Means of Non-verbal communication

a. the more and better space you will have,

b. the better protected your territory will be, and

c. the easier it will be to invade the territory of lower-status personnel

The impact of use of space on the communication process is related directly to the environment in which the space is maintained.

3.5 Environment

How do you arrange the objects in your environment - the desks, chairs, tables, and bookcases? The design of your office, according to researchers, can greatly affect the communications within it. Some managers divide their offices into personal and impersonal areas. This can improve the communication process if the areas are used for the purposes intended.

Your pecking-order in the organization is frequently determined by such things as the size of your desk, square feet in your office, number of windows in the office, quality of the carpet, and type of paintings (originals or copies) on the wall.

It is obvious that your personal space and environment affect the level of your comfort and your status and facilitate or hinder the communication process.

3.6 Paralanguage

Is the content of your message contradicted by the attitude with which you are communicating it? Researchers have found that the tone, pitch, quality of voice, and rate of speaking convey emotions that can be accurately judged regardless of the content of the message. The important thing to gain from this is that the voice is important, not just as the conveyor of the message, but as a complement to the message. As a communicator you should be sensitive to the influence of tone, pitch, and quality of your voice on the interpretation of your message by the receiver.

3.7 Silence and Time

Silence can be a positive or negative influence in the communications process. It can provide a link between messages or sever relationships. It can create tension and uneasiness or create a peaceful situation. Silence can also be judgmental by indicating favor or disfavor - agreement or disagreement.

For example, suppose a manager finds a couple of his staff members resting.

If he believes these staff members are basically lazy, the idleness conveys to him that they are "goofing off" and should be given additional assignments.

If he believes these staff members are self-motivated and good workers, the idleness conveys to him that they are taking a well-deserved "break."

If he is personally insecure, the idleness conveys to him that they are threatening his authority.

Time can be an indicator of status. How long will you give the staff member who wishes to speak to you? How long will you make him wait to see you? Do you maintain a schedule? Is your schedule such that your subordinates must arrange their schedules to suit yours? In a healthy organization, the manager and his subordinates use time to communicate their mutual respect to each other. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

4. Fact or speculations about non-verbal communication

Communication can be defined as a transfer or exchange of information between entities. Communication is one of the basic needs of human existence. Sense deprivation experiments have shown that a person totally cut off from communication of any sort may go mad fast.

As soon as the word "communication" is mentioned, we immediately think of telephones, radios, television, comsats, books—in short, all the devices related to verbal communication.

Verbal communication requires a language. Language, defined in terms of semantics, is a group of labels used to represent approximations of space-time events and abstractions. The labels can be conveyed from one entity to another by different means including vocalization, writing, etc.

Is verbal communication the only means of communication available to us? In fact, considering the importance of communication to us, would it be fair to be gifted with only a single method of communication? In view of the above given definition of verbal communication, non-verbal communication would include any communication which is independent of a formal language, communication whereby ideas and concepts can be expressed without the use of coherent labels.

Do we have means of non-verbal communication versatile enough to qualify under the above definition?

The answer is of course a resounding "yes." Generations and generations of prehistoric tribes made do with non-verbal means of communication—animal-like guttural sounds, gestures, drawings—to fulfill their requirements before they latched on to a language. 

Let us look carefully around and we are sure to be surprised at the number of non-verbal communication methods at our disposal today. Regardless of the means of non-verbal communication, it will have to be related to the senses of the communicators. After all, it is the senses that can receive information.

Humans are generally thought to have five senses. Then there is the debatable sixth sense. Communication for us can be related to any of these senses.

Non-verbal communication related to the sense of sight involves motion, colour and shape. In nature, there are numerous examples of this kind of communication. Let us begin with motion. The dance of the honey bees is the most obvious example. A worker bee makes intricate motions with its body and these motions are seen and accurately interpreted by other worker bees. The dance of the bees is normally used to convey information to other bees about the location of a source of nectar, its direction and its distance (Frisch, 1967).

Squids and octopuses are known to use bioluminescence and colour signals for communication (Moynihan, 1985). Pyrotechnical communication of the squids is particularly fascinating. Their pigment cells (or chromatophores) are connected with their central nervous system by muscle fibres. Their control over the range and rate of change of colours is astounding and the display that results is said to be one of the most beautiful sights of the ocean deeps. A squid can also focus and beam lights of any colour in any direction it chooses. Luciferin is the chemical that produces bioluminescence in squids, but the actual mechanism is not completely known even now.

What about us? Can we use similar means of communicating? We can and we do. What are artists doing if they are not trying to communicate their thoughts, feelings and ideas using colours and/or shapes?

