cursul 5- the silent speech on politicians _nonverbal communication

Lecture 4 – Teaching note Lecturer Marina Militaru, Phd

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NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

THE SILENT SPEECH OF POLITICIANS

1. Definition:

Nonverbal communications (NVC) is usually understood as the process of communication

through sending and receiving wordless messages. i.e, language is not one source of

communication, there are other means also. NVC can be communicated through gestures and

touch (haptic communication), by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye

contact.1

In 1971 Albert Mehrabian found that the nonverbal aspects are a significant part of the

communication process. According to him in any face-to-face communication we pay

attention to 3 elements- the 3 Vs- Verbal, Vocal, Visual.

� the "7%-38%-55% Rule“

a. words= 7% (that means only 7% of the message we want to convey is

done verbally via words)

b. tone of voice = 38%

c. body language= 55% (i.e. facial attitude communication)

All 3 elements must be congruent, otherwise the message receiver will be irritated by the

incongruent messages he receives.

Eg. Verbal: "I do not have a problem with you!"

Non-Verbal: person avoids eye-contact, looks anxious, has a closed body

language, etc.

In the above situation it is very likely that the receiver will trust the nonverbal more, rather

than the literal meaning of the words.

Many scientist have criticized the 7-38-55 ratio (Mehrabian’s experiment relates only to the

communication of positive versus negative emotions. In addition, it also relates only to


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women, as men did not participate in the study.). Mehrabian clarifies the misunderstanding

explaining that the ration should not be applied to any communication situation: ““Please

note that this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal

messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and

attitudes (i.e., like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or

attitudes, these equations are not applicable.”

2. Functions of nonverbal communication

Argyle (1988)2 concluded there are five primary functions of nonverbal bodily behavior in

human communication:

a) Express emotions

b) Express interpersonal attitudes

c) To accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers and

listeners

d) Self-presentation of one’s personality

e) Rituals (greetings)

When communicating, nonverbal messages can interact with the verbal messages in 6 ways:

1. “Repeating” – Gestures or body language that support a statement.

(eg. pointing to the object of discussion)

2. “Conflicting” – Body language that contradicts what the speaker is saying.

(eg.smiling while making a critical statement)

3. “Complementing” – Genuine behavior that reinforces the spoken word.

(eg. when a person illustrates a physical items by using the hand to

show how big or small it is.)

4. “Substituting” – Nonverbal behavior that someone uses in place of words.

(e.g. thumb up- for OK/Great job!)

5. “Accenting” – Body language used to emphasize a point of view.

(eg. movements of the head and hand are frequently used to

underline/accent the verbal message)


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6. “Regulating” – Nonverbal communication that punctuates or paces a conversation.

Nonverbal behaviors are also used to regulate the communicative flow between the

interactants. (eg turn-talking regulations)

Nonverbal communication must not be given a secondary place, as an auxiliary element of

the verbal communication, even if sometimes it is done independently.

Nonverbal communication transmits information, manages the interaction, is actively

involved in the production and processing of messages. It is also used to express and control

emotions, and contributes to the management of impression.

3. Gesture in speech

Everyday language reflects this reality: the study of gesture in speech (eg. expressions such

as: “speaking hands”, etc.)

If we follow the daily lives of people’s hands while talking, we will notice that they often use

gestures to draw the illustrative form of the physical object to which they relate to. One

interesting thing about these gestures is that they tend to occur before the individual says

something about the object.1

This anticipatory property of gestures shows that our thoughts can influence our actions

before we manage to put them into words - or, more controversially, that our gestures may

actually shape what we think and say.

Gestures that people make when they speak have an important role in communication

because they provide information to the co-participants about the semantic content of

verbal messages (Kendon, 1994, 192).

Gesture facilitates the communication process.

1 The hand, which is a support set, moves “before” the language/words, expressing thoughts quicklier by

gestures. It often provides indications of our intentions and sends a large part of the message before our words,

which accompany or follow it.(P. Collett, 2005)


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4. Classification of gestures

Paul Ekman şi Wallace V. Friesen (1969, "The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior:

Categories, Origins, Usage, and Coding") developed a classification system identifying five

types of hand movements which have communication functions.

1. EMBLEMS

− are gestures with a specific meaning, being used as substitutes for words

− their meaning is known by most people (also called "symbolic gestures"), therefore

they are used intentionally & consciously

− politicians who use such gestures have full control over them as emblems are less

dependent on context. Emblems are used more frequently where speech

communication is not possible because of noise or distance barriers encountered by

individuals.

