Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages or of transmitting

information without the use of words. A substantial portion of our everyday communication is
non- verbal. It helps us in establishing and maintaining the interpersonal relationships. They
add meaning over the verbals and make the process of communication more efficient. It
defines the distance between the communicators and helps them to exchange their emotional
state of mind. It also regulates the flow of communication, for instance individuals can give
signals to convey that they have finished speaking or that they wanted to speak. Sometimes,
they also act as a barrier to effective communication as the recipient may not be able to
understand what the sender is trying to say and thus may interpret it wrongly. The various non-
verbal cues are-

 Eye contact

 Facial expressions

 Gestures

 Postures and body orientation

 Body language

 Space and distance

 Proximity

 Para-linguistic

 Humor

 Touch

 Silence

 Personal appearance

 Symbol

 Visual communication
 Facial expressions-
It is commonly said that face is the index of the mind. Facial expressions are expressed
through the mouth, eyelids, nose, cheeks and the forehead. They are used to communicate
the intent of the message to the receiver. Facial expression is one of the key markers in
decoding a message.

 Eye contact-
Eye contact is an important channel of interpersonal communication as it helps to regulate
the flow of communication. It also signals the interest of the speaker. Eye contact with the
audience increases the speaker’s credibility. Teachers who make eye contact open the flow
of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility.

 Gestures-
Gestures are movements of the arms, legs, hands and head. They are deliberate body
movements used to express specific and intentional meaning. Appropriate gestures
compliment the message. Gestures can be divided into following types-

1. Enumerative- We enumerate number of objects through fingers while speaking.

2. Descriptive- We describe the size of the object we are talking about with our hands,
fingers, etc.

3. Symbolic- We can represent abstract concepts for instance love through our
fingers.

4. Location- We point the location of an object or person with our fingers.

5. Emphatic- We emphasize a point through certain actions.

 Body language-
It is another widely recognized form of non-verbal communication. Body movements can
convey meanings and messages. It takes two forms

1. Unconscious movements

2. Consciously controlled movements.

 Space and distance-
Space and distance are significant non-verbal tools in the case of organizational
communication. A spacious and well-decorated room indicates a person’s position in the
organization hierarchy and external people gets a message about his importance and
authority only by visiting his room. Distance is another communication tool, which
expresses the degree of intimacy and individual acceptance.

 Touch-
Touch is a widely used form of non-verbal communication. One can express a wide range of
emotions through touch. However, the accepted modes of touch vary depending on the
gender, age, relative status, intimacy and cultural background of the person.

 Personal appearance-
Appearance is also an important non-verbal communication tool. Appearance includes
dress, hair, jewellery, make up, etc.

 Symbol-
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct
from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate the meaning of the message better.

 Listing-
It is the most basic hand gesture. It makes the message easier to remember for the listener,
adds movement and warmth to your body language and serves as a nonverbal anchor in the
conversation.
 Non-Verbal Communication in Speeches
Non-verbal cues are an inseparable part of speeches. When delivering a speech, the body
movements tell as much about the message as the actual speech. Eye contact, body orientation,
posture, facial expressions and gestures play an important role into how the audience perceives
the message. They enable the speakers to connect to the audience even before they start
speaking. The speaker can alter the atmosphere of the speech in the way he or she wants. For
instance, if the need is for the audience to feel a certain emotion, then the orator can express
the emotion himself or herself. The various non- verbal cues which can be observed in a speech
are-

 Kinesics- Study of body movements and gestures.

 Proxemics- Study of the amount of space necessary between people.

 Chronemics- Study of role of time in communication.

 Haptics- Study of communication through touch

 Paralanguage- Non- lexical component of communication

 Silence & Sign Language

 SPEECH (1)
The various non- verbal cues we see in his speech are as follows-

1. Smile
One of the reasons that President Obama has a relatively high likeability rating is that he looks,
well, likeable. And a big part of this positive impact is his smile. It lights up his face and appears
genuine. A smile like that is an invitation, a sign of welcome. This also makes him quite
affable. The human brain prefers happy faces, recognizing them more quickly than those with
negative expressions. Thus his smile goes a long way in ensuring that his message would be
understood and received well by the people.

I would like to distinguish this with the low amount of smile throughout the rest of the video.
One of the important traits of leaders is to understand a situation and act accordingly. This is
exactly what we see Mr. Obama doing here. He does greet them with a smile in the beginning
but then maintains a low amount of smiling as he talks about important issues. This is
important because smiling can sometimes be seen as a sign of submission. The President
definitely doesn’t want to appear submissive and therefore doesn’t smile at all as he delivers
his speech.

