Every society or nation has its own well-understood norms.
Culture: Webster defines culture as "the characteristic features of a particular stage or state of advancement in civilization." We are talking here not just about regional differences in our own country, but about even greater differences which are found in the numerous cultures of the world. We need to know about people and their background if we are to understand their communications.
general, result in particular patterns and methods and forms of expression and relating (communicating) with one another. Many examples of this could be given. People in a warm, tropical climate, for example, live quite differently from people in a northern area of India. It is small wonder that we seem always to be surrounded by wars and rumours of wars.
Decoding non-verbal communication can help us to make out how others are in fact feeling and thinking. However, there may be underlying causes for these nonverbal messages. If someone seems bored, he could simply be tired, for instance. Keep in mind, too, that many cultural differences can confuse the meaning of a message. It would be impossible to correctly decode the nonverbal signals we receive without being aware of cultural norms. Some cultural differences include whether eye contact is seen as respectful (as in the U.S.) or disrespectful (as in some Asian countries), and whether people of the same sex would kiss each other or shake hands as a greeting.
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