Non verbal communication is all about putting across your thoughts and feelings even without saying a word. At the time of a conversation, one receives and sends various kinds of signals. The way one talks, sits, walks or even makes eye-contact says a lot about the person’s state of mind and his/her inner feelings. Knowing all about correct body gestures and body language can help you communicate better with others. Non verbal communication comprises of signs and gestures that one uses at the time of communicating. Body language, on the other hand, is more about facial expressions, body postures, eye movements as well as the person’s attitude and emotions. When communicating non-verbally, it is important to pay extreme heed to the facial expressions and gestures. Remember, the vaguer or ambiguous your body language is, the higher the chances of your messages being misconstrued. Therefore, it is important to know how to use the non-verbal signs and symbols effectively. Non verbal communication has a big role to play when it comes to communicating with someone. For example -- at the time of an interview, the interviewer tries to find all about the interviewee by taking a note of his/her body language like posture, gesture, eye contact and so on. Read below about the different forms of body language used for better and effective communication.
Various Forms Of Body Language And Non-Verbal Communication
Facial Expressions
Your face is an open-book, the biggest giveaway of your inner thoughts and feelings. For example, a smile indicates happiness, while a soft smile denotes cheerfulness. A rigid smile, however, indicates contempt or lack of interest. Similarly nodding of head indicates agreement and disagreement. These common reflexes help one to gauge other person’s mood or state of mind.
Eye Contact
Eye contact is an important mode of non-verbal communication. The movement of the eye and the way you stare at someone can communicate a lot about your inner feelings. For example, during a meeting, if the speaker fails to make an eye contact with the addressees, then chances of miscommunication gets higher. Lack of eye contact is also an indication of negativity, unease, discomfort, deception, and low confidence.
Postures And Body Movements
The way you sit, walk and carry yourself tells a lot about your personality. For example, when you stand straight, it shows your confidence, while if you stoop low, it only goes on to show your poor self-confidence. When you make too much of hand movements or shake your legs, it indicates that you are anxious, nervous and frightened. Another important sign of body language is the way in which a person sits. For example, if a person sits with his/her arm crossed, then it indicates attentiveness and interest while if someone crouches or bends low, it only goes on to indicate boredom and negativity.
Gestures
We use gestures in our daily life as a means of communicating. Across countries and cultures, different gestures have different connotations and that is why one must be careful to avoid misunderstanding. For example, ‘thumbs up’ is the sign of liveliness and positivity in United States but in Australia, it is a sign of indecent abuse. Another gesture is the nodding of head. In many countries, nodding of head implies ‘yes’, but in Bulgaria and some parts of the Middle East it means ‘no’.
All these are the forms of non-verbal communication and body language. They play a significant role in effective communication. For right communication, one must know about proper facial expressions, gestures and body movements. If you are good at communicating your ideas, then it will help you in building your social as well as professional contacts. Apart from this, non-verbal communication has a great impact on our day-to-day dealings.
