Verbal and non verbal emotional and conversational messages In your job as a care worker, you will be communicating with a variety of people every day. A lot of this communication will occur face-to-face. For example, you may chat to the residents or clients in your care, or talk to other staff members. Effective face-to-face communication requires good verbal and non-verbal communication skills . Verbal' means 'spoken'. So, verbal communication is the messages you send with words. It's what you actually say.Non-verbal communication is the messages you send with your body. Some people call it your body language. For example:facial expressions - smiling, frowning, raising eyebrows, eye contactgestures - waving your hand, pointing your finger, crossing your armsposture - the way you stand or sit..Non-verbal communication also includes the tone and pitch of your voice. So, verbal communication is the words. But non-verbal communication is how you say the words.Non-verbal communication is an important part of the communication process. Up to two-thirds of the meaning of a message can come from non-verbal communication. So, it's very important that you are aware of it. A facial expression or simple hand gesture can show:how we feelwhat we like or dislikeif we care or not.A number of researchers claim the total impact of our communication breaks down as: 7% verbal the words we use38% vocal the volume, pitch, rhythm, tone of our words 55% body movements our facial expressions, positioning, gesturingSometimes a person's non-verbal communication may not match their verbal communication. For example, a person may be saying nice things, but have crossed arms and a frown on their face. When this happens, the message can be very confusing. Is the person being friendly, or are they a little bit angry? Effective communication occurs when your verbal and non-verbal communication skills send the same message.When we think about communication, we most often focus on how we exchange information using words. While verbal communication is important, humans relied on nonverbal communication for thousands of years before we developed the capability to communicate with words. Nonverbal communication is a process of generating meaning using behavior other than words. Rather than thinking of nonverbal communication as the opposite of or as separate from verbal communication, its more accurate to view them as operating side by sideas part of the same system.Non-verbal Messages Allow People To:Reinforce or modify what is said in words. For example, people may nod their heads vigorously when saying "Yes" to emphasise that they agree with the other person, but a shrug of the shoulders and a sad expression when saying "I'm fine thanks, may imply that things are not really fine at all!Interpersonal communication is further complicated in that it is usually not possible to interpret a gesture or expression accurately on its own. Non-verbal communication consists of a complete package of expressions, hand and eye movements, postures, and gestures which should be interpreted along with speech (verbal communication).

Emotionsare physiological, behavioral, and/or communicative reactions to stimuli that are cognitively processed and experienced as emotional.Sally Planlap, Julie Fitness, and Beverly Fehr, Emotion in Theories of Close Relationships, inThe Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships, eds. Anita L. Vangelisti and Daniel Perlman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 36984.Secondary emotions are not as innate as primary emotions, and they do not have a corresponding facial expression that makes them universally recognizable. Secondary emotions are processed by a different part of the brain that requires higher order thinking; therefore, they are not reflexive. Secondary emotions are love, guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, envy, and jealousy.Dylan Evans, Emotion: The Science of Sentiment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 2730. Human beings grouping together and creating interpersonal bonds was a key element in the continuation and success of our species, and the ability to express emotions played a role in this success. Emotion sharing involves communicating the circumstances, thoughts, and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Emotion sharing usually starts immediately following an emotional episode. The intensity of the emotional event corresponds with the frequency and length of the sharing, with high-intensity events being told more often and over a longer period of time. In order to verbally express our emotions, it is important that we develop an emotional vocabulary. The more specific we can be when we are verbally communicating our emotions, the less ambiguous they will be for the person decoding our message. As we expand our emotional vocabulary, we are able to convey the intensity of the emotion were feeling whether it is mild, moderate, or intense. For example, happy is mild, delighted is moderate, and ecstatic is intense, and ignored is mild, rejected is moderate, and abandoned is intense.Owen Hargie, Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research, Theory, and Practice (London: Routledge, 2011), 166

Consequences of cultural miss understanding Communication is the most important way to stay ahead in the world. However, communication can be difficult sometimes. There are many reasons for this, one of which is cultural differences. Stella Ting-Toomey, a communication specialist, has identified three cultural barriers that impede effective communication. Knowing these barriers can help you avoid them.One of the most common barriers to communication is cognitive constraint. Cognitive constraints are the way people view the world based on their cultureBehavioral constraints are another barrier to effective communication. Behavior constraints are the ways people behave from different cultures. he final cultural barrier that blocks effective communication is emotional constraints. Each culture has rules that tell us how emotional we can be in a situationCross-cultural communication is a valuable but difficult skill. The most obvious barrier is language, but verbal communication is only a small part of how we convey information. The hardest things to adapt when communicating in a culturally diverse situation are the values associated with culture. You can easily change your posture or stop using slang, but you cant change your core values, or expect others to change theirs. Misunderstandings occur in all communication, even between people from the same cultural and linguistic background. We cannot expect to get it right all of the time.What is important is that we know how to respond when a misunderstanding occurs and that we learn from our mistakes.By the end of this topic you will be able to identify cross-cultural misunderstandings and perform the steps involved in resolving such misunderstandings.The obvious way we communicate is by using words. However, as we have seen, we also use non-verbal communication: our tone of voice, body language, gestures, posture and facial expressions all impact on communication.Often people think that the use of gestures and facial expressions will be sufficient to convey an accurate message, without regard for the different rules of non-verbal communication which may apply in the other persons culture.However, just as verbal communication rules differ across cultures, so too do the rules of non-verbal communication. These rules are specific to each culture and are largely taken for granted. We respond to these rules without being aware of them.Therefore it is important to be aware that our own non-verbal communication might be insulting to others. For example, in some cultures, maintaining constant eye contact while talking is interpreted as disrespectful. This is true for Aboriginal cultures.The first step in developing skills to communicate with people from other cultures is to develop an appreciation of the rules of communication in our own culture. Similarly, an awareness of the most common barriers to effective cross-cultural communication is the first step to overcoming them. It also means that we will not be less likely to judge a person from another culture by our own cultural values.When we are learning a new language, we need to learn the language as well as have an awareness of the culture. It is important of will have to learn new meanings and new ways of behaving.Having a poor understanding of the influence of cross cultural differences in areas such as management, PR, advertising and negotiations can eventually lead to blunders that can have damaging consequences.

It is crucial for today's business personnel to understand the impact of cross cultural differences on business, trade and internal company organisation. The success or failure of a company, venture, merger or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not cross culturally aware then misunderstandings, offence and a break down in communication can occur.When you work with people from culturally diverse backgrounds, it is often the difference in cultural values that causes misunderstandings and possibly conflict. You may misunderstand the other person and react in ways that can hinder the development of trusting, supportive and helpful relationships.The best way to work with different cultures is to be aware that cultural diversity exists and to talk about the differences.You need to remember two things concerning cultural diversity:It can be difficult to address cultural differences without resorting to stereotypes. Stereotypes should not exist, as no person is exactly like another person and no individual is a clone of another member of a group.As diversity in an organisation grows, so does the complexity of communication and the necessity to make greater effort in developing improved communication skills.Diversity can create opportunities for character development by teaching tolerance and respect and encouraging concern for equity for people from culturally diverse backgrounds. (Smith, Miller, Archer & Hague 2002)http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/nonverbal-communication.html#ixzz3KJ9eDPfI

http://www.ehow.com/info_8150997_communication-barriers-due-cultural-diversity.htmlhttp://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s03-04-language-society-and-culture.htmlhttp://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MCS/9362/Sterilisation%20disk%203/lo/7374/7374_00.htm