5.2: Definitions

The Importance of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in our daily interactions with others. As you can see in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\), there is a lot of nonverbal expression on a baby’s face. How directly or indirectly we look at someone communicates a message. Speaking loudly or softly can change the meaning of a phrase. A touch may send a comforting message, make a connection with someone, or even serve as a display of power. Smells may remind us of a favorite holiday (such as the smell of vanilla) or encourage us to relax (such as the smell of lavender). Even taste might communicate a message. For example, a root beer float on a hot, sunny day could bring back good memories of childhood.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Baby displaying a facial expression of unhappiness by Ryan Franco on Unsplash.

Nonverbals [sic] is everything that communicates but is not a word. This beautiful theater, it's communicating to us. How you sit is communicating to us. The things that you attach to yourself—a purse, a pen, a fancy car—all these things are communicating. How you look at others communicates. And all day long, we are communicating nonverbally. All day long. (TED, 2020)

This excerpt is from the transcript for the TEDxManchester talk titled “The Power of Nonverbal Communication,” delivered by Joe Navarro. Who is Navarro and why consider what he has to say about nonverbal communication? Navarro has spent his career using and sharing his knowledge of nonverbal communication:

For 25 years, Joe used nonverbal communication as his primary professional tool in the FBI to catch and interview spies, criminals, and terrorists. Since leaving the FBI his life’s work has been in building awareness about the power of nonverbal communication, debunking myths and falsehoods about nonverbals and giving people insight in how to better utilize nonverbals to enhance their communication skills. (TED, 2020)

It’s just not professionals working for the FBI who care about nonverbal communication. A search of TED Talks on the topic of nonverbal communication came up with a list of 11 videos. Two of the top 25 TED Talks are focused on nonverbal communication: “Your body language may shape who you are” and “How to spot a liar.” 

So what is nonverbal communication? Why is it such a popular topic?

Defining Nonverbal Communication

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology (n.d.), nonverbal communication is “the act of conveying information without the use of words. Nonverbal communication occurs through facial expressions, gestures, body language, tone of voice, and other physical indications of mood, attitude, approbation, and so forth, some of which may require knowledge of the culture or subculture to understand.” That definition covers a lot of factors!

Many scholars use the term nonverbal communication to designate those communication cues that express ideas and the meanings of our words (our “verbal communication”). Matsumoto et. al (2012) define “nonverbal communication as the transfer and exchange of messages in any and all modalities that do not involve words.” Hall and Knapp (2013) identify “all potentially informative behaviors that are not purely linguistic in content” as nonverbal cues.”

When we introduce nonverbal communication in our Communication courses, we make the distinction between verbal communication (the words) and nonverbal communication (everything else!). That even includes how we say the words. We will discuss this in more detail later on in the chapter, but here is an example for you to think about:

I see that you have a new backpack. I say “Wow, that’s a great backpack.” I could say this in a positive way with my facial expression and my voice. I could say the same words with a “skeptical” look on my face in a sarcastic tone of voice. I am using the same set of words, but, with a different nonverbal delivery of those words, I am sending you a different message.

For the purposes of this textbook, we define nonverbal communication as everything that conveys meaning beyond the words themselves. Nonverbal communication includes the use of all five senses—seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling—in creating meaning by the speaker/writer and how that meaning is interpreted by the listener/reader.

Many of these nonverbal cues may be visible or auditory. According to Hall and Knapp (2013):

Visible nonverbal cues include facial expressions, head movements, posture, body and hand movements, self and other-touching, leg positions and movements, interpersonal gaze, directness of interpersonal orientation, interpersonal distance, and synchrony or mimicry between people. Auditory nonverbal cues include discrete nonlinguistic vocal sounds (e.g., sighs) as well as qualities of the voice such as pitch and pitch variation, loudness, speed and speed variation, and tonal qualities. This list does not exhaust the many kinds of nonverbal communication that are present in the human behavioral repertoire.

As stated earlier, even how we say words—vocally or in print—communicate nonverbal messages. For example, we could say something in a way that shows respect, or we could say the same thing in a disconfirming or even angry tone of voice. We could also do this in print by the USE OF CAPITALS, which suggest that we are shouting at you. We will talk more about this later on in the chapter.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Emoji thinking by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) shows an emoji “thinking” by a hand is placed on the chin while the eyebrows are pointing down. We can look at this image and interpret those nonverbal cues as communicating that little yellow face as “deep in thought.” So much of our communication is now “computer-mediated communication.” We are all familiar with the use of :-) (smiley face) and the :-( (unhappy face). According to the definition in Encyclopedia Britannica (2022), an emoticon "is meant to represent a facial expression in order to communicate the emotional state of the author…. The word emoticon comes from a combination of the words emotion and icon." Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\) shows different of emojis.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Assorted emojis by Pixaline on Pixabay

During the pandemic, wore a face mask, which had an impact on our nonverbal communication. Even emojis joined in on this trend. What do the emojis wearing face masks in Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\) represent to you? What do they communicate?

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Coronavirus has no race by visuals on Unsplash.

Here are a few more questions to think about: Are emoticons and emojis nonverbal communication, verbal communication, or both? Are they almost a “universal language” that transcends verbal languages because of their common nonverbal meanings? What cultural differences are there in the use of these images? What do you think?