− are pictorial images of concepts such as: "OK" and "Victory."

Every culture has a set of emblems considered conventionalized signs. Here are some

examples3:


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2. ILLUSTRATORS

− are nonverbal acts that are directly linked with words, or accompany speech and serve

to illustrate what is being said verbally.

− These may be movements that emphasize words or ideas, sketch a path of thought,

point to present objects, depict a spatial relationship, depict the rhythm or pacing of

an event, draw a picture of the referent, or depict a bodily action.

− help the speaker accelerate the flow of his ideas

− some of them are innate gestual reactions and, therefore, universal. People are partly

aware of illustrators as they seem to be natural.

− are not used independently of the verbal language, being thus seen as "joining

elements". They are useful because they add details to the mental image a person is

trying to convey. We would expect people who are excited and enthusiastic to display

more illustrators than those who are not & also people facing difficult communication

situations (eg. not being able to find the right words to express a thought).

− The timing of iconic gestures in synchronization with speech can show you whether

they are unconscious or are being deliberately added for conscious effect.2

− Are usually gestures that tell the story, that reveal and perhaps shape the speaker;s

thoughts.

2 In an unconscious usage, the preparation for the gesture will start before the words are said, whilst in

conscious usage there is a small lag between words and gesture (which can make the speaker appear

manipulative).


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Paul Ekman şi Wallace V. Friesen (1972) identified 8 types of hand illustrators:

1. Batons: hand vertical movements, usually repeated, that stresses a particular word

or sentence;

"... It's not the power of the Minister of Defense. The power to propose sending troops in Iraq belongs to

the Prime Minister and not to the Defense Minister ...”

- also known as „beat gestures”: the hand moves along the rhythmical pulsation of

speech. Beat gestures assumes the same form regardless of content.

- By putting stress on a word, beat gesures index that word as significant, not for its

content , but for its role in the discourse. (McNeill, 1992)

- in general, batons are considered signs of aggression and desire for domination.

2. Ideographs: movements which sketch the path or movements of thoughts (indicate

direction of thought)

- in both examples Basescu and Tariceanu are ticking off point to be followed. This

finger listing, which aims to conduct a logical argumentation, is doubled by the verbal

message.


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3. Deicitc movements: pointing to an object, place or event from the real world

- Basescu’s index finger, gently curved, points to the unseen referent from the real

world: the public opinion.

4. Spatial movements: movements which depict a spatial relationship

Romania will participate to actions only if they are under UN auspices (Fig 8), EU (Fig 9) or

NATO (Fig 10)."

- In the above pictures we see three different movements of the hand according to the

enumeration in the verbal message.

5. Underliners: movements which emphasise a particular word or phrase in a speech

or message.


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- the index finger held up and still stands for attention. Simbolically it looks loke an arrow

launched on a target, defining it precisely.

6. Kinetographs: show the movement of a person or object

Fig.11 & 12. So he…the Defense Minister is obliged to inform the country's Supreme Defense

Council what is the Romania’s capacity… He is not required/asked to opiniate if we should or

not remain in Iraq.

- in the above example, Basescu’s hands are initially oriented towards his own person, then

outside his body to suggest the movement of Romanian troops on Iraqi territory.

7. Pictographs: movements which draw the shape of a picture/object in the air

Fig.13, 14. "Romanian troops are allowed to do mining only in areas where they

operate.”

- Basescu’s hands take the form of the object presented, in this case the space that it delimits.

- are very spontaneous gestures that literally shape a picture for the listeners. Like many other

forms of body language they supplement verbal messages increasing accuracy and adding

extra information.

8. Emblematic movements: emblems used to illustrate a verbal statement, either repeating

or substituting for a word or phrase. (eg. V sign- is an emblem as long as it’s not pronounced,

just shown. If the sign is dispayed and the victory word is uttered, then we have an

emblematic illustrator).


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The eight illustrators are not mutually exclusive.

3. AFFECT DISPAYS

The communication of affect dispays or emotions is much more closely linked with

facial expressions than with bodily cues. Although the face is the primary source of affect,

the body can also be read for global judgements of affects; for example, a drooping, sad

body.

- affect dispalys are used with less awareness and intentionality than emblems or

illustrators. As a result, they are apt to provide some personal information about

the communicator who otherwise will be reluctant to disclose it voluntarily.

- Affect displays can repeat, augument, contradict, or be unrelated to verbal

affective statements.

- They are often not intended to communicate, but they can be intentional.