As stated earlier, ancient man used pictures for communicating. Quite fascinating prehistoric cave drawings, dating back some 20,000 years, have been discovered in the Franco-Cantabrian region (South-western France and Northern Spain). The usage of drawings must have later developed into hieroglyphs or picture writing. Of the hieroglyphs discovered, the oldest are from Egypt (c. 3100 B.C.) and the latest, dated in the fourth century, come from the island of Philae. Picture writings have also been used by the ancient Cretans and Hittites.

Humans have other means of visual communications such as facial expressions and gestures. Facial expressions, like a frown or a smile, are effectively used by us on various occasions to communicate our meaning. A dancer uses gestures to communicate with spectators. So does a mime artist. Gestures can be both unambiguous and ambiguous. If somebody pointed to a jug of water and then at their mouth, this would be an example of an unambiguous gesture. It would be obvious to another person that the first person was requesting a drink. There is hardly any chance of misinterpretation here. On the other hand, there are gestures that have different meanings under different circumstances.  Their meaning depends upon various factors: cultural, geographical, social, etc. 

In India, Australia and many parts of the Western world, if you nod by moving your head up and down, it means "yes." The same gesture in Kuwait would mean the exact opposite, "no." In the Indian sub-continent, a woman sometimes uses the gesture of touching her forefinger to her nose to express astonishment. In the Middle East, the same gesture means "at your service" and can be employed by either sex but is used predominantly by men. In Iran, the gesture that means "at your service" is to put the palm of one's right hand over one's right eye. The use of gestures taken to a high point has resulted in the formulation of sophisticated sign languages such as AMSLAN, which is used by deaf-mute persons.

In our everyday life we quite frequently use a combination of words and gestures to express our full meaning. Calling someone an idiot with an accompanying smile is different from saying it without a smile.

A means of unconscious non-verbal communication is what is termed body language, or kinesics, to use the scientific term. Our body sometimes expresses our feelings and emotions better than words can. The body uses reflexive and non-reflexive movement, postures and positions to convey its message to anyone who would care to receive it. Our pupils dilate when we are excited. Our eyes narrow when we are concentrating. We slump when we are tired.

Julius Fast, in his famous book Body Language (1984), writes that body language is subject to cultural and environmental influences. A person familiar with the body language of, say, North America, may easily misinterpret the intentions of another person from, say, Spain. For example, a Spanish girl, secure in the knowledge of the strict code of behavior governing her culture, may flaunt her sexuality without meaning it as a come-on for the males. According to Julius Fast, the same behavior in an American girl would be interpreted as a pre-mating ritual and in statistically significant number of cases, the interpretation would be correct.

Studies have shown the possibility that some components of body language may be universal and independent of culture, sex or environment. However, the classification of body language into culture dependent/independent components is still in its budding stages.

Of our senses, the sense of hearing is basically related to verbal communication but of course can be used for non-verbal communication too. It has been experimentally shown that feelings of calmness, lethargy, anger, depression, cheerfulness and so forth can be communicated through the use of rhythmic sounds. Sound therapy is being used to cure depression (Cassileth, 1999).

Communication can be related to the olfactory senses too. Substances known as pheromones are used by certain insects and animals to communicate their sexual desire to the opposite sex. Pheromones are also used to convey anger, fear, threat, danger, etc. Pheromones are used by humans too, though unconsciously and to a very small degree when compared to their use in animals (Kohl et al, 2001).

The sense of touch is a powerful form of communication. A kiss, a handshake, a hug or even a simple pat on the back can communicate more effectively than a dozen spoken words. Some people even claim to be able to hold another person's hand and divine their thoughts by the varying tensions of their muscles.

I don't believe I have come across any example in nature of communication through the sense of taste, but that doesn't mean it is not possible.

Telepathy is one of the most talked about possibilities of communication without words. Telepathy is related to the elusive sixth sense. Speculations about the existence of telepathy came to prominence in the early 20th century with the controversial works of Joseph B. Rhines and other psychologists at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands (Rhines, 1937). 

The future might bring other novel modes of communication. One such mode is already in the offing. It involves what can be termed as brain waves. It is experimentally known that all mental processes, both in humans and animals, are accompanied by the production of a complex pattern of minute electric currents (Brazier, 1961). Each mental process is associated with its own individual pattern of electric fluctuation. Experimenters have been able to record them. It was also discovered that by relaying back these electric currents, it is possible to recreate in the mind of the recipient the mental process associated with a particular set of patterns (Delgado, 1967). The effectiveness of this method has been spectacularly demonstrated by Dr. Jose Delgado who, using equipment to relay minute electric currents, was able to control a bull charging at him in the ring (Clarke, 1979). This method, when developed for human use, could be called artificial telepathy and it would come under the heading of extra-lingual transfer of information between entities and so could be classified as a means of non-verbal communication.

