Page 38 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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equally possible to differentiate a vague smile and warm smile. Sometimes
nonverbal communication alone may occur without verbal communica-
tion. Hence, one has to be very careful in interpreting nonverbal cues as
the meaning of nonverbal communication lies with the observer, who
both reads specific signals and interprets them in the context of a particu-
lar situation and a particular culture. Chances are, if you can read other
people’s nonverbal messages correctly, you can interpret their underlying
attitudes and intentions and respond appropriately.
Nonverbal communication is important for another reason. When you
have a conscious purpose, you can often achieve it more economically with
a gesture than you can with words. A wave of the hand, a pat on the back all
are streamlined expressions of thought.

Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication

Communication researchers have identified some characteristics of non-
verbal communication. These may be found in all forms of nonverbal
communication and should provide a kind of framework through which
the specifics of nonverbal communication may be viewed. Nonverbal
messages are characterized by being: (i) communicative, (ii) contextual,
(iii) believable.
Let us examine each of these characteristics briefly.

Communicative
Nonverbal behaviour in an interactive situation always communicates. This
observation is true of all forms of communication, but it seems particularly
true of nonverbal communication. Regardless of what one does or does not
do, regardless of whether it is intentional or unintentional, one’s nonverbal
behaviour communicates something to someone.
Sitting silently in a corner and reading a book communicates to the
other people in the room just as much as verbalization. Staring out of
the window during the class communicates something to the teacher just
as much as saying, ‘I am bored’. The important difference between the non-
verbal communication and the verbal statements here should be noticed.
The student looking out of the window, when confronted by the teacher’s
question- ‘why are you bored?’, can always claim to be just momentarily
distracted by something outside. Saying ‘I am bored’ however prevents the
student from backing off and giving a more socially acceptable meaning to
the statement. The nonverbal communication, however, is also more con-
venient from the point of view of the teacher. The teacher, if confronted
with the student’s statement- ‘I am bored’ must act on that in some way.
Some of the possibilities include saying, ‘see me after the class’, ‘I am as

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