- They show what emotions the communicatior is experiencing. In addition, for a

proper decoding, the receiver relies on bodily cues to determine the intensity of

the emotion being experienced.


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4. REGULATORS

- are bodily cues used by interactants to exercise a mutual influence over the initiation,

length, and termination of spoken messages.

They tell the speaker to continue, repeat, elaborate, hurry up, give the other the

chance to talk, become more interesting and so forth. Some of the greetings and goodbyes

may be regulators to the extent that they indicate the initiation or termination of face-to-face

communication.

In recent years the various nonverbal behaviours associated with turn-talking are the

regulators. Ekman and Friesen (1969), Knapp (1978), Collett (2005) etc have developed a

particularly useful classification of turn-taking behaviour:

1. turn avoiding: We demonstrate we don’t want to take over the role of speaker and

that we are happy to remainn in the listening role. Consequently we produce:

a. attentiveness display:

� Maintain a relaxed listening pose

� Maintain silence

� Agreement smiles

� Widen your eyes

� Nodding or shaking the head

b. unintention dispays (actions that hinder your ability to speak):

� Folding your arms

� Pressing your lips together

� Pressing a hand or a finger over your mouth

� No visual contact / gaze or stare at something in the surrounding environment

2. turn taking or requesting: When we don’t have the floor and we want to talk we

exhibit one or more of the following intention dispay, that are preparatory movements for

speaking, which discourages the speaker from continuing:

� Upraised index finger (symbolizes an instrument for creating a conversational

„hole” in the speaker’s stream of words) or a raised hand.

� Leaning forward; invading one’s private space; touching his hand


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� Raise the volume of your voice

� Rapid head nods accompanied by verbalization of pseudoagreements („yeah”,

„mm-hmm”). Rapid head-nodding towards the end of a conversation serves to

reinforce the speaker for what he or she is saying, but it is rather empty

reinforcement since it also signals a desire to terminate the conversation.

3. turn yielding: means you are giving up your turn and you expect the ohter person

to star talking. The signals are sent BEFORE the end of the turn.

- termination of one’s utterance can be communicated with kinesic markers such as:

� Dropping your pitch level (clear indication you expect your partner to

respond), a slowed tempo, am extended unfilled pause

� body movements that have accompanied the speech, may be terminated. Also,

illustrative gestures come to rest.( the body becomes relaxed)

� gazing at the other person will also help to signal the end of your utterance.

� Raising and holding the eyebrows in expectation.

4. turn-holding or maintaining: in order to hold the floor, the speaker must give the

impression he has a lot more to say.

� Voice loudness will be increased

� Animated/excited gesticulation

� Frequency and duration of silent paused will be decreased.

� A light touch of the other person by the speaker, which seems to say, „hold on

a little bit longer” or raise your hand and freeze it in mid-air

� Start enumerating a series of points, each finger shows where you are in your

list (i.e ideographs)

5. ADAPTORS

- are a potential rich source of involuntary information about the psychological states of

individuals who exhibit them (i.e. an individual’s attitude, level of anxiety and self-

confidence)

- a person manipulates an object in order to release tension.


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There are 3 categories of adaptors:

1. self-adaptors: movements that people direct towards themselves or their bodies

� Holding, rubbing, squeezing, scratching, biting finger-nails, sucking a thumb,

adjusting a collar, tapping a foot, etc. These self-adaptors will often increase

as a person’s anxiety level increases.

2. alter-directed adaptors: the same movement of the body but directed to the bodies

of others

3. object- adaptors: the movement of objects

� playing with glasses/keys/lighter; twisting the ring on one’s finger

Peter Collett (2005) identifies 5 main “protective adaptors”: eye-cover, mouth-cover, face-

cover, head-clasping and the ‘cradle’.

Non-verbal communication includes all types of physical behavior that supports or

replaces verbal communication. These behaviors include gestures, eye movement or eye

contact, moans and grunts, touching, the moving toward or away of parts of the body from

others, changes in facial expressions, physical proximity and more. The role of non-verbal

communication, mainly in the political field, is to inform the electorate of the unstated

attitude or emotional content of the politicians.

EXAM QUESTIONS:

1. Nonverbal communication. Definition & functions.

2. Gesture classification. Description.


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1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_communication

2 Argyle, Michael. (1988). Bodily Communication (2nd ed.) Madison: International Universities Press.

3 From: The definitive book of body language, by Allan & Barbara Pease, 2004

cursul 5- the silent speech on politicians _nonverbal communication

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