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Body Language

Body language is a form of nonverbal communication that conveys emotions and feelings through facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact, touch, space between individuals, and tone of voice. It can reinforce, contradict, or replace verbal communication. Understanding body language allows you to better comprehend the complete message being conveyed and adjust your own body language to appear more positive and engaged. However, the meanings of some nonverbal signals can differ across cultures, so it is important to be aware of cultural contexts.

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269 views

Body Language

Body language is a form of nonverbal communication that conveys emotions and feelings through facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact, touch, space between individuals, and tone of voice. It can reinforce, contradict, or replace verbal communication. Understanding body language allows you to better comprehend the complete message being conveyed and adjust your own body language to appear more positive and engaged. However, the meanings of some nonverbal signals can differ across cultures, so it is important to be aware of cultural contexts.

Uploaded by

shraddha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Topic: Body language

What Is Body Language?

Put simply, body language is the unspoken element of communication that we


use to reveal our true feelings and emotions.

It's the relaxed facial expression that breaks out into a genuine smile – with
mouth upturned and eyes wrinkled. It can be a tilt of the head that shows you're
listening, sitting or standing upright to convey interest, or directing attention with
hand gestures. It can also be taking care to avoid a defensive, arms-crossed
posture, or restlessly tapping your feet.

When you can "read" signs like these, you can understand
the complete message of what someone is telling you. You'll be more aware of
people's reactions to what you say and do. And you'll be able to adjust your
body language to appear more positive, engaging, and approachable.

The importance of nonverbal communication


Your nonverbal communication cues—the way you listen, look, move, and
react—tell the person you’re communicating with whether or not you care, if
you’re being truthful, and how well you’re listening. When your nonverbal
signals match up with the words you’re saying, they increase trust, clarity, and
rapport. When they don’t, they can generate tension, mistrust, and confusion.

If you want to become a better communicator, it’s important to become more


sensitive not only to the body language and nonverbal cues of others, but also
to your own.

Nonverbal communication can play five roles:


• Repetition: It repeats and often strengthens the message you’re
making verbally.

• Contradiction: It can contradict the message you’re trying to convey,


thus indicating to your listener that you may not be telling the truth.

• Substitution: It can substitute for a verbal message. For example,


your facial expression often conveys a far more vivid message than
words ever can.

• Complementing: It may add to or complement your verbal message.


As a boss, if you pat an employee on the back in addition to giving
praise, it can increase the impact of your message.
• Accenting: It may accent or underline a verbal message. Pounding
the table, for example, can underline the importance of your
message.

Types of nonverbal communication


The many different types of nonverbal communication or body language
include:

Facial expressions. The human face is extremely expressive, able to convey


countless emotions without saying a word. And unlike some forms of
nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal. The facial
expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are the
same across cultures.

Body movement and posture. Consider how your perceptions of people are
affected by the way they sit, walk, stand, or hold their head. The way you
move and carry yourself communicates a wealth of information to the world.
This type of nonverbal communication includes your posture, bearing, stance,
and the subtle movements you make.

Gestures. Gestures are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. You may
wave, point, beckon, or use your hands when arguing or speaking animatedly,
often expressing yourself with gestures without thinking. However, the
meaning of some gestures can be very different across cultures. While the
“OK” sign made with the hand, for example, usually conveys a positive
message in English-speaking countries, it’s considered offensive in countries
such as Germany, Russia, and Brazil. So, it’s important to be careful of how
you use gestures to avoid misinterpretation.

Eye contact. Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact
is an especially important type of nonverbal communication. The way you look
at someone can communicate many things, including interest, affection,
hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in maintaining the flow of
conversation and for gauging the other person’s interest and response.

Touch. We communicate a great deal through touch. Think about the very
different messages given by a weak handshake, a warm bear hug, a
patronizing pat on the head, or a controlling grip on the arm, for example.

Space. Have you ever felt uncomfortable during a conversation because the
other person was standing too close and invading your space? We all have a
need for physical space, although that need differs depending on the culture,
the situation, and the closeness of the relationship. You can use physical
space to communicate many different nonverbal messages, including signals
of intimacy and affection, aggression or dominance.
Voice. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. When you speak, other
people “read” your voice in addition to listening to your words. Things they pay
attention to include your timing and pace, how loud you speak, your tone and
inflection, and sounds that convey understanding, such as “ahh” and “uh-huh.”
Think about how your tone of voice can indicate sarcasm, anger, affection, or
confidence.

Conclusion

• With the help of body language, we can understand what message


people are trying to convey even when they are talking.
• Teachers can sense when students are silent and digesting information
and when they silent and confused.
• Body language can help contradictions between what students say and
what they really mean.
• However, for an effective and polite communication, we should pay
attention to different meanings of body languages in different parts of the
world. E.g. Nodding our head means yes in most of the countries, but in
countries like Yugoslavia and Bulgaria it means no, closing our eyes may
indicate sleepy or boredom in most of the countries but in countries like
China, Japan and Thailand it means we are listening and concentrating,
Thumbs up in most countries means I’m fine or good, but in some
countries it is considered as rude.

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