Verbal and non verbal emotional and conversational messages

In your job as a care worker, you will be communicating with a variety of people every day. A lot
of this communication will occur face-to-face. For example, you may chat to the residents or
clients in your care, or talk to other staff members. Effective face-to-face communication
requires good verbal and non-verbal communication skills . Verbal' means 'spoken'. So, verbal
communication is the messages you send with words. It's what you actually say.Non-verbal
communication is the messages you send with your body. Some people call it your body
language. For example:facial expressions - smiling, frowning, raising eyebrows, eye
contactgestures - waving your hand, pointing your finger, crossing your armsposture - the way
you stand or sit..Non-verbal communication also includes the tone and pitch of your voice. So,
verbal communication is the words. But non-verbal communication is how you say the
words.Non-verbal communication is an important part of the communication process. Up to twothirds of the meaning of a message can come from non-verbal communication. So, it's very
important that you are aware of it. A facial expression or simple hand gesture can show:how we
feelwhat we like or dislikeif we care or not.A number of researchers claim the total impact of our
communication breaks down as: 7% verbal the words we use38% vocal the volume, pitch,
rhythm, tone of our words 55% body movements our facial expressions, positioning, gesturing
Sometimes a person's non-verbal communication may not match their verbal communication.
For example, a person may be saying nice things, but have crossed arms and a frown on their
face. When this happens, the message can be very confusing. Is the person being friendly, or are
they a little bit angry? Effective communication occurs when your verbal and non-verbal
communication skills send the same message.
When we think about communication, we most often focus on how we exchange information
using words. While verbal communication is important, humans relied on nonverbal
communication for thousands of years before we developed the capability to communicate with
words. Nonverbal communication is a process of generating meaning using behavior other than
words. Rather than thinking of nonverbal communication as the opposite of or as separate from
verbal communication, its more accurate to view them as operating side by sideas part of the
same system.
Non-verbal Messages Allow People To:
Reinforce or modify what is said in words. For example, people may nod their heads vigorously
when saying "Yes" to emphasise that they agree with the other person, but a shrug of the
shoulders and a sad expression when saying "I'm fine thanks, may imply that things are not
really fine at all!
Interpersonal communication is further complicated in that it is usually not possible to interpret a
gesture or expression accurately on its own. Non-verbal communication consists of a complete

package of expressions, hand and eye movements, postures, and gestures which should be
interpreted along with speech (verbal communication).

Emotions are physiological, behavioral, and/or communicative reactions to stimuli that are
cognitively processed and experienced as emotional.Sally Planlap, Julie Fitness, and Beverly
Fehr, Emotion in Theories of Close Relationships, in The Cambridge Handbook of Personal
Relationships, eds. Anita L. Vangelisti and Daniel Perlman (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2006), 36984. Secondary emotions are not as innate as primary emotions, and they do not
have a corresponding facial expression that makes them universally recognizable. Secondary
emotions are processed by a different part of the brain that requires higher order thinking;
therefore, they are not reflexive. Secondary emotions are love, guilt, shame, embarrassment,
pride, envy, and jealousy.Dylan Evans, Emotion: The Science of Sentiment (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001), 2730. Human beings grouping together and creating interpersonal
bonds was a key element in the continuation and success of our species, and the ability to express
emotions played a role in this success. Emotion sharing involves communicating the
circumstances, thoughts, and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Emotion sharing usually
starts immediately following an emotional episode. The intensity of the emotional event
corresponds with the frequency and length of the sharing, with high-intensity events being told
more often and over a longer period of time. In order to verbally express our emotions, it is
important that we develop an emotional vocabulary. The more specific we can be when we are
verbally communicating our emotions, the less ambiguous they will be for the person decoding
our message. As we expand our emotional vocabulary, we are able to convey the intensity of the
emotion were feeling whether it is mild, moderate, or intense. For example, happy is mild,
delighted is moderate, and ecstatic is intense, and ignored is mild, rejected is moderate, and
abandoned is intense.Owen Hargie, Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research, Theory, and
Practice (London: Routledge, 2011), 166