At present, perhaps some of these means of communication do not consciously play an important part in human life. That, however, does not stop writers from speculating about highly imaginative communication channels.

In the novel Ox Piers Anthony (1976) uses the pattern generating rules of the game called "Life" to portray communication through the use of patterns. In his novel The Jupiter Theft Donald Moffitt (1977) has created aliens who communicate solely by smells.

There are numerous science fiction novels and stories that handle the theme of telepathy but probably the most outstanding are Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man (1978) and John Brunner's The Whole Man (1973). The Demolished Man presents a scenario where each and every member of the society is a telepath. On the other hand, The Whole Man shows the problems of isolated telepaths in a society of normal humans.

Arthur C. Clarke has speculated about electrical discharges of the brain in his novels The Deep Range (1968) and Dolphin Island (1971) where he talks about communication between humans and sea creatures.

In addition to distinctly verbal or non-verbal communication among humans, there are areas where the verbal and non-verbal means of communication overlap. Poetry is one such area. A good poet uses words not only for their meaning, i.e. as a means of verbal communication, but also uses words for their sound, for the various rhythms that these sounds can produce, for images that these sounds can evoke in the mind. The form of a poem is as much an integral part of the poem as its substance.

Another, simpler, example where verbal and non-verbal means of communication overlap is the graphic story, the comic book, where words and pictures blend harmoniously to convey information (McLeod, 1999).

The means of communication discussed so far are related to the external senses that we use to communicate with others. But we have other, internal senses which we use to communicate with ourselves. No, I am not venturing into the realms of metaphysics. My feet are still firmly planted on the turf of science.

Let me ask a question: when we are hungry, how do we know it? The answer is simple: the sensation of hunger originating somewhere within you is communicated to your consciousness. This is self-communication. How do we make the different parts of our body move at our will? Self-communication, of course.

Ask a biologist, a physiologist, a neurologist, a psychologist, even a philosopher, and each one of them will give you many examples of self-communication, all of them non-verbal.

Communication, whether it is with others or with self, is a very important aspect of sentient life, and its breakdown would prove to be quite drastic. One of the shortest horror stories of the world goes like this: One day, tired of calling others on my phone, I tried to call myself. The line was busy. I am still trying.

In conclusion, non-verbal communication is more prevalent than we realise. Reviewing all the data available about non-verbal communication, it should be clear to us that some means of non-verbal communication are already used by us, some means we can adapt and some we can develop, like the above mentioned brain wave experiments. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5. Conclusion

Non-verbal communication is not only crucial in a plain daily communication situation but also for the interpreter. Non-verbal communication can take various forms, each of which illustrates or replaces a certain part of the verbal communication. It includes many more elements than one might think at first.

When interpreters are in a working situation where the audience will not see them, non-verbal communication can represent a problem. The audience might even be tempted to believe that the interpreters have not done a good job.

In order to be able to work properly, interpreters need to make sense of non-verbal cues. This is only possible because a special part of our brain deals with the emotional part of the message. Not only intelligence but also emotional intelligence is needed for interpreting non-verbal elements.

Whether non-verbal communication supports the interpreters in their task or presents a difficulty, it will always play an important role. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Resume

Невербальна комунікація  грає велику роль в нашому житті. Нею  розмовляють всі народи світу, хоча багато хто не звертає на це уваги. В кожному народі певний жест інтерпретується  по-своєму. У курсовій роботі ми маємо  на меті висвітлити загальні методи вираження  невербальної комунікації, визначити  загальні риси та показати актуальність розуміння мови жестів.

Тема невербальної комунікації має багато аспектів, але ми намагалися визначити загальні риси мови жестів. Дослідити зв’язок мови жестів із вербальною комунікацією, розглянути аспекти відповідності різних типів невербальної комунікації з відчуттями та органами тіла.

Загалом невербальна комунікація має великий вплив на спілкування між людьми і близько 75% інформації ми отримуємо саме через невербальні засоби спілкування. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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4. Brunner, J 1973, The Whole Man, Ballantine.
5. Cassileth, BR 1999, The Alternative Medicine Handbook. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
6. Clarke, AC 1968, The Deep Range, Pan.
7. Clarke, AC 1971, Dolphin Island, Berkley.
8. Clarke, AC 1979, Tales From the White Hart, Del Rey Books.
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14. Moffitt, D 1977, Jupiter Theft, Ballantine.
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17. Argyle, Michael. (1988). Bodily Communication (2nd ed.) Madison: International Universities Press. 
18. Bull, Peter E. (1987). Posture and Gesture (Vol. 16). Oxford: Pergamon Press. 
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