Verbal communication is the spoken word: "Hello, I'm glad to see you." Nonverbal communication is the message left unspoken: "I'd much rather be working at my desk than in this meeting right now." Gestures can either underscore spoken words or take away from them. Eye contact lets you see how someone else is responding to you. The eyes communicate love, hostility, interest and other feelings.
Definition
Human nonverbal communication relies on body language, gestures, posture and eye contact. People pick up on subtle, unspoken messages as they watch each other's posture, facial expressions and hand gestures, according to Help Guide. Nonverbal communications can play several roles. These include substitution, where nonverbal communication can more efficiently express a message than words; repetition, meaning the nonverbal communication repeats the verbal communication; accenting, where nonverbal communication underscores or accents a verbal message; contradiction, in which the nonverbal communication belies the verbal communication; and complementing, in which a nonverbal message adds to a verbal message, such as a caress on a child's cheek complementing a mother's words of love.
Significance
While verbal communication occupies a major role in human relationships, nonverbal communications help create a bigger impact on these relationships. It may help a woman more accurately read the words of her boyfriend, for instance. He may try to shrug off a disappointment, but his girlfriend, who has learned to read his body language, can see what unspoken messages he is sending, as well as the emotions he is feeling. Nonverbal communications help people learn to trust each other. A couple may learn to establish a deeper trust in one another when the nonverbal communication matches spoken words. Nonverbal communication helps the woman express her caring and empathy when she sees her boyfriend going through a disappointing experience, writes Help Guide.
Effects
Nonverbal communication affects the attitudes of people who are listening to and watching someone speak. The speaker in a business meeting can be talking about a new business practice or invention. Her nonverbal gestures, such as walking back and forth in front of her audience, her hand gestures and her facial expressions, help to further her message, according to U.S. Legal Definitions. If she is working to get her audience excited about a product her company is marketing, she wants to get them emotionally invested in that product. Effective nonverbal communication can help her meet this goal.
Types
Body language is one form of nonverbal human communication. A person's posture and expression can accurately convey what she is feeling and thinking, even if she is working to verbally express something else, writes U.S. Legal Definitions. For instance, she might be angry at her spouse, who unexpectedly brought someone home for dinner without notifying her in advance. While she might be verbalizing, "No, it's fine! I'll just pull some more meat out of the freezer," her body language is saying, "How could you do this without telling me? You know I don't like these surprises!" Her arms are crossed, and she might be tapping her foot with a frown on her face.
Function
Nonverbal human communication can draw people in or it can push them away. Using the example of a couple on a date, the man could be trying very hard to show that he is relaxed and calm. His body and body language convey otherwise. Because he is nervous, his eyes dart back and forth. Instead of taking a relaxed position in his chair, his shoulders are drawn up toward his ears and his smile looks more like a grimace. His date picks up on his tension and she becomes uncomfortable, looking forward to being dropped off at her front door. At the end of the evening, she avoids her date's kiss and responds noncommittally to his suggestion that they go out again. If he had been able to allow himself to relax, his body language would have conveyed more interest in her, and he might have been able to make another date with her.
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