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Chapter 5
Nonverbal Communication
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Describe the power of nonverbal communication
• Outline the functions of nonverbal communication
• Describe the set of communication symbols that are nonverbal codes
• Illustrate the influence of culture, technology, and situation on our nonverbal behavior
LECTURE NOTES
words.
o Nonverbal Behavior Is Communicative
o Nonverbal Communication Can Be Intentional and Unintentional, as people send
that send what a person is thinking or feeling.
o Nonverbal Communication Is Ambiguous because nonverbal messages can have multiple
• Expressing rapport with others
• Understanding others’ meanings
− Placing more stock in nonverbal communication doesn’t mean that we always interpret
that communication accurately.
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− Complementing reinforces the verbal message.
− Accenting clarifies or emphasizes specific information within a verbal message.
o Substituting Verbal Messages
− Substituting uses nonverbal cues to replace verbal words.
− This may be done in situations where languages are different or to replace information you
would rather not say aloud.
Nonverbal cues can be more powerful than words.
o Contradicting Verbal Messages
− Contradicting conveys a meaning that is the opposite of the verbal message.
Filled pauses and discourse markers help control the conversation by maintaining the
speaker role while you are thinking.
o Creating Immediacy
− Immediacy is a feeling of closeness, involvement, and warmth between people
communicated by nonverbal behavior (sitting or standing close, turning and leaning
o Nonverbal codes are symbols we use to send messages without, or in addition to, words.
o Gestures and Body Movements
− Body movements that send nonverbal messages are called kinesics.
− There are five main types of body movement:
• Emblems are body movements that have a direct verbal translation.
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o Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage your emotions and the emotions of
others. Someone with a high EI can read people and diffuse a situation.
− Emotions can be concealed by consciously manipulating our faces to create a particular
expression. Masking is replacing an expression that shows true feeling with an expression
that shows a different feeling.
o Eye Behavior
− Oculesics is the study of the use of the eyes to communicate.
• Eye behavior as communication varies from culture to culture.
including:
• Information about our physical state, such as yawning, crying, or sighing
• Nonword fillers, such as “shhhh” or throat clearing
• Back-channel cues to signal that we want to talk or encourage others to talk
o Physical Appearance
• Intimate (0 to 18 inches)
• Personal (18 inches to 4 feet)
• Social (4 to 12 feet)
• Public (12 feet and beyond)
− Territoriality is claiming of an area through continuous occupation of that area. Mediated
• Sexual—Arousal touch reveals intimacy and sexual relationships.
− Understanding how much touch is appropriate is a powerful communicative skill.
o Time
− Chronemics is the use of time in nonverbal communication, or the ways you perceive and
more eye contact and pay more attention to verbal and nonverbal cues.
• These differences are cultural, not biological.
o Mediated Nonverbal Communication
− In mediated communication, many nonverbal codes we normally rely on are unavailable.
• People have come up with many creative substitutions, such as emoticons, capital
1.
What are some common emblems you may use yourself or see others using? How do those
emblems translate in other spaces? How might they change if you were talking to a person from
another age group? Another culture?
2.
How do nonverbal cues change a message? Talk about how you might change your nonverbal
cues to change the meaning of a message. When does that work? When doesn’t it?
•
Talk about sarcasm in this instance. How does a student know when a message is sarcastic
or not? Answers will likely discuss the change in nonverbal cues (such as changes in vocals)
3.
How do nonverbal cues function in the classroom? How do your professors regulate discussion
in the classroom? How do you? What do these signals mean to communicate?
4.
How does nonverbal communication work in romantic relationships? What nonverbal signals
do you use to signal that you are in a romantic relationship? What nonverbal cues do you use
to signal that you are not in a romantic relationship?
1.
Do Horses Have Eyebrows?
2.
Why Is This in My Room?
3.
My Space!
observations.
4.
You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
Ask students to research nonverbal greetings in various cultures. For example, people in some
5.
Message, Message, Who Sent the Message?