Instead in the clip above, we see him orating with a serious look on his face. This shows that he
knows what he’s talking about, that he is serious about creating jobs for Americans which is an
issue of high priority. The tone of his voice also shows his determination in solving the job crisis
and the urgency of the situation. Obama exudes a sense of confidence that makes people
believe in his capability. He makes the Americans trust him to carry out his promises. His
confidence can be seen through the clear and loud way in which he speaks as well as in the way
he holds himself.

2. Chronemics
Chronemics is the use of time in communication. One of the things which is missing in the clip
is his arrival part. Although he arrives a little late or the people arrive a little early, they
patiently wait for him and applaud him. Here we see a real life application of Chronemics. This
does not happen quite often as it is difficult for us to imagine to be late for meeting our friends
and then being greeted by applause.
3. Posture & Motion
Posture refers to the way we hold ourselves when we stand, sit, talk, etc. It speaks volumes
about the mental state of the person even when they have not spoken a single word. President
Obama looked comfortable. He walked with ease, stood erect but not stiffly. This signifies that
he is in high spirits which grabs the attention of the people and makes them listen to him. It
also shows his energy and confidence levels, which constantly engages the people, delivers his
message well and makes them believe him. During the entire length of the speech, not even
once does the president lean backwards highlighting that there is no room for relaxation.
President Obama was a model of congruent communication last night. His body language
totally supported his messages.

Another point to be added is his purposeful movement. When leaders move they do so with a
purpose, they don’t waste energy and time on pacing back and forth, at least not publicly. You
can see the same thing with President Obama. He barely moves behind his podium. This is also
important because movement is considered as a sign of anxiousness and leaders never want to
appear anxious so try to be conscious of their amount of movement and make sure that it is
purposeful.

4. Gestures
Gestures make it easier for your audience to understand what is being said. President Obama’s
gestures were fluid and flowing. He has made a great use of hand gestures, which is another
trait of great leaders. This is something that boosts their charisma and makes them come across
as more lively. President Obama does this very well throughout his speech. He uses the thumb
and index finger to emphasize important points. This shows that he is making his point. He very
well knows what he is talking about. Through his gestures, he emphasizes the points which he
considers to be important and draws the attention of the people to it. He also uses gestures like
a wave of the hand to illustrate a spectrum of things or a timespan. By doing this, he shows that
he is very clear in his communication with his audience as his nonverbal communication is
perfectly in sync with his verbal content.
5. Para- language-
Para language is the way in which meaning is conveyed by how things are said while speaking.
It lets us know about the sociolinguistic and educational background of the person speaking. In
the clip, President Obama makes use of Para-language to his full advantage in many ways-

 Volume Variation- Volume variation is used to emphasize and highlight certain parts in a
speech and make it more presentable and enjoyable which is exactly what the president
has done here. He increases his volume when making promises to the people. This
shows that he is determined to full-fill them and also that he stands by them. However,
he takes a soft approach in thanking people for their support. He even says that this
victory is not only his but of the people as a whole

 Clarity of Speech- In his speech, the President is never unsure about his words. He
knows exactly what message he wants to convey to the public. His clarity of speech
makes him appear more credible and very confident of himself. He is fluent throughout
the speech but also maintains the speed of speaking so that people understand him

 Pauses- Pauses are very significant as they provide the necessary gap for the receiver to
grasp the message. President Obama has shown excellent use of pauses in the above
speech to let his point sink in and to give his audience time to consider what he is saying.
He stopped everytime the audience reacted to his words or applauded him. This also
shows that despite being a huge personality, he is considerate of the people.

6. Proxemics
Proxemics is the space between the sender and the receiver of the message. Under proxemics,
we are concerned with our space of communication and the person with whom communication
is intended. Speech comes under the public space of communication. When large crowds the
addressed, sometimes the message is delivered to only a few people or a particular section in
the audience. This becomes even more difficult when the crowd is made up of people
belonging to different age groups, strata, etc. However, President Obama ensures that his
message is received by everyone. He does this through his pitch fluctuations, gestures and
pauses. This enables the large crowd to know what he is talking about which we understand
through their reaction.
 SPEECH (2)
It is rather a humorous one as Shahrukh khan is speaking about his film and how in order to
reinvent himself he had to wear a skin tight suit which was his reference to the movie Ra.One in
which he had played the superhero. During that time he listed all the superheroes for instance-
Spiderman, superman and batman and appreciated them for wearing tight suit.

The various non verbal cues in the video are as follows:

Everytime we bring our hands towards our heart or chest, we usually want to indicate to
ourselves and talk about ourselves or about our experience.

