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Gestures or Body It is the movement the of body, * Avoid pointing at people with your
Language hands or head to express an idea or finger.
meaning. * Don’t stand with hands crossed.
* Pay attention to the speaker.
Posture It shows your confidence and * Always keep your body straight.
feelings. * While standing, keep hands by your
side and stay relaxed.
Touch It includes shaking hands and patting Shake hands confidently.
on the back. For example, a firm * Avoid using other touch gestures
handshake shows confidence. such as scratching or rubbing.
Space A proper distance should be * Maintaining a proper distance may
maintained while talking to a vary from person to person, whether
person, it generally depends on your your meeting is formal or informal.
closeness and intimacy with that
person.
Paralanguage It is the tone of our voice, volume * Maintain a proper pace, proper tone
and speed, which makes a difference and volume while speaking.
in communication.
Advantages o on- er al Communication
Following are the advantages of non-verbal communication:
By using visual, audio-visual and silent means of non-verbal communication, the message can be easily
presented.
Facial expressions and gestures are used to convey messages so that they can be easily understood by
illiterate people.
Non-verbal communication reaches the receiver very fast. So, it reduces the wastage of valuable time of
the communicator.
Disadvantages o on- er al Communication
Following are the disadvantages of Non-Verbal Communication:
Non-verbal communication is unclear and imprecise since, in this communication, there is no use of words
or language which expresses clear meaning to the receiver.
Long conversation and necessary explanations are not possible.
Sometimes, non-verbal communication is difficult to understand.
C o mmunica tio n
ACTIVITY: rganising an acting session
Divide your friends into groups of two. Ask one person from each group to come out one by one.
Give them a word or a title which can also be a movie name. Ask them to non-verbally enact the
given word, so that their friends in their group can guess it.
Communication Skills 23