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students how the meaning of the message would change if the nonverbal aspects of the message
were removed.
6.
Building Immediacy
1.
Who Speaks Correctly?
1.
Go to www.pbs.org/speak and click on the Mapping Attitudes link.
2.
Ask students to rate, on a scale of one to ten, their perceptions of which areas of the country
speak the most “correct” English. After pushing the submit button, click on each of the
2.
Do You Speak American?
2.
Click on each of the first speaker icons (farthest to the left) three times. Ask students to
3.
Ask students to look at the words they wrote down for each of the items. If they want to
change their answers, tell them to cross out the first answer in such a way that they can still
read it. Again, have students vote on what the word is. Finally, click “submit” and play
each of the full statements. Ask students why they may have had trouble deciphering some
of the words.
3.
Popping the Bubble
Goal: To have students gain insight into proxemics and determine how close is too close for a
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Directions:
1.
Have students pair up in the classroom and stand facing each other. (Note: An extra student
can be an observer or timer.)
3.
Next, ask the student pairs to plant their feet, lower their arms, and start a conversation
4.
After two full minutes, ask students to stop, hold out their arms again, and move closer to
5.
After two minutes, have the partners move so that their hands can rest on their partner’s
shoulders and resume their conversation.
6.
Have students stand with their toes touching for thirty seconds. Then, ask them to sit down.
They may continue talking, if they wish.
Debriefing: Lead students in a discussion about how they adapted their bodies when they were
4.
Is This Space a Classroom?
2.
Have students discuss how this change in space affects the learning environment.
3.
Ask students to design their ideal classroom—be sure to focus their conversation toward
learning, which is perhaps different from comfort (in other words, recliners may be more
5.
What Time Is It?
2.
Paper and tape to cover clock(s) in the classroom
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Directions:
1.
Before you come to class, set your phone or mobile device alarm for five minutes before
the end of class.
3.
As students arrive, ask them to place their cell phones, mobile devices, watches, or any
other device that might tell time on the front table. Turn all devices over so that no time is
4.
Begin class normally and go through the first ten minutes or so of class. Then ask
6.
Staring Contest
1.
Have students find partners for a two-minute staring contest.
2.
Have students sit or stand facing each other. Here’s the twist: Partners must have a normal
3.
Call time. Ask student pairs to discuss what happened during their conversation.
1. Why is American Sign Language considered nonvocal and not nonverbal?
3. Define kinesics and explain how you use kinesics in your own life.
5. List and define the types of haptics discussed in the textbook.
6. What are the universal emotions?
7. How does culture affect nonverbal communication? Cite at least three examples.
8. What are paralinguistic cues?
9. How is immediacy defined, and why is it important?
10. How can nonverbal communication aid competent communication? Be sure to draw from as
many chapter concepts as possible.
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MEDIA
All Is Lost (Lionsgate, 2013)
Sleeping in his yacht one afternoon, the film’s main character—identified in the credits as
performance, All Is Lost presents a unique opportunity for students to discuss kinesics,
oculesics, and proxemics—as well as substituting—because Our Man communicates a
The Artist (Weinstein Company, 2011)
An improbable success story, this black-and-white French film—which is almost
the characters are communicating with each other or with the audience.
Finding Nemo (Walt Disney Home Video, 2003)
slouch, and gesticulate. Ask students to discuss how accurate they found each nonverbal
expression.
Inside Out (Pixar, 2015)
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her
emotions—Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness—conflict on how best to navigate a new
city, house, and school.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Television series, available on DVD)
and perceptions of nonverbal behaviors to communicate.
Life as a House (New Line Cinema, 2001)
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and go on to spend the last months of his life building and rebuilding his relationships.
Discuss with students the power of simple touch as a means of communication.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DreamWorks Animation, 2002)
Take the Lead (New Line Cinema, 2006)
A South Bronx high school and ballroom dancing? As implausible as that seems, this movie
communication in this movie.