Non-verbal Communication:

             Non-verbal communication refers to ways of communication other than words. The cliché statement, “Actions speak louder than words” gives in true sense the meaning of non-verbal communication. While words fail to describe something facial expressions and body-language convey the message perfectly. Even in situations where non-verbal message does not match verbal message, people prefer believing in non-verbal message. In fact, the impact of words in communication is only 7%, whereas 55% of our communication is through body language and 38% is through Paralinguistic elements of communication     
           
             Scholars in the field of verbal and non-verbal linguistics usually take the term “verbal“in the struck sense as “of or concerned with words,” and do not use “verbal communication” as a synonym for oral or spoken communication. For instance, vocal sounds that are not considered to be words, such as a grunt, or singing a wordless note, or humming without words, whistling are nonverbal. Sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words. Although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic (para-verbal) elements and often occur alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication are concerned with sensory channels — sight, sound, smell, touch or taste.
               Non-verbal communication can be classified into following major categories:
• Appearance
• Body language
• Silence, time and Space
• Para-language

Appearance:
          Appearance can affect on communication to a great extent. Our choice of color, clothing, hairstyles, and other factors affecting appearance are considered a means of nonverbal communication. Research on color psychology has demonstrated that different colors can invoke different moods. Appearance can also alter physiological reactions, judgment, and interpretations. In political scenarios, summit meetings and highly official meetings appearances of officials and politicians are selected with care. The type of dressing, the colors, even the way of walking and sitting conveys impacting messages.

Effect of appearance on Written Messages: an envelope’s size, color, weight and postage say much before you open it. It identifies the type of letter it contains consequently prompting in mind whether it is ‘important’, ‘routine’ or ‘junk’ mail. Express mail, telegrams, Mailgrams and private couriers also impact the type of mail and affect our priorities. Letter, Report or Title Page also communicate non-verbally before its contents are read by the kind of paper used, its length, format, and neatness. Thus, in reviews of books and journals, the type of paper used and the font is also mentioned.

Effect of appearance on Oral Communication: whether the communicator addresses one person as in face-t-face communication or a group of people, appearance as a means of non-verbal communication serves to a great deal.

     • Personal appearance of the communicator: Elements such as physique, height, weight, hair, skin color, gender, odors, and clothing send nonverbal messages during interaction. Research into height has generally found that taller people are perceived as being more impressive. Often people try to make themselves taller in an effort to add impact, for example, standing on a platform, when they want to make more of an impact with their speaking.
           Moreover, dress, hairstyle, neatness, jewelry, cosmetics,    posture and stature add to the appearance. For instance; a uniform as a dress tends to get more attention. A perky hairstyle establishes good impression for the communicator. Inappropriate appearance can cause a barrier in communication.


     • Appearance of surrounding:  Environmental factors such as furniture, architectural style, interior decorating, lighting conditions, colors, temperature, noise, and music affect the behavior of communicators during interaction. The furniture itself can be seen as a nonverbal message. A warm, cozy and beautifully designed room makes communication far more easy as compared to a dirty or haphazard environment. Music and colors add effect to words and noise and clutter show a disturbed set of mind.


Body language:
             Actions speak louder than words. Body language determines a lot during communication. A gesture, a tilt, an eye gaze, a wink, posture, a slight movement of body, a dance move and a signal by hand can mean much more than wordy expressions. So much so that the behavioral scientists insist on giving the body language a proper status and believe that body language too has a grammar.
Aspects of Body Language:
• Facial expressions and eye gaze
• Gesture, Posture and Kinesics
• Smell and Touch

Facial expressions and Eye-gaze: our face speaks with our tongue. Facial expressions play a vital role in determination of likes, dislikes, emotional state, anger, confusion, enthusiasm, fear, surprise and pain. It is quite hard to hide facial expressions. Facial expressions can even narrate the credibility of a person.
         The study of the role of eyes in nonverbal communication is sometimes referred to as "Oculesics". Eye contact can indicate interest, attention, and involvement. Gaze comprises the actions of looking while talking, looking while listening, amount of gaze, and frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and blink rate. Normally, during a conversation, direct eye contact is considered important. If people do not look in the eyes of their communicator, they are considered shy, rude or dishonest. However, people differ so one should take more time before making an opinion about such people.

Gesture, Posture and Kinesics:
         A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling ones' eyes. Gestures can be categorized into five types: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors.
• Emblems are gestures with direct verbal translations, such as a goodbye wave;
• Illustrators are gestures that depict what is said verbally, such as   turning an imaginary steering wheel while talking about driving;
• an Affect display is a gesture that conveys emotions, like a smile;
• Regulators are gestures that control interaction;
• And finally, an Adaptor is a gesture that facilitates the release of bodily tension, such as quickly moving one's leg.
Gestures can be different in different cultures. For instance; a wink in west is an encouraging gesture whereas in eastern cultural it’s taken in a negative sense.
          Next up is Posture. Posture can be used to determine a participant’s degree of attention or involvement, the difference in status between communicators, and the level of fondness a person has for the other communicator. Posture is understood through such indicators as direction of lean, body orientation, arm position, and body openness.
      As for Kinesics; Kinesics is the study of body movements, facial expressions, and gestures. It was developed by anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell in the 1950s. Kinesic behaviors include mutual gaze, smiling, facial warmth or pleasantness, childlike behaviors, direct body orientation, and the like. Birdwhistell proposed the term kineme to describe a minimal unit of visual expression, in analogy to a phoneme which is a minimal unit of sound.

