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Chapter 5
Nonverbal Messages
What you’ll know:
• Characteristics of nonverbal messages
• Types of nonverbal messages we send through our bodies
• Types of nonverbal messages we send through our voices
• Types of nonverbal messages we send through use of space and time
• Types of nonverbal message we send through appearance
What you’ll be able to do:
• Improve the nonverbal messages you send
• More accurately interpret the nonverbal messages you receive
Chapter Outline
I. Nonverbal Communication Behaviors: bodily actions and vocal qualities that typically accompany a
verbal message. They are usually interpreted as intentional and have agreed upon meanings
within a given speech culture or community. Nonverbal messages are cues we send with our body,
voice, space, time and appearance to support, modify, contradict, or even replace a verbal
message.
II. Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication
A. Nonverbal communication is inevitable.
B. Nonverbal communication is the primary conveyor of our emotions.
C. Nonverbal communication is multi-channeled.
D. Nonverbal communication meaning can be ambiguous.
III. Types of Nonverbal Communication
A. Kinesics: the interpretation of body motions used in communication.
b. Reaction to touch differs within context (public versus private).
B. Use of Voice: the interpretation of the message based on the paralinguistic features;
paralanguage: the voiced but not verbal part of a spoken message
1. Pitch: the highness or lowness of vocal tone
2. Volume: the loudness of softness of tone
3. Rate: the speed at which a person speaks
4. Quality (Timbre): the sound of a person’s voice
5. Intonation: the variety, melody, or inflection in one’s voice
6. Vocalized pauses: extraneous sounds or words that interrupt fluent speech
C. Use of Space (Proxemics): the interpretation of a person’s use of space
F. Clothing and personal grooming: physical appearance sends a message and one should adapt
their style of clothing and personal grooming techniques to the setting
IV. Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication
A. Sending nonverbal messages
1. Consciously monitor your nonverbal messages.
2. Align your nonverbal messages with your purpose.
3. Adapt your nonverbal messages to the situation.
4. Reduce or eliminate distracting nonverbal messages.
B. Interpreting nonverbal messages
1. Remember that the same nonverbal message may mean different things to different
people.
2. Consider each nonverbal message in context.
Discussion and Assignment Ideas
I. Visit the website http://www.freehugscampaign.org/ and read about the campaign to promote
more conscious touch. Why do you think this campaign has received such a strong reaction? Do you
think our society is more or less open to touch than a generation ago? Would this campaign have
been possible 50 years ago? 100 years ago?
II. Quotes: These can be used to introduce topics, question perspectives, or gain individual opinion.
Providing students with a quote and prompting them to write or reflect on their personal feelings
about the quote can help to spark discussion and interest. Suggested prompts may include “Define this
concept in your own words”; “Do you agree with this statement? Explain”; “What text material can be
used to support or refute this idea?”
Voices: I think they must go deeper into us than other things.
—George Elliot
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.
—John Stuart Mill
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an
honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life
around.
—Leo Buscaglia
”What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
III. At what age were you able to detect sarcasm? When is sarcasm inappropriate even if the intent of
the paralanguage is known? How does sarcasm affect electronically-mediated communication?
Technology Resources
Using cengagebrain.com, explore the site listed under Web Links: Maria Brazil. How does Brazilian
body language compare to body language used in the U.S.? What do the nonverbal norms of each
culture reflect about that culture?
Movies
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Rated: R (Language; some sex and drug content)
Synopsis: The Hoovers are an American family that includes many depressed, quirky, and interesting
family members. They take a weekend trip to L.A. for the youngest family member, Olive, to be in a
beauty pageant. Son, Dwayne has taken a vow of silence, the reason for which becomes more
complicated as the story progresses.
