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Most of our communication with the people around us throughout the day is non-verbal, and most of the time we
are not aware of it. It is helpful when trying to understand others' thoughts and feelings.
When you are not interested in what the teacher is teaching in the class, you start looking around, disturb the
person sitting next to you, fiddle with a pen or paper, and observe little things in the class. Without using words
you are able to give the message to your teacher that lesson is very boring and you are not interested.
There are different types of non-verbal communication. Let us discuss about them.
Facial Expressions
Facial expressions are a very powerful way of conveying different forms of feelings and emotions. For effective
non-verbal communication, you should smile when you meet someone, match your expressions with your words,
and nod while listening. Being aware of your own facial expressions is very important in a professional environment.
In one of the studies, it was found that the most trustworthy facial expression involved a slight rise of the eyebrows
and a slight smile. Six basic facial expressions are—anger, fear, happy, disgust, sad, and surprise.
Body Language and Gestures
Body language means the position, gestures, and movement of the body to convey and interpret the attitude and
feelings of a person. Positive body language can help you get what you want, if you know how to use it, whereas
negative body language can make you miss out on opportunities or offend people you want to impress. One
theory on the origin of human language is called "Gestural Theory", which conveys that, speech originated from
gestures. Some of the common body languages and gestures are:
• Arms or legs across the chest.
• Rubbing or moving hands around.
• Standing with your hands clasped behind your back.
• Playing with your hair or nose.
• Putting your head in your hands.
Brainy Fact
The first modern book on body language appeared more than 350 years ago.
Eye Contact
Keeping a proper eye contact shows you are mentally present and
actively involved in communication. The way you look at someone
will reflect some of the strongest emotions and feelings during
a social conversation. Rolling your eyes expresses displeasure or
unhappiness with a situation. Eye contact helps you:
• Facilitate the connection with your audience in a meeting,
conference, presentation, etc.
• Improve your concentration.
• Give confidence and authority.
• Retain the important points of conversation.
• Express your emotions like sadness, happiness, surprise, fear, etc.
Communication Skills-I 25

