"Jerry, the throat clear is a nonverbal communication of doubt.”

~ George Costanza

Nonverbal Communcation

Interviewing  Interpersonal

"This was fun. I'll give you a call," but something tells you she won't.
"I'm not upset!" but something tells you he is.
What messages are telling us the opposite of what is being said?

Noverbal messages made these clear. Recognizing these will make you more observant of others, and yourself.

Nonverbal communications are messages expressed in nonlinguistic means.

NC has communicative value

It conveys information, intentional or not.

Information conveyed via email is sometimes greaer than f2f because some communicators (primarily men) failed to recognize messages.

NC is Primarily Relational

Identity Managememt
We strive to create an image that we want others to have of us.

Defines out relationships.
NC allows us to define the kind of relationsip that we want to have. We shake hands, nod, smile, haug, or avoid all contact. ..

Conveys attitudes and feelings.
We may not be aware of them. We may be unwilling or unable to fully express ourselves.

NC is ambiguous. It is difficult to interpret NV messages. Would you rely completely on NV messages to determine a potential partner's secual attraction?

In a chat room, changing emphasis on certain words, alters a sentences meaning.

I really want to hear from you or I really want to hear from you.

Refraining from using all uppercase letters is well-known in netiquette.

Combining several forms says something in itself.

I *REALLY* WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!

Some emotions are easier to decode such as simple facial expressions"those who are betterr senders of nonverbal messages also are betrer receivers. Decoding ability increases with age and traianing.

That said, several factors influence decoding ability

context (appropropriateness - smiling at a joke or someone's misfortune), fonts sizes, colors, emphasis icons and smilies

history of the relationship (friendly, hostile)

** Nonverbal messages are not facts, they are clues ***

NC is Culture-Bound

Meaning changes between cultures. Comfortable speaking distances change. Even ethnic chat rooms have a different feel to them. Look underASSIGNMENTS in Blackbaord, Ch 5.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Single versus Multiple Channel

Vocal messages reach us in a linear fashion, one at a time. We cannnot speak 3 words at once. Noverbal messages, though, bombard us simultaneously.

Ex) greetings a new student. We hear the greetings words at the same time that we hear facial expressions, posture, gesture, clothes, grammar, distance ...

Discrete versus Continiuous

Conscious versus Unconscious

Interviewing

Nature | Perception  | Languages | Listening | Modalities

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