In the video ,when Shahrukh started his speech and was saying that he was contacted by his
friends Chris and Juliet to speak on ted talks about the future generation, he said that he would
talk about the present himself and gestured by bringing his hand toward himself. He related
humanity with himself an aging movie star and talked in length about his experience and how a
boy from Delhi became the “Badshah of bollywood”.

Any time you gesture into someone else’s space or personal area, you tie them to your words.
It is done with the open hand or palm pointing towards the listener. This gesture is used to
make someone feel included or highlight that something you are talking about applies to the
person you are talking to. It is a great attention grabber if someone’s mind is wandering.

At the end of his speech he refers to the young people present at the ted talk he said that “The
present you is brave, the present you is hopeful, the present you is innovative and resourceful
and, of course the present you is annoyingly indefinable. The dignity of a life, a human being, a
culture, a religion, a country resides in its ability for the grace and compassion, I have learned
that whatever moves you ,whatever urges you to create ,build is perhaps the oldest and the
simplest emotion known to mankind and that is love.” He further adds “You may use your
power to build walls and keep people outside or you may use it to break barriers and welcome
them. In the future you have to be like an aging movie star, who has been made to believe that
there is a possibility of a world which is completely, wholly, self-obsessively in love with itself.”

Here Shahrukh refers to the people that one needs to be in order to take the humanity forward
not with wars and hatred but with boundless love to other. When you have both your hands
apart and palms facing towards the audience, it is used to make a grand gesture. When you
raise your hand in such a manner then you look like a typical big man with success.
When Shahrukh talks about himself that he moved to Mumbai and at the age of 40. He says
that his creativity was supported by the resourcefulness of the collective which catapulted him
to superstardom. He spoke of himself as a superstar and said that when he was 40 he was
literally flying. He had done 50 films and approximately 200 songs. He was knighted by the
Malaysians and was honored with the highest civilian honor by the French government.

Putting a single hand in pocket while speaking- Putting one hand in pocket while speaking is a
good gesture because it demonstrates that you are relaxed and comfortable while speaking and
still having authority. However, speaking with both hands in the pocket is told to be avoided as
it indicates a lack of professionalism.

In the video we can see that after spending sometime on the stage Shahrukh khan has put his
left hand in his pocket and is giving gestures through his right hand only.

Eye gestures-
The eyes are often called with some justification “the windows of the soul” as they can send
many different non-verbal signals. For the purpose of reading body language eye gesture is
quite useful as looking at people’s eyes are a normal part of communication.

Blinking is a natural process whereby the eyelids wipe the eyes clean. Blink rate tends to
increase when people are thinking more or are feeling stressed, this can be an indication of
lying as the liar has to keep thinking about what he is speaking. Blinking can also indicate
rapport, and people who are connected may blink at the same rate.

In the video we see that there are times when Shahrukh khan blinked more often. Firstly upon
the arrival, this can be attributed to the fact that most people feel a little stressed at the start of
a speech.

 Looking down-
Looking down involves not looking at the other person which hence may be a sign of
submission or it can also indicate that the person is feeling guilty. In many cultures where
eye contact is a rude or dominant signal, people will look down when talking with others in
order to show respect.

In the video we see that there are times when Shahrukh brags about himself and then looks
down so that he doesn’t sound too arrogant and the bragging of the words is met by the
humbleness by looking down. Shahrukh says that he had been made to understand that
there are lots of people in the gathering who have not seen his films and humorously says
that he feels sorry for the people who have not seen his work. Not only he looks down but
 at that time he also folds his hands in Namaste to show his humbleness. Another instance
when he says that his friends Chris and Juliet called him to speak about himself which
actually means that he would be talking about the present himself. Here again he looked
down.

 Eye contact-
Eye contact between people is a powerful act of communication and may show interest,
affection and dominance. Making eye contact-looking at a person acknowledges them and
shows that you are interested in them.

In the video we can see that Shahrukh has made eye contact most of the time and we can see
that his eyes move from left to right as he moves to make contact with everyone present there
which means that Shahrukh is trying to bring in everyone in the conversation .

Facial expressions-
A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscle beneath the skin of the
face. According to one set of theories facial expressions convey the emotional state of an
individual to observers.

In the video, Shahrukh khan shows many of the expressions which are related to what he is
saying at that point of time. When he jokes or says something humorous there is laughter on
his face which indicate happiness and when he talked about his son and the events which
happened to him there is grim and seriousness on his face. Not only this when he talks about
the future at the end of the speech there is a sense of opportunity in his voice as well as on his
face.