Smell and Touch:  various odors and fragrances convey the emotions of the sender. Artifacts like perfumes and essence oils are used for making the environment pleasant enough for a nose to endure messages. Body odors determine the type of a person. A healthy person’s body odor is more endurable than a slightly corpulent person, consequently affecting the message.
       Body Odor or BO is considered impolite in many cultures. Asians therefore insist on taking regular baths, Parisians however, invented various fragrances. People today have more knowledge about BO so they have invented many artifacts to make themselves amiable to noses as well as eyes. For keeping the environment fragrant, air-fresheners, incense-sticks and essence oils have been invented. Even to sooth tightened nerves, aroma therapies are offered.
           We communicate a great deal through touch. Think about the messages given by the following: a firm handshake, a timid tap on the shoulder, a warm bear hug, a reassuring pat on the back, a patronizing pat on the head, or a controlling grip on your arm can all be examples of nonverbal communication through touch. Touch as a source of non-verbal communication is called Haptics. Basically, Haptics is the study of touching as nonverbal communication.

Silence, time and Space:
        Sometimes, silence says more than words. Often it determines the lack of interest, annoyance and ignoring on the other end. It can be quite confusing at times. Sometimes, it can be a barrier to communication but still it conveys many important messages.
           Time is a very important aspect of non-verbal communication. Its study in non-verbal communication is called Chronemics.  The way we perceive time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for communication. Time perceptions include punctuality and willingness to wait, the speed of speech and how long people are willing to listen. The timing and frequency of an action as well as the tempo and rhythm of communications within an interaction contributes to the interpretation of nonverbal messages. There are two types of attitudes concerned with management of time; monochronic system and polychronic system.
         A monochronic time system means that things are done one at a time and time is segmented into precise, small units. Under this system time is scheduled, arranged and managed. A polychronic time system is a system where several things can be done at once, and a more fluid approach is taken to scheduling time. Unlike Americans and most northern and western European cultures, Latin American and Arabic cultures use the polychronic system of time.
          Personal space is also used as a source of communication. Invading a person’s personal space gives a wrong message and makes the communicators uncomfortable. Using space as a medium of communication is called Proxemics.  Proxemics is the study of how people use and perceive the physical space around the AIDS. The space between the sender and the receiver of a message influences the way the message is interpreted.
The perception and use of space varies significantly across cultures and different settings within cultures. Space in nonverbal communication may be divided into four main categories: intimate, social, personal, and public space. The distance between communicators will also depend on gender, status, and social role.
             The term territoriality is still used in the study of Proxemics to explain human behavior regarding personal space.

1. Primary territory: this refers to an area that is associated with someone who has exclusive use of it. For example, a house that, others cannot enter without the owner’s permission.
2. Secondary territory: unlike the previous type, there is no “right” to occupancy, but people may still feel some degree of ownership of a particular space. For example, someone may sit in the same seat on train every day and feel aggrieved if someone else sits there.
3. Public territory: this refers to an area that is available to all, but only for a set period, such as a parking space or a seat in a library. Although people have only a limited claim over that space, they often exceed that claim. For example, it was found that people take longer to leave a parking space when someone is waiting to take that space.
4. Interaction territory: this is space created by others when they are interacting. For example, when a group is talking to each other on a footpath, others will walk around the group rather than disturb it.
 
Paralanguage:

     Paralanguage (sometimes called vocalics) is the study of nonverbal cues of the voice. Various acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch and accent, collectively known as prosody, can all give off nonverbal cues. Paralanguage may change the meaning of words.
The linguists developed a classification system which consists of the voice set, voice qualities, and vocalization.

• The voice set is the context in which the speaker is speaking. This can include the situation, gender, mood, age and a person's culture.
• The voice qualities are volume, pitch, tempo, rhythm, articulation, resonance, nasality, and accent. They give each individual a unique "voice print".
• Vocalization consists of three subsections: characterizers, qualifiers and segregates. Characterizers are emotions expressed while speaking, such as laughing, crying, and yawning. A voice qualifier is the style of delivering a message - for example, yelling "Hey stop that!", as opposed to whispering "Hey stop that". Vocal segregates such as "uh-huh" notify the speaker that the listener is listening.

      We have seen that there are various types of methods for communication other than words. These mediums however largely depend on the factors like personal perception, country, culture, thinking, social restrictions etc. These mediums of communication are almost instinctual to human communication. We naturally convey through these means. A smart communicator tends to know what part of verbal as well as non-verbal communication would support his message in order to bring the required feed back. This urge to communicate properly has made communication a proper science. Linguists are developing this science day by day.
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