Non verbal communication
Non verbal communication
Eleni Fiaka
What is Non-Verbal Com?
• It’s the way a person transfers messages to another person.
• This way of communication does not contains verbal language.
• But you can non verbally communicate with sounds(screams, tone of voice etc.)
• We can say that non verbal communication can happen between people and animals or animals.
Examples
• Body language
• Gestures
• Eye contact
• Clothes
• Dance
• Positioning with in groups
Importance
• Successful interaction with others
• Affects attitudes and feelings
• It plays an important role for top job positions
• Determines your social stand
Cultural differences
• Important differences in non verbal communication between cultures can create misunderstandings.
• Appearance, gestures, body movement, posture, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, paralanguage, smell.
Posture
• Bowing is criticized in US but shows rank in
Japan
• Hands in pocket is disrespectful in Turkey
• Sitting with legs crossed is offensive in Ghana and Turkey
• Showing soles of feet is offensive in Thailand and Saudi Arabia
Gestures
• Pointing : US with index finger, Germany with little finger, Japanese with entire hand (most
Asians consider pointing with index finger to be rude)
• Counting: Thumb = 1 in Germany, 5 in Japan, middle finger for 1 in Indonesia.
Eye contact
• Western cultures see direct eye to eye contact as positive
• But in Japan, Africa, Latin American and
Caribbean avoid eye contact to show respect.
Paralanguage
• vocal characterizers
• Japan — giggling indicates embarrassment
• India – belch indicates satisfaction
References
• http://www.bizmove.com/skills/m8g.htm
• http://www2.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/
NonVerbal.html
