Humans speak non-orally, forming one mode of communication that manufactures meaning. It sends sense in some ways other than words, such as eye contact, smile, touch, body language, and space and time usage. Nonverbal communication assists verbal communication, and is used to legalize meaning of a message, it highlights and strengthens information. And so goes the famous saying that “actions speak louder than words.”Here, the action is the constituent of nonverbal communication and is a sound constituent of verbal communication. The ability to embrace a non-verbal form of communication across cultures remains a significant instance that comes from various walks of life and should be embraced in different cases.
Review of literature
At this age, where communication is glorified as all that counts, the work is designed to show how nonverbal communication has dramatically sharpened the world, manifested in a variety of cultures. The nonverbal discussion has so far given a connection to either a life of dignity or indignity, reigning high with its engaging horns, playing a pivotal role in intercultural situations (Richards & Schmidt, 2014). Messages conveyed through the nonverbal mode provide the literal and substance meanings of words, and the method is relied upon to carry the hint of individuality ties and relational sense. Nonverbal communication gives the background for the interpretation, and it sympathizes with how the spoken dialogue is understood. At this level, it shapes clarity (Georgescu et al., 2014).
Nonverbal communications are now tracking left and right globally creating the foundation of a very relationship in human engagement, testing the depth of its existence (Leathers & Eaves, 2015). What is more important is that nonverbal communication helps in understanding the message conveyed, whereas verbal communication finds no acceptance. For example, a Japanese and an Englishman who does not understand each other’s language and is working in a similar construction site would point at a steel rod to mean “bring it over.” Nodding his head up and down to mean ‘yes,’ he tracks his head left and right to mean “no.” Spreading his arm forward and bringing it towards him to be understood as ‘come over’ paints a vivid picture of how vital nonverbal communication has become in the present world, severely infested with language differences.
Discussion
In consideration of the above illustration, nonverbal communication assists people in places of work, sports, and businesses among people who do not understand each other (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016). It connects and brings people together, the former US president Barack Obama could easily speak with his step-grandmother Sarah Obama through nonverbal communication who do not understand English. Indeed, it has so far brought the world to trade together.
Nonverbal communication is also a fundamental way of showing emotions and attitudes, and humans rely on them to “reveal” things that are obstinate to vocalize (Bertsch, 2016). For instance, a sudden look away when one tries to make eye contact with another may be interpreted in countless ways, from “I’m too engaged” to “I don’t want to converse with you” or “I’m uncomfortable.” Our clothing and artifacts reveal our unique cultural identity. They say something about us and our artistic inclinations (Verma & Pande, 2016). People should not be rigid about a given culture due to the high growth of globalization in modern society. There is a need to learn other non-verbal aspects of communication from across cultures. It indicates our racial, and gender identity, and how we say something is the judge from that angle, not what we say (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel & Roy, 2014). How a person pronounces words, pitch range, volume, articulation, and rate can quickly tell the tribe or race. We assess others’ speech based on our standards. If one increases his or her voice during a chat, it will be interpreted as being furious or provoked. Nonverbal communication supplements emotions like sadness, anger, fear, interest, and happiness (Guerrero, Andersen & Afifi, 2017). Holding eye contact can be a symbol of respect, honesty, appeal, notice, or power, for instance. Failure to make eye contact can similarly be an indication of respect, fear, intimidation, lack of interest, and more. Some of this depends on the culture.
As the population surges on and on, we are somewhat territorial and fighting to have our spaces as a way of claiming our territory (McQuail & Windahl, 2015). Our limits exist in space, and we feel attached to and develop a sense of possession over a particular place. When someone invades our area, we start to feel sensitive, vulnerable, and in danger (Limbu, Jayachandran, Babin & Peterson, 2016). Our city is attacked; we act in response without contemplating our reactions because we feel primarily violated. For example, in an open-air market where spaces are insufficient, people complain and fight when others “spread their commodities in their spot,” even though all spots are publically owned.
Summary
Nonverbal communication is so vital that it has helped link people with different language backgrounds, giving rise to effective trade across cultures. It has created a sense of belonging, giving individual territorial security. People in various cultures embrace different elements of non-verbal communication. That is an instance of making it prudent to understand a given culture before employing a given aspect of non-verbal communication. That applies since certain styles might be offensive in other cultures.
References
Bertsch, K. R. (2016). Digitally Mediated: Exploring the Correlation Between Hyper-reliance on Electronically-Mediated Communication, Verbal Communication Apprehension and Interpersonal Relationship Skills. Gonzaga University.
Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
Georgescu, A. L., Kuzmanovic, B., Roth, D., Bente, G., & Vogeley, K. (2014). The use of virtual characters to assess and train non-verbal communication in high-functioning autism. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 807.
Guerrero, L. K., Andersen, P. A., & Afifi, W. A. (2017). Close encounters: Communication in relationships. Sage Publications.
Leathers, D. G., & Eaves, M. (2015). Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and applications. Routledge.
Limbu, Y. B., Jayachandran, C., Babin, B. J., & Peterson, R. T. (2016). Empathy, nonverbal immediacy, and salesperson performance: the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(5), 654-667.
McQuail, D., & Windahl, S. (2015). Communication models for the study of mass communications. Routledge.
Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (2014). Language and communication. Routledge.
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel, E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2014). Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning.
Verma, D., & Pande, N. (2016). An assessment of non-verbal communication skills of business school campus recruits in India: implications for stakeholder communication. International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise, 3(3-4), 251-264.
