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Chapter 5
Nonverbal Communication
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Describe the power of nonverbal communication
• Outline the functions of nonverbal communication
LECTURE NOTES
• The Nature of Nonverbal Communication explores the nature of nonverbal
communication, which is the process of intentionally or unintentionally signaling meaning
through behavior other than words.
ƒ Nonverbal Behavior Is Communicative
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Nonverbal behavior can convey a message both without words and in addition to
words.
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American Sign Language is nonvocal, but it is still verbal because it is a language with
grammar rules; it uses gestures as symbols rather than spoken words.
ƒ Nonverbal Communication Is Often Spontaneous and Unintentional as people often
send nonverbal messages unintentionally, and these behaviors send messages to others.
ƒ Nonverbal Communication Is Ambiguous because nonverbal messages can have
multiple meanings; clues about meanings can be derived from the situational context.
Ɠ Expressing rapport with others
Ɠ Figuring out others’ meanings when there are few other behaviors to observe
• Functions of Nonverbal Communication highlights the most important ways that
nonverbal behaviors work on their own and in combination with verbal behaviors to affect
communication.
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ƒ Substituting Verbal Messages
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Substituting involves using nonverbal cues to replace spoken words.
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This is often done in situations where languages are different or to replace information
you would rather not say aloud.
ƒ Contradicting Verbal Messages
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Contradicting conveys a meaning that is the opposite of the verbal message.
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Unintentional contradictions happen when a person does not realize nonverbal behavior
is giving them away.
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Intentional contradictions may occur in joking, teasing, sarcasm, or for dramatic effect.
ƒ Regulating Interactions
ƒ Creating Immediacy
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Immediacy is a feeling of closeness between people that is communicated by
nonverbal behavior.
ƒ Deceiving Others
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Deception is the attempt to convince others of something that is false.
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We look for people to have particular nonverbal behaviors, such as lack of eye contact
or nervousness, to decide whether they are being deceptive.
• Nonverbal Communication Codes
ƒ Nonverbal codes are symbols we use to send messages without or in addition to words.
ƒ Gestures and Body Movements
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The aspects of gestures and body movements that send nonverbal messages are called
kinesics.
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There are five types of body movement:
ƒ Facial Expressions
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Humans use their faces to indicate emotions. Some facial movements are in-born, but
most are learned from our culture.
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Emotions can be concealed by consciously manipulating our faces to make particular
expressions. Masking is replacing an expression that shows true feeling with an
expression that shows a different feeling.
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ƒ Eye Behavior
ƒ Voice
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Vocalized sounds that accompany our words are called paralanguage; the aspects of
paralanguage include:
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Vocalizations are paralinguistic cues that give information about our emotional or
physical state. These include:
Ɠ Information about our physical state, such as yawning, crying, or sighing.
ƒ Physical Appearance
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Physical appearance communicates messages about attractiveness, background,
character, personality, status, and future behavior.
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Artifacts are accessories used to decorate the body that can communicate information
about ourselves.
ƒ Space and Environment sends communicative messages in multiple ways.
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Proxemics is the study of how we use and communicate with space. Edward Hall
identified four spatial zones:
Ɠ Intimate (0–18 inches): romantic partners or close family members
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Territoriality is claiming of an area through continuous occupation of that area.
Mediated spaces can also be territorialized.
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Environment refers to how people arrange space to express themselves.
ƒ Touch
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Haptics is the study of touch as communication.
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The five levels of touch on an intimacy continuum that reflect how we use touch include:
Ɠ Functional-professional touch is used to perform a job.
Ɠ Social-polite touch is a polite acknowledgment of the other person.
Ɠ Friendship-warmth touch conveys liking and affection between people who know
ƒ Time Orientation refers to one’s personal associations with the use of time. It determines
the importance a person ascribes to conversation content, the length of the interaction, the
urgency of the interaction, and punctuality.
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Use of time to send a message can be confusing.
• Influences on Nonverbal Communication considers how culture, technology, and
situation all serve as powerful influences on our nonverbal behavior.
ƒ Culture and Nonverbal Communication
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Culture influences how nonverbal communication is used and interpreted.
ƒ Mediated Nonverbal Communication
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In mediated communication, many of the nonverbal channels that we rely on are not
available.
ƒ The Situational Context
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Nonverbal communication is interpreted differently based on the situation.
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There are two dimensions of situational context:
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are some common emblems that you use or see others using? How do those
emblems translate in other spaces? How would 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 would change your
nonverbal cues in order to change the meaning of a message. When does that work?
When doesn’t it work?
• Talk about sarcasm in this instance. How does a student know when a message is
sarcastic or not? Answers will likely cover the change in nonverbal cues (such as
3. How do nonverbal cues function in the classroom? How do your professors regulate
discussion in the classroom? How do you? What are these signals supposed 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?
• Ask students about specific nonverbal cues such as holding hands, wedding rings, and
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Do Horses Have Eyebrows?
Have students watch a clip from Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron. (Clips are readily
2. Why Is This in My Room?
Have students take a walk around their bedrooms, apartments, or other special room and
3. MY Space!
Have students walk around campus and notice how people mark different spaces as their
own territory. How do they place artifacts to mark territory? How do they position their
bodies? How does eye contact help to mark territory? Have students write detailed
4. You Say Good-bye, I Say Hello
Ask students to research nonverbal greetings in various cultures. For example, people in
5. Message, Message, Who Sent the Message?
6. Building Immediacy
While in conversation with a friend, have students work on creating immediacy. They
should step forward just one or two steps to shorten the distance between the person and
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Who Speaks Correctly?
1. Go to the following Web site:
www.pbs.org/speak/speech/mapping/map.html.
2. Ask students to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, their perceptions of which areas of the
2. Do You Speak American?
Goal: To understand how accents shape perceptions of others
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials: Access to the Internet
Directions:
1. Go to the following Web site:
2. Click on each of the first speaker icons (farthest to the left) three times each. Ask
3. Ask students to look at the words they wrote down for each item. If they want to
change their answer, tell them to cross out their first answer in such a way that they
Debriefing: Have students discuss why they marked down the words that they did. How
can accents promote miscommunication among people? How can accents shape our
perceptions of people? How do these perceptions lead to stereotyping?
3. Whose Eye Does Beauty Behold?
Goal: To understand how physical appearance affects our perceptions of others; to
understand how the media influences those perceptions
Time Required: 15–30 minutes
Materials: Access to the Internet
Directions: Show the following Web site to students: www.dove.us/#/features/
4. Popping the Bubble
Goal: To understand how proximity affects communication
Time Required: 10 minutes
Materials: Space for pairs of student to stand together at different distances
Directions:
1. Have students pair up in the classroom and stand facing each other. (Note: An extra
student can be an observer and/or timer.)
3. Next, ask the student pairs to plant their feet, lower their arms, and start a
4. After 2 minutes, ask students to stop, hold out their arms again, and move closer to
5. After 2 minutes, have the partners move so that their hands rest on their partner’s
6. After 2 minutes, have students stand with their toes touching and hold this stance for
30 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 as they
5. Is This Space a Classroom?
Goal: To understand the role environment plays in communication
Time Required: 20–30 minutes, but can be extended to the entire class period
Materials: An alternate space to serve as a classroom for one day
Directions:
1. Arrange for class to be held for at least one day in a space other than your regular
2. Have students discuss how this change in space affects the learning environment.
3. Ask students to design their ideal classroom. Focus their conversation on learning,
which is perhaps different from comfort (in other words, recliners may be more
6. What Time Is It?
Goal: To understand the importance of chronemics in our lives
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials:
2. Paper and tape to cover clock(s) in the classroom
Directions:
2. Arrive to class early and tape paper over all of the clocks in the room.
3. As students arrive, ask them to place their cell phones, mobile devices, watches, or
any other device that tell time on the front table. Turn all devices over so that no time
4. Begin class normally and go through the first 10 minutes or so of class. Then ask
students how they are feeling about not knowing what time it is.
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7. Staring Contest
Goal: To understand how eye contact can encourage or stifle conversation; to learn eye
contact preferences
Time Required: 10 minutes
Materials: Watch or timer
Directions:
2. Have students sit or stand facing each other. Here’s the twist: partners must have a
3. Call time. Ask student pairs to discuss what happened during their conversation.
Debriefing: It is likely that students will find the staring contest was much more difficult
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why is American Sign Language considered nonvocal and not nonverbal?
2. List the functions of nonverbal communication. Explain at least two of them.
4. Define proxemics and define Hall’s spatial zones.
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.
MEDIA
An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics, 2006)
This Academy Award–winning documentary shows how former Vice President Al Gore
The King’s Speech (See-Saw Films, 2010)
This film examines how King George VI of England, the father of Queen Elizabeth II,
overcame his stuttering problem with the help of an Australian speech therapist. King
George goes on to lead his people through his incredible power of public speaking.
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Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DreamWorks Animation, 2002)
In this animated film about horses, there is narration, but much of the communication is
WALL-E (Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, 2008)
In this touching film, the spoken word is rarely used. WALL-E is the story of how a waste-
