The Primary Function of Nonverbal Communication is to Convey Meaning
Brent Jones
The title of this article is also the title of Chapter 10 in my new book, soon to be released, “Mastering the Art of Communication: The Power of Precision in Language.”
The chapter begins: A primary function of nonverbal communication is to convey meaning by reinforcing, substituting for, or contradicting verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is also used to influence others and regulate conversational flow.
Your nonverbal communication cues—how you listen, look, move, and react—tell the person you're communicating with whether you care if you're being truthful and how well you're listening. Your nonverbal signals match your words and increase trust, clarity, and rapport.
We use nonverbal communication to:
• To Convey Meaning and Provide Information. ...
• To Regulate Interactions.
• To Express Our Identities.
• To Indicate Relational Standing.
People use this type of communication to:
• Contradicts verbal messages
• Reinforces or emphasizes the verbal message
• Regulate the flow of verbal communication
• Complements their verbal messages
• Substitute for their spoken words
Nonverbal communication is a crucial aspect of human interaction. It involves using body language, gestures, facial expressions, and other nonverbal cues to convey emotions, attitudes, and intentions.
Professor Mehrabian Albert Mehrabian, Ph.D. well known for his studies in nonverbal communication. He believes there are three core elements in the effective face-to-face communication of emotions or attitudes: nonverbal behavior (facial expressions, for example), tone of voice, and the literal meaning of the spoken word. These three essential elements, Mehrabian argues, account for how we convey our liking or disliking of another person. His particular focus is on the importance of such nonverbal ‘clues’ when they appear to conflict with the words used and the tone in which they are spoken. Mehrabian developed his early theories on this subject during the 1960s. Drawing on the findings of two experiments he conducted in 1967, he formulated the 7-38-55% communication rule.
Professor Mehrabian's findings as typically cited or applied:
• 7% of messages about feelings and attitudes are in spoken words.
• 38% of messages about feelings and attitudes are paralinguistic (how words are said).
• 55% of messages about feelings and attitudes are in facial expressions.
The Professor’s studies did not account for the profound changes in communication since the 1960s and assumed some things that likely changed the outcome.
For example, when he used test subjects, he had a speaker present a word, but he wasn’t asking about the words at all from those in the test, but rather the