Role of non-verbal

communication and its

growing relevance in
business
 Introduction
• Communication Is More Than Verbal.
• Good negotiators must first be good communicators.
• But verbal exchanges account for only a fraction of the
messages people send and receive. Research has shown that
between 70 and 90 percent of the entire communication
spectrum is nonverbal.
• You will see that most leading professionals (e.g., doctors,
lawyers, politicians, corporate chief executive officers, and
contract negotiators) are excellent nonverbal communicators.
Some people call it charisma. Others call it style. It is the art of
non-verbal communication.
 History of research in non-verbal
communication
• The radio era gave openings to people who had a good
command of the spoken word, like Winston Churchill,
who spoke wonderfully but may have struggled to
achieve as much in today's visual era.
• Silent-movie actors like Charlie Chaplin were the
pioneers of body-language skills, as this was the only
means of communication available on the screen
• perhaps the most influential pre-twentieth-century
work was Charles Darwin's The Expression of the
Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872
• Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell
estimated that the average person
actually speaks words for a total of
about ten or eleven minutes a day and
that the average sentence takes only
about 2.5 seconds. Birdwhistell also
estimated we could make and
recognize around 250,000 facial
expressions.
• Most researchers now agree that
words are used primarily for
conveying information, while body
language is used for negotiating
interpersonal attitudes and, in some
cases, is used as a substitute for verbal
messages. For example, a woman can
give a man a "look to kill" and will
convey a very clear message to him
without opening her mouth.
Areas of non-verbal communication
• Body language (kinesic communication) using facial
expressions, body movements, gestures, and posture;
• Physical environment (proxemic communication) using
available space, distance from or proximity to other
people, and territorial control; and
• Personal attributes such as:
• o Physical appearance (artifactual communication)
including all options that communicators use to modify
their appearance;
• o Vocal cues (auditory communication); and
• o Touch (tactile communication) particularly the
handshake.
• Conscious or Subliminal Messages.
• Nonverbal communications can involve conscious or
subliminal messages.

• Conscious nonverbal communications.

• Senders of conscious nonverbal communications are
aware that they are sending a message and the general
meaning of that message. For example, the individuals
extending a hug know that they are embracing someone
and that action is normally perceived as indicating
affection.
• Receivers of conscious nonverbal communication are
aware that they received the message and the meaning
intended by the sender. The receiver of a hug, for
example, generally realizes that the message is a sign of
friendship.
• Subliminal nonverbal communications.
• Subliminal messages are communicated to the subconscious mind of the
receiver. Receivers of subliminal messages are not consciously aware of the
message. However, these messages are important.
• o Gut reactions are frequently based upon your subconscious reading of
subliminal nonverbal communications.
• o Police and military uniforms subliminally communicate the authority of
those wearing them. o Well-dressed executives project success and
credibility.
• o Poor dress transmits messages of failure and a lack of credibility.
• o Although subliminal messages do not create awareness on a conscious
level, they still influence the receiver. In fact, subliminal messages are often
more powerful than conscious messages. The advertising world is replete
with examples of the value of subliminal nonverbal messages.
• o Young, beautiful people are often seen in advertisements to communicate
the subconscious message that the advertised product is associated with
youth and beauty.
• o Companies pay large sums of money to have their products appear in
movies. While these appearances are not typical product advertisements, the
mere association of the product with the movie transmits subliminal
messages that will influence viewers. Voluntary or Involuntary Messages.
Conscious and subliminal messages can both be transmitted voluntarily or
involuntarily.
• • Involuntary nonverbal communications.
• Most nonverbal messages are involuntarily. In fact, many
negotiators are not aware that they communicate
nonverbally.
• Body language is one area where the involuntary nature of
nonverbal communication is particularly evident. Every
day, people unintentionally convey nonverbal signals by
their facial expressions, gestures, and body postures.
• For example, people telling falsehoods often involuntarily
send a telltale nonverbal message to listeners by frequently
blinking their eyes.
• Because involuntary nonverbal communications represent
unplanned physical responses, this communication form
tends to be particularly revealing and more honest than
verbal communication or even conscious nonverbal
communication.
• • Voluntary nonverbal communications.
• Nonverbal communication can also be
controlled by a knowledgeable person.
• o A person who knows that people telling
falsehoods often blink their eyes can take special
care not to blink when telling a falsehood.
• o A person who knows that a hug indicates
friendship can consciously hug his/her worst
enemy as trick to put the person off guard or as
part of an effort to improve their relationship.
• Cultural Differences
• Always consider cultural differences when you
send or receive nonverbal messages. A message
that has a particular meaning in one society can
have a completely different meaning in another
society. For example, in the United States we
encourage eye contact as an indicator of honesty
and interest. People in some other societies
believe that they should look down when talking
to another person to indicate deference and
respect. For them, direct eye contact might be
considered offensive and disrespectful.
To enhance your own ability to
communicate non-verbally, outlined are a
few tips
• Tone of Voice:Useful to convey emotions from
enthusiasm to disinterest to anger. To practice, notice the
tone of voice of others and try to interpret the emotions
attached (e.g. an animated tone vs. an agitated tone);
notice how others respond.

• Eye Contact:Too little (mysterious, evading or under-

confident) or too much (judgmental or intimidating)?
Optimal eye contact is about maintaining direct eye
contact with short intervals to appear trustworthy and
relaxed.
• Gestures: Speech-related (e.g. Italian style of
"speaking with hands”) or speech-independent,
gestures can mean a number of things (e.g. 'ok'
means money in Japan, highly appropriate in USA
and zero in France). Look for clusters of gestures, as
a person's overall demeanor conveys a lot more.
Consider the context, the situation and understand
the level of formality, before interpreting any
signals.
•
• Kinesics (body movements): Studies show that
people who walk 10-20 % faster than others are
viewed as important and energetic. Posture reveals
our interest, relative status and emotional state (self
esteem). Accompanied by a warm smile, this
conveys a positive signal, no matter where your
business takes you.
• Non-verbal cues in employee
management
• Studies on power posing show that intentionally
adjusting your body posture, facial expressions,
and voice can help you express your ideas and
concerns and win greater influence. This is true
no matter what title or position you hold.
• Unintentional power cues have a similar effect.
After about 15 years of studying why people
don’t speak up to those in-charge, we’ve seen, in
case after case, that leaders send “I’m the boss”
signals without realizing it – and
those signals prevent others from coming to
them with new ideas.
 CASE STUDY
• Researchers borrowed a doctor’s office and took three
photos of a “patient” and “doctor” (both actors, the
“doctor” wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope).
• In the first picture, both people were seated at the
same level, appearing to have a typical doctor-patient
conversation.
• In the second, the doctor’s chair was about 12 inches
higher so that he was looking down on the patient.
• In the third, the patient was up on the examination
table, looking down on the doctor.
Everything else was held constant
• They then randomly assigned participants to view one
of the photos and imagine that they were the patient in
this scenario:
• After what felt like a dismissive basic examination for
your stomach problem, the doctor says you are
worried about nothing and is about to end the exam.
• However, you’re still convinced there is something
more going on.
RESULTS
• Participants then answered a couple of questions
about how they would feel about speaking up.
• When the patient was either at or above the
doctor’s eye level, respondents reported moderate
intimidation.
• When the doctor was seated at a higher level, they
reported a significantly higher degree of
intimidation — nearly one point higher on a
seven-point scale.
Behavioral cues
• Power signals go well beyond how you stand or
sit. Keeping your arms at your side (rather than
crossing them in front of you), lowering your
voice, dressing less formally, and even smiling
can make people more likely to share their
thoughts with you.
• So can behavioral cues, such as sitting at the
same tables as everyone else at lunch and not
being the first to articulate a point of view at
meetings.
Physical environment
• Physical environment matters, too. One manager
who was interviewed, the director of a state social
service agency, was initially given an office with very
dark walls and big wooden furniture. She found that
it set a dreary, somewhat intimidating tone for
meetings with employees.
• So, she quickly changed the paint color and bought a
small round table.
• She soon had more employees coming to her office
for quick check-ins and to share ideas for
improvement.
• Sometimes getting out of your office altogether is the
best way to create trust and make people feel more
relaxed — and more inclined to engage in honest
conversation.
• The president of one credit union hosts monthly “Lunch
with the Prez” meals at local restaurants, using the off-
site activity as an opportunity to get to know a handful of
people better and to hear about their experiences at
work.
• In a Fortune 500 insurance company, senior leaders visit
call centers on Friday afternoons to host informal
“cookie chats” with employees two to five levels below
them. That’s when the call volume is the lowest.
• It’s the most convenient time for reps to share their
thoughts and concerns about that week’s calls. And the
conversation is on their turf, where they’re most
comfortable opening up.
 Case Study - Non – verbal
communication lessons from FBI
• Navarro, 57, worked for 25 years as a counterintelligence
special agent with theFBI.
• His book, Louder than words: Take your career from average to
exceptional with the hidden power of non-verbal intelligence,
applies all his knowledge to the business world.
• The starting point, he says, is what he calls "personal curbside
appeal." Project yourself as a confident, welcoming person, and
your clients, colleagues and bosses will be attracted to you, keen
on doing business with you and on promoting you within your
organization.
• FBI agents devote a lot of energy to establishing rapport with
people, Navarro says.
• Curbside appeal has several components, starting with
looks. Tidy, neat, conservative clothes are preferable,
Navarro says. A good rule of thumb: mirror, don't shock.
"Observe how upper management dresses, and follow their
lead," he advises. "Casualness can kill credibility.“
• "What we wear shapes our behavior and prepares our
body and mind for what we need to do," he writes. "In the
workplace, you put on the attire of a warrior for business,
and that's your persona."
• Gestures go a long way in conveying your personal
message. One of the most appealing: Stand with your head
slightly tilted and your hands clasped, and with a smile
and a gaze that meets the other person's. The head tilt
exposes the neck and says, "I am listening; I am
comfortable; I am receptive," Navarro says. By contrast, if
you touch your neck or cover the dimple at the base of it,
you're saying you are uncomfortable, insecure or
concerned.
Mindful presence used in
communication
• Psychologist Amy Cuddy performed explorations of
what she calls presence.
• In research first conducted at Harvard, Cuddy found
that people who feel confident and powerful are likely
to manifest that presence in a more expansive posture.
She proved that the reverse also holds true.
• that body language not only communicates messages
to others but also to ourselves as well. The entire array
of nonverbal signals at our disposal announces to the
world, and to ourselves, who we are. As the poet, Walt
Whitman wrote, “We convince by our presence.”
Non-verbal communication to wield
power
• Gruenfeld, an experimental social psychologist on the
faculty of Stanford GSB, gives this advice standing in the
front of a full classroom. Before a critical meeting with
your boss, an important customer, or your teenage son or
daughter, do you spend time mentally roughing out and
revising what you are going to say. If so, You are
misdirecting your energy. Spend time instead practicing
how to walk, stand, sit, and quickly grasp how other people
are moving their bodies.
• She is demonstrating what acting coaches sometimes call
"playing high." That means she is making sure everybody
in the room knows she is in charge in this time and place.
 Conclusion
• The most important thing in communication is hearing
what isn’t said. – Peter Drucker
• Non-verbal communication is an elaborate secret code
that is written nowhere, known by none and
understood by all.
• To put it wittingly George Bernanrd Shaw said “I am
the most spontanoeus speaker in the world because
every word, every gesture and every retort has been
carefully rehearsed”. This is true for every exceptional
speaker.
• What a person does speaks so loudly that everything he
says can’t b heard.
Thank You