Questions for discussion
WALL-E (2008)
Rated: G
Synopsis: Set in the near future, WALL-E depicts a universe in which the earth has become a giant
trash dump and people live in a spaceship, relying primarily on machines to do any activity they must
complete. The humans are overweight and lack critical thinking. WALL-E, a trash compactor, is the only
remaining working machine on planet Earth, and he continues to compact trash and find
treasures within it. Eve, a robot from the spaceship, comes to earth to determine if there is still life on the
planet. WALL-E returns to the spaceship with Eve. The humans resist returning to earth, but eventually
they realize that they cannot be lazy, self-centered, and disrespectful to their surroundings. The entire first
three-fourths of the movie has no talking in it.
Questions for discussion
Additional suggested movies: Philadelphia (1993) (perception, nonverbal); Before Sunrise (1994)
(nonverbal); In and Out (1997) (nonverbal, co-culture, gender); Freaky Friday (2003) (personality
expression via nonverbal communication); Tootsie (1982) (masculine and feminine nonverbal
behaviors)
Other Media Resources
Chapter Activities
5.1: Gender and Nonverbal Communication
Purpose: To illustrate differing cultural rules regarding appropriate nonverbal behavior for males
and females
Time: 50 minutes
Process: Have men and women reverse role-play (women playing men, men playing women) in
the following situations:
5.2: Understanding Kinesics
Purpose: To help students understand both the usefulness and the limitations of relying too
heavily on body language for meaning
Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Process: Working in teams of two, three, and four, have students enact a two-minute
conversation entirely through body motions (such as gestures, facial expression, eye
contact) and touch. You can have them pick from the following scripts or make one up
• (2 students) Two people are in church. One is falling asleep, and the other is
embarrassed and trying to keep that person awake.
• (2 students) One is showing the other how to change a baby’s diaper.
Give the students a few minutes to work out how they will convey the message of
their skit without words. Make sure the groups do not share the scripts with one other,
as you will be asking the class to guess what each group’s message is. Ask for student
volunteers to share a few of the skits with the class. At the end of each skit, every
student should write their own script of what messages were conveyed and
understood. Have the class compare scripts. How accurately did the students
communicate their messages? Which of the body motion categories were most helpful
in conveying meaning? When there were inaccuracies, can you identify why? What
kinds of information did you feel the greatest frustration in communicating?
5.3: The Versatility of Paralanguage
Purpose: To help students recognize that often it is the paralanguage that conveys the message
Time: 15 minutes
paralanguage is often the determining, descriptive factor.
5.4: Paralanguage Practice
Purpose: To have students practice using paralanguage to communicate emotion
Time: 15 minutes
5.5: The Messages of Artifacts
Purpose: For students to recognize the intentional and unconscious messages that artifacts
convey
Time: 15 minutes
Process: Ask students to get into pairs, and ask them to choose as a partner the person in class
unconscious messages that our artifacts convey.
Journal Assignments
A. Distracting Mannerisms
Describe any distracting mannerisms that you may have. Ask someone who knows you well to provide
input. Compare your perception with that of the person you asked. How aware of your nonverbal
communication behaviors are you? What, if any, changes would you like to make?
B. Touch Preferences and Personal Space
Are you a person who likes or dislikes being touched? Why? How do you communicate your preference to
others? How does this correlate to personal space? Through observation, see if you can distinguish your
preferred distance for intimate space. How does your preference for personal space and touch change
when interacting with acquaintances, friends, and strangers?
C. Environment
How does your home, apartment, or dorm room communicate information about you? What is it
saying right now? Why?
D. The Multi-Channeled Nature of Nonverbal Communication
For this assignment, select a popular syndicated talk show host who has both a radio and a TV or
Internet broadcast. First listen to the host you chose speak on the radio. Then watch him or her on TV
or the Internet. Pay attention to how you receive the message over the radio, when only paralanguage
is available, versus when you watch the broadcast over a medium in which you can see facial
expressions, eye contact, and other nonverbal channels. How is the message affected by the presence
or absence of certain nonverbal channels? Do you interpret the message differently when you see it
with paralanguage alone, or was the message the same when it was accompanied by other nonverbal
messages?