Consequences of cultural miss understanding

Communication is the most important way to stay ahead in the world. However, communication
can be difficult sometimes. There are many reasons for this, one of which is cultural differences.
Stella Ting-Toomey, a communication specialist, has identified three cultural barriers that impede
effective communication. Knowing these barriers can help you avoid them.One of the most
common barriers to communication is cognitive constraint. Cognitive constraints are the way
people view the world based on their cultureBehavioral constraints are another barrier to
effective communication. Behavior constraints are the ways people behave from different

cultures. he final cultural barrier that blocks effective communication is emotional constraints.
Each culture has rules that tell us how emotional we can be in a situation
Cross-cultural communication is a valuable but difficult skill. The most obvious barrier is
language, but verbal communication is only a small part of how we convey information.
The hardest things to adapt when communicating in a culturally diverse situation are the values
associated with culture. You can easily change your posture or stop using slang, but you cant
change your core values, or expect others to change theirs.
Misunderstandings occur in all communication, even between people from the same cultural and
linguistic background. We cannot expect to get it right all of the time.
What is important is that we know how to respond when a misunderstanding occurs and that we
learn from our mistakes.
By the end of this topic you will be able to identify cross-cultural misunderstandings and
perform the steps involved in resolving such misunderstandings.
The obvious way we communicate is by using words. However, as we have seen, we also use
non-verbal communication: our tone of voice, body language, gestures, posture and facial
expressions all impact on communication.
Often people think that the use of gestures and facial expressions will be sufficient to convey an
accurate message, without regard for the different rules of non-verbal communication which may
apply in the other persons culture.
However, just as verbal communication rules differ across cultures, so too do the rules of nonverbal communication. These rules are specific to each culture and are largely taken for granted.
We respond to these rules without being aware of them.
Therefore it is important to be aware that our own non-verbal communication might be insulting
to others. For example, in some cultures, maintaining constant eye contact while talking is
interpreted as disrespectful. This is true for Aboriginal cultures.
The first step in developing skills to communicate with people from other cultures is to develop
an appreciation of the rules of communication in our own culture. Similarly, an awareness of the
most common barriers to effective cross-cultural communication is the first step to overcoming
them. It also means that we will not be less likely to judge a person from another culture by our
own cultural values.

When we are learning a new language, we need to learn the language as well as have an
awareness of the culture. It is important of will have to learn new meanings and new ways of
behaving.
Having a poor understanding of the influence of cross cultural differences in areas such as
management, PR, advertising and negotiations can eventually lead to blunders that can have
damaging consequences.

It is crucial for today's business personnel to understand the impact of cross cultural differences
on business, trade and internal company organisation. The success or failure of a company,
venture, merger or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not cross
culturally aware then misunderstandings, offence and a break down in communication can occur.
When you work with people from culturally diverse backgrounds, it is often the difference in
cultural values that causes misunderstandings and possibly conflict. You may misunderstand the
other person and react in ways that can hinder the development of trusting, supportive and
helpful relationships.
The best way to work with different cultures is to be aware that cultural diversity exists and to
talk about the differences.You need to remember two things concerning cultural diversity:
It can be difficult to address cultural differences without resorting to stereotypes. Stereotypes
should not exist, as no person is exactly like another person and no individual is a clone of
another member of a group.
As diversity in an organisation grows, so does the complexity of communication and the
necessity to make greater effort in developing improved communication skills.
Diversity can create opportunities for character development by teaching tolerance and respect
and encouraging concern for equity for people from culturally diverse backgrounds. (Smith,
Miller, Archer & Hague 2002)
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/nonverbal-communication.html#ixzz3KJ9eDPfI

http://www.ehow.com/info_8150997_communication-barriers-due-cultural-diversity.html
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s03-04-languagesociety-and-culture.html
http://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MCS/9362/Sterilisation%20disk%203/lo/7374/7374_00.htm