Non-Verbal
Communication
‘We speak with our vocal organs, but we converse
with our whole body’. (Abercrombie, 1968: 55)
Haptics (Touching)
• It is a form of non-verbal communication using a sense of touch
• The sense of touch allows one to experience different sensations
• Touching is our first non-verbal experience in life. Through touch we learn to
relate to people and objects
• It can be divided into touching oneself and touching others
• Self-touching can indicate how a person is feeling (not necessarily
communicative)
• Most communicative touching involves touching others
• It can be hostile (kicking) but mostly used to indicate the degree of intimacy
Types
• Functional/professional
• Social/polite
• Friendship/warmth
• Love/Intimacy
Positive Touch & Negative Touch
• Positive Touch: Affectionate and loving touch can lead to positive outcomes
(our physical and psychological well being)
• Examples: Hugging, caressing, kissing
• Negative Touch: Condescending and violent touch can lead to negative
outcomes such as lowered self esteem, stress, and illness
• Examples: Hitting, biting, kicking, forceful kissing or hugging (sexual
harassment)
Continued
• Touching the feet of elders is considered to be respectful in India
• This behaviour does not exist in many other countries
• In Japan people bow at each other upon meeting and touching is
rather considered rude
• In the US or the UK, a handshake may be considered appropriate
for meeting someone new. Whereas in France, a kiss on both
cheeks is common.
Cultural Variations
• Physical contacts vary across cultures
• High-contact cultures and Low-contact cultures
• Asia and quite surprisingly the United States, Canada, Britain,
Australia, and New Zealand are classified as low-contact cultures
• People from Latin America and the Mediterranean region, are
considered to be in high-contact cultures.
Eye Contact (Oculesics)
• Oculesics is the way eyes are used during a communication exchange
• It may include eye contact or the avoidance of eye contact
• Important part of social communication
• It can convey emotion, signal when to talk or finish
• The frequency of contact may suggest either interest or boredom
• The sender can determine whether the receiver is paying attention, showing
respect, responding favourably, or feeling distress through good eye contact
Effective guidelines on eye contact
• When speaking to a group try to look at everyone (group meeting)
• Do not look at the floor, scripts or anything that can hinder direct eye
contact with the receivers (Classroom interaction)
• We tend to blink more when we are under stress so learn to control your
blink rate
• Refrain from looking down, which can sometimes be interpreted by others
as lack of confidence
Categories of Eye Behaviour
• Gaze: Individual’s looking behaviour
• Mutual Gaze: When two individuals interact and look at each
other
Functions of Gazing
• Regulatory: Indicates turn taking
• Monitoring: Serves to show concern for the other person
• Cognitive: Gaze is shifted to one side or the other. This occurs when the
listener is asked to reflect on some question
• Expressive: As a component of facial expression, the eyes’ gaze is a powerful
part of emotional expression
Eye Contact in different cultures
• Eye behaviour can differ greatly among cultures
• People from some cultures may lower their gaze to convey respect
• This may be understood as insulting in other cultures
• Direct and prolonged eye contact may be seen as insulting in some cultures
(non-western Business settings) or conveying attention in others. In North
America, eye contact is generally made between 70 to 85% of the time.
• While maintaining eye contact is positively evaluated by Western
Europeans, it is not the case with people of East Asian cultural backgrounds
• Indians prefer to keep eye contact minimal or avert their eyes from the
opposite gender rather than sustaining eye contact.
Paralanguage
➢It was first named paralanguage by American linguist George L. Trager in his
1958 publication in “Studies in Linguistics.“
➢Abercrombie (1968) defines paralanguage so as to include all those aspects
of linguistic communication that are not part of language per se, but are
nonetheless somehow involved with the message or meaning a
communicator conveys
➢Paralanguage is a form of nonverbal communication that allows people to
add layers of meaning to their spoken utterances through the manipulation
of the manner of speech, or the way they say things.
➢Refers to all vocally produced sound that is not a direct form of linguistic
communication
➢Can have strong signifying traits but no semantic meaning
Continued
• How do you say the words?
• The word ‘ok’ can have different meanings
depending on how you say it
• Vocal characteristics: pitch, volume, rate, voice
quality
• Vocal Interferences: the sounds and words we use
when we hesitate
Sub-categories
• Tone (direct, commanding, loud, harsh etc.)
• Inflection (Spread-narrow)
• Pitch (high-low)
• Intensity (loud-soft)
• Articulation (precise-imprecise)
• Rhythm (smooth-jerky)
Tone
• Tone is the attitude of the speaker as revealed in the choice of vocabulary or
the intonation of speech
• To a linguist, tone means the quality of sound produced by the voice in
uttering words
• The tone of your voice can help you communicate what you mean to
convey, or it can reveal thoughts you mean to conceal. It can reinforce or
negate the words you speak.
• This may be done consciously or unconsciously
Continued
• Intonation: patterns of sound evident in every utterance
• Intonation patterns of a language are the first things a child learns in its
progress as a speaker
• Monotone implies an absence of intonation
Example
• If we examine the word ‘hello’ and explore the different ways it can be
expressed to convey a particular attitude.
• Hello? Is anyone there?
• Hello! At last I’ve found it
• Hello! Here we go again!
• Hello! Fancy meeting you.
• Hello! Greeting a friend
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNpuQHY2hDE
Voice Inflection
• It is the way we change the tone of our voice to emphasize key words
• It can be done in many ways
• Stress a word or phrase – She has a BEAUTIFUL house
• Stretch a word or phrase- She has a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l house
• Pause before a word or phrase- She has….a beautiful house
Pitch
• It is a measure of how high or low a voice is
• Determined by the speed of vibration of the vocal folds
• Higher pitch-faster rate of vibration
• Lower pitch- slower rate of vibration
• Changes in pitch make a conversation more dynamic
• The pitch of a communicator’s voice varies depending on the subject
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch1QAcpPr8g (High pitch voice)
• https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kdJ4tKh_CIU (Low pitch voice)
Intensity or Volume
• Refers to the loudness or softness of voice
• While pitch refers to the number of vibrations per second, volume refers to
the amplitude of these vibrations
• A person with a weak voice perceived as lacking confidence while strong
voice shows great confidence
• Volume can be controlled depending upon the situation, type and number
of audience, size of the room and the acoustic sharpness
Rhythm
• Modulation of strong and weak elements in the flow of speech
• It ranges from smoothness to jerkiness during our speech
• Commonly used for expressing emotions, it is not much appreciated on
formal occasions such as presentations, interviews , group discussions etc.
Articulation
• The process by which sounds, syllables and words are formed
• Poor articulation emerges when the sounds of words are omitted,
substituted, distorted or slurred
• It is often the result of years of bad habit
• It can be due to physical or mental disorders beyond our immediate control
• Good articulation boosts our self-confidence and opens up more
opportunities for us
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXZPJ8yGbwU
Links of videos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEci5Bjgd4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38y_1EWIE9I&list=PLcX7TDig6sB5Vdu
GjsgXeyNzZhPbmQDso
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3P3rT0j2gQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRJzvJ5XPQI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvEci5Bjgd4&t=57s
THANK YOU!
