Mastering Nonverbal Communications for Better Outcomes
July 21, 2022
What is Nonverbal Communication? Nonverbal communication incorporates many areas such as: paralinguistics (loudness, tone, inflection, and pitch), haptics (touch), proxemics or personal space, posture, mannerisms, gestures, facial expressions, attentiveness, appearance, grooming, and artifacts.
According to respected behavioral psychologist Dr. Albert Mehrabian (7-38-55 Rule), elements of personal human communication can be broken down as follows: 7% spoken words, 38% voice and tone and 55% body language. That adds up to 93% of human communication that is nonverbal.
What this means is that intentionally or not, we are always communicating something even when we are not speaking!
Communicating in a Post-Covid 19 World
There is no question that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people work. People often wear masks making it harder to see mouths and hear words, meetings take place on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet, and many employees or freelancers are working remotely. The lack of physical cues in virtual meetings can lead to miscommunication.
This risk of communication mishaps in the online setting makes it even more urgent for participants to be aware of the signals that they can manage and consciously control such as how they use vocal tone, facial expression, and hand gestures.
During the meeting attendees should also check whether they look at the camera or look around. Do they respectfully mute themselves while others are talking? Do they have a tidy and neutral background behind them? Such factors now come into play in this post- pandemic work environment.
Five Roles Nonverbal Communication Can Play
According to Dr. Edward G. Wertheim, nonverbal communication can:
- Repeat - the message we are verbally making
- Contradict - the message we are trying to convey
- Complement - a verbal message
- Substitute - for a verbal message
- Emphasize - the importance of a message
Source: The Importance of Effective Communication, Edward G. Wertheim, Ph.D.
A good question to ask yourself frequently is: “What role is my nonverbal communication playing right now. Is it serving me and helping me communicate or hurting me professionally?” In any professional setting first impressions count. Whether it is that job interview, working the room at a networking event, collaborating with another department, or attending an in-person or Zoom sales call, first impressions are formed within seconds – before anyone speaks.
This means that regardless of what is said, people will quickly form impressions based on facial expressions, stance, posture, tone of voice, gestures, etc. Appearances count and body language plays a large role as to whether a person makes that all-important favorable impression or not.
Nonverbal Skills Deliver Personal Benefits
Professionals at any career stage and in any industry will benefit from improved nonverbal communication. Besides making that great first impression, here are ten more ways your career will benefit:
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Think of learning and mastering body language and other nonverbal communication skills as a kind of serious superpower that will give you an advantage in the workplace and ignite your career as a master communicator.
How to Master Nonverbal Communication Skills
Keep asking the question - “What am I communicating nonverbally right now”? Am I helping and serving myself and others with my nonverbal language or not?”
1) Practice Greater Awareness - If you have gotten this far into this article, congratulations! You are well on your way to helping your career because just becoming aware and more conscious of how impactful nonverbal communication can be is a great start.
2) Watch Yourself Speak - Recording and then playing back and watching yourself do your talk, pitch, presentation, etc. is an effective strategy that public speakers use. Professionals on the speaking circuit know it is important to see what their audience is seeing – not just what they hear. Whether you are preparing for a job interview, a PowerPoint presentation in the board room, a sales call, your elevator speech, a talk you want to make with your boss to ask for a raise… you name it, this technique will be helpful if you employ it (as painful as it might be it will be quite instructive).
3) Eye Contact & Empathic Listening - Do you make eye contact with people? Do you empathically listen and convey that the other person has your undivided attention? Are you nodding your head appropriately and vocalizing as needed? If you are a manager, an employer, the HR representative for your company, a business owner who has customers and clients, eye contact and listening skills are paramount to your success.
4) Communicate Enthusiasm - No matter what stage you are at in your career, what you do for a living, or what role you have within your organization, the ability to use nonverbal communication to convey enthusiasm is very powerful. Sharing your passion, energy, and excitement is a confident builder for you and everyone around you. The most important factor here is taking care of your health and having good energy. Get a good night sleep. Eat well. Drink plenty of water. Keep a positive mindset and pay attention to the people you spend the most time with. When you feel good and you are genuinely excited about the work you are doing, your boss, colleagues, employees, customers, and shareholders will pick up on it.
5) Communicate Confidence - You have probably heard many of these suggestions before and it is because they work for face-to-face as well as virtual communications. Dress to impress and pay attention to the accessories you are wearing too. Check your hair and grooming, make eye contact (unless it is not appropriate to do so with someone from another culture and we will get to that soon), use a confident tone in your voice, don’t look at your phone, watch, or clock if you are talking to someone, and stand and sit straight with excellent posture.
Many of these tips will go back to awareness and then simply practice. People want to know that they are valued. Many studies have suggested that a large percentage of those who leave their jobs because they don’t feel appreciated.
Cultural Differences in Nonverbal Communication
We are going to end with cultural differences and it’s important! Companies operate in a Global Economy now and professionals all around the world interact with each other. We may think that nonverbal communication is universal, but it is not. When interacting with international clients and colleagues there are a few nonverbal language cultural differences to keep in mind:
- Eye Contact: In Western culture eye contact is expected, signals confidence, and its absence is thought of as rude. In many Eastern cultures the opposite is true. It is perceived as disrespectful to make direct eye contact and women are also discouraged from making eye contact with men because it suggests authority or sexual interest.
- Handshake: Western cultures tend to embrace this custom to greet each other while people who live in Asia often prefer a touchless bow.
- Gestures: Should be used conservatively because of the many possibly sticky situations of miscommunication that can happen. For example, pointing to someone could be interpreted as an insult in some parts of the world.
- Physical Distance: People from different cultures view personal space differently. Scientists found that residents of Argentina and Peru stand the closest to people they don’t know, while those from Romania, Hungary and Saudi Arabia want the most space. Americans are somewhere in the middle.
Understanding how language works means reaching across many facets of social interaction from the basics to high-level cognitive processing. An accurate use of languages helps shape relationships for communicating in the global village. For optimal results in translating and interpreting your organization’s messages, contact ProLingo at 800-287-9755 to discuss your needs for any language.
