Functions of Non

Verbal Communication
1. Conveying meanings
2. Expressing Emotions
3. Presenting self
4. Managing interactions
5. Defining relationships
Conveying meanings

• Nonverbal communication conveys meaning by reinforcing, substituting for, or

contradicting verbal communication.
• As we’ve already learned, verbal and nonverbal communication are two parts of the same
system that often work side by side, helping us generate meaning.
• In terms of reinforcing verbal communication, gestures can help describe a space or shape
that another person is unfamiliar with in ways that words alone cannot.
• Nonverbal communication can substitute for verbal communication in a variety of ways.
Nonverbal communication can convey much meaning when verbal communication isn’t
effective because of language barriers.
• Language barriers are present when a person hasn’t yet learned to speak or loses the
ability to speak.
• For example, babies who have not yet developed language skills make facial expressions, at a few
months old, that are similar to those of adults and therefore can generate meaning
• Nonverbal communication is also useful in a quiet situation where verbal communication would be
disturbing; for example, you may use a gesture to signal to a friend that you’re ready to leave the
library.
• Crowded or loud places can also impede verbal communication and lead people to rely more on nonverbal
messages.
• Getting a server or bartender’s attention with a hand gesture is definitely more polite than yelling, “Hey you!”
• Last, nonverbal communication can convey meaning by contradicting verbal communication.
• As we learned earlier, we often perceive nonverbal communication to be more credible than verbal
communication.
• This is especially true when we receive mixed messages, or messages in which verbal and nonverbal
signals contradict each other.
• For example, a person may say, “You can’t do anything right!” in a mean tone but follow that up with
a wink, which could indicate the person is teasing or joking.
• Mixed messages lead to uncertainty and confusion on the part of receivers, which leads us to look for
more information to try to determine which message is more credible.
Expressing Emotions

• You’ve probably heard that more meaning is generated from nonverbal communication than from verbal.
• Some studies have claimed that 90 percent of our meaning is derived from nonverbal signals, but more recent and
reliable findings claim that it is closer to 65 percent
• We may rely more on nonverbal signals in situations where verbal and nonverbal messages conflict and in situations
where emotional or relational communication is taking place
• For example, when someone asks a question and we’re not sure about the “angle” they are taking, we may hone in on nonverbal
cues to fill in the meaning.
• For example, the question “What are you doing in the evening today?” could mean any number of things, but we could rely on
posture, tone of voice, and eye contact to see if the person is just curious, suspicious, or hinting that they would like company for
the evening.
• We also put more weight on nonverbal communication when determining a person’s credibility.
• For example, if a classmate delivers a speech in class and her verbal content seems well-researched and unbiased, but her nonverbal
communication is poor (her voice is monotone, she avoids eye contact, she fidgets), she will likely not be viewed as credible.

• Conversely, in some situations, verbal communication might carry more meaning than nonverbal.
• In interactions where information exchange is the focus, at a briefing at work, for example, verbal communication likely accounts for
much more of the meaning generated.
• Despite this exception, a key principle of nonverbal communication is that it often takes on more meaning in interpersonal and/or
emotional exchanges.
Presenting self

• Nonverbal communication expresses who we are.

• Our identities (the groups to which we belong, our cultures, our hobbies and interests, etc.) are
conveyed nonverbally through the way we set up our living and working spaces, the clothes we wear,
the way we carry ourselves, and the accents and tones of our voices.
• Our physical bodies give others impressions about who we are, and some of these features are more
under our control than others.
• Height, for example, has been shown to influence how people are treated and perceived in various
contexts.
• Our level of attractiveness also influences our identities and how people perceive us.
• Although we can temporarily alter our height or looks—for example, with different shoes or different
color contact lenses—we can only permanently alter these features using more invasive and costly
measures such as cosmetic surgery.
• We have more control over some other aspects of nonverbal communication in terms of how we
communicate our identities.
• For example, the way we carry and present ourselves through posture, eye contact, and tone of voice can be
altered to present ourselves as warm or distant depending on the context.
Managing interactions

• Conversational interaction has been likened to a dance, where each person has to make moves and take
turns without stepping on the other’s toes.
• Nonverbal communication helps us regulate our conversations so we don’t end up constantly
interrupting each other or waiting in awkward silences between speaker turns.
• Pitch, which is a part of vocalics, helps us cue others into our conversational intentions.
• A rising pitch typically indicates a question and a falling pitch indicates the end of a thought or the end
of a conversational turn.
• We can also use a falling pitch to indicate closure, which can be very useful at the end of a speech to
signal to the audience that you are finished, which cues the applause and prevents an awkward silence
that the speaker ends up filling with “That’s it” or “Thank you.”
• We also signal our turn is coming to an end by stopping hand gestures and shifting our eye contact to
the person who we think will speak next
• Conversely, we can “hold the floor” with nonverbal signals even when we’re not exactly sure what we’re
going to say next.
• Repeating a hand gesture or using one or more verbal fillers can extend our turn even though we are not
verbally communicating at the moment.
 Defining relationships
• To successfully relate to other people, we must possess some skill at encoding and decoding nonverbal communication. The nonverbal messages we send and receive
influence our relationships in positive and negative ways and can work to bring people together or push them apart.
• Nonverbal communication in the form of tie signs, immediacy behaviors, and expressions of emotion are just three of many examples that illustrate how nonverbal
communication affects our relationships.

• Tie signs are nonverbal cues that communicate intimacy and signal the connection between two people. These relational indicators can be objects such as wedding rings or
tattoos that are symbolic of another person or the relationship, actions such as sharing the same drinking glass, or touch behaviors such as hand-holding
• Touch behaviors are the most frequently studied tie signs and can communicate much about a relationship based on the area being touched, the length of time, and the
intensity of the touch. Kisses and hugs, for example, are considered tie signs, but a kiss on the cheek is different from a kiss on the lips and a full embrace is different from a
half embrace. If you consider yourself a “people watcher,” take note of the various tie signs you see people use and what they might say about the relationship.

• Immediacy behaviors play a central role in bringing people together and have been identified by some scholars as the most important function of nonverbal communication
• Immediacy behaviors are verbal and nonverbal behaviors that lessen real or perceived physical and psychological distance between communicators and include things like
smiling, nodding, making eye contact, and occasionally engaging in social, polite, or professional touch.

• Immediacy behaviors are a good way of creating rapport, or a friendly and positive connection between people. Skilled nonverbal communicators are more likely to be able
to create rapport with others due to attention-getting expressiveness, warm initial greetings, and an ability to get “in tune” with others, which conveys empathy .These skills
are important to help initiate and maintain relationships.

• While verbal communication is our primary tool for solving problems and providing detailed instructions, nonverbal communication is our primary tool for communicating
emotions. This makes sense when we remember that nonverbal communication emerged before verbal communication and was the channel through which we expressed
anger, fear, and love for thousands of years of human history . Touch and facial expressions are two primary ways we express emotions nonverbally.
• Love is a primary emotion that we express nonverbally and that forms the basis of our close relationships. Although no single facial expression for love has been identified,
it is expressed through prolonged eye contact, close interpersonal distances, increased touch, and increased time spent together, among other things. Given many people’s
limited emotional vocabulary, nonverbal expressions of emotion are central to our relationships.