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Body Posture
Body posture is the position of the human body and its alignment and orientation with respect to non-verbal
communication. During a conversation, the way you sit or stand and communicate your body postures to others
depends a lot on your attitude and emotional state. Before you start a conversation, standing straight and holding
your head high will have a great impact on the crowd.
The correct body postures for effective non-verbal communication are:
• Keep your shoulders straight and body relaxed.
• Sit straight while resting your hands and feet in a relaxed position.
• While standing, keep your hands by your sides.
Appearance
Appearance includes our choice of colour, body cleanliness, properly dressed, hairstyle, etc. When you are speaking in
public, you may be representing your organisation or just yourself. You should ensure that you are properly and neatly
dressed. It also increases your self-confidence and you will definitely feel good about yourself.
Personal Space and Proximity
Personal space refers to the appropriate distance during a conversation or space surrounding each person. Factors
like regional culture, gender, age, ethnicity, or topic of conversation affects a personal distance. For example, While
going on a lift, if a stranger enters, we feel uncomfortable and try making no eye contact and acting busy. Similarly, if a
classmate sits on your seat, you will try your best to convince him to go to some other place as we have a claim to our
own space and have a sense of control over it.
Paralanguage
Paralanguage includes aspects such as tone of voice, loudness, speed of speech, pausing, and even silence. This helps
you understand the context and the meaning of the words used in the communication.
A cold tone of voice might suggest that you are actually not fine and don't wish to discuss it. A bright and happy tone of
voice will reveal that you are happy with the things going around in your life. Silence or vocal pauses can communicate
hesitation, the need to gather thought or serve as a sign of respect.
Haptics/Touch
Haptics is the power of touch in communication. Each touch conveys emotions and feelings in a physical form with a
unique message like fear, disgust, love, encouragement, gratitude, sympathy, anger, pain, violence, etc. Studies have
shown that it plays a very important role in the proper development of babies, and in animals, it works as a sign of
love and care. You may begin your interaction with people by shaking hands and having casual conversation. This
interaction can help establish trust before you start addressing your audience.
Advantages of Non-Verbal Communication
Some of the advantages of non-verbal communication are:
• It is used as complimentary with verbal communication to enhance the effect of communication.
• Information can be easily presented in non-verbal communication through gesture, body language, etc.
For example, A teacher with a finger on the lips conveys not to talk and sit quietly, to the whole class. A person
addressing a crowd uses voice modulation to get the attention of the crowd. Sometimes nodding your head to say
yes is enough to convey the message.
• Using gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, etc. can be very helpful for individuals who are illiterate and
physically challenged, especially with hearing and speaking problems.
• It is useful and easy method of communication where no common language is required to master.
• It is a fast method of communication as gestures have more impact than words.
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