Verbal and nonverbal communication are two forms of talking through a different platform. Verbal is the action of communicating through words while nonverbal is communicating through gestures. This two types of communication play a big role in human beings. Nonverbal communication is used when one does not require to speak, in case of confidential information and restricted audience to understand. Verbal is often used in the old days either in our mother tongue or a formal setting. In a different setting misunderstanding of nonverbal communication is easy. I had an instance back some time ago. I happened to visit upcountry; their many people are of old age century. Communication is in mother tongue, and nonverbal communication is used. I happened to come across old women who would greet you by tapping your right shoulder and then a handshake. This made me worry a lot since it was only the women who used the nonverbal communication. As I stayed there for weeks, I came to understand it was a gesture of goodwill to one another. Nonverbal communication can be confusing to people who are new to cultures and systems they are not used to.(Mehrabian,2017)
In school, we were taught how to respect our teachers and show them by gestures. We would be rewarded for those students who showed discipline and respect to our teachers in school. When I teacher walked into the class, we would all stand up to show respect and greet the teacher. Year in year out, new students were admitted to our school. They would never understand why we were standing as a teacher walked into class. The visitors were left sitting since they never knew what the drill of the school was. Nonverbal communication has enabled more accuracy in formal and non-formal aspects of learning for communication.
Reference
Mehrabian, A. (2017). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
