A Basic Overview

Nonverbal communication evolved long before language.

• grunts, , clicks, mouth sounds, vocal inflection

• Earliest languages were the “click” languages

Animals rely on nonverbal communication

• dogs growl, show their teeth• cats purr• horse’s put their ears back

Nonverbal communication is an infant’s first form of communication.

• Infants rely on touch, sound, smell

• “motherese” sing-song pitch variation (vocalics)

In most cases, if you are talking you are aware of it.

People choose their words (though, not always carefully)

Nonverbal is less mindful• blushing, fidgeting

Cussing in words versus sounds

• “Oh s#%*!” vs. “Aaagghhh!”• Swearing actually increases

pain tolerance

nonverbal communication can be highly conscious and strategic

• Food server touch and tip size• Husbands do the dishes as

“foreplay.”• Mirroring behavior in retail sales

People have an innate capacity for language, but it must be learned.

• Feral children• Identical twins

Reading and writing must be taught, learned.

• Complete illiteracy is always just one generation away.

Nonverbal communication is partly learned, partly instinctive

There are some universal nonverbal cues (smiling, laughing, crying)

Nonverbal is the primary channel for communicating emotion.

Nonverbal cues convey the relationship dimension in an interaction

• Content dimension• Relationship dimension

What inferences could you reliably make based on the nonverbal cues of these two people?

Nonverbal behavior is perceived to be more genuine, authentic

• the eyes are the “window to the soul.”

• Bush about Putin, “I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul.”

People presume that nonverbal cues

• are more spontaneous• are less intentional• operate at a lower level

of awareness

Nonverbal primacy• When there is a perceived

conflict between a verbal and nonverbal message, listeners assign more weight to the nonverbal message.

• The majority of the affective (emotional meaning) of a message is conveyed nonverbally.

• The majority of the “relational meaning” of a message is conveyed nonverbally.

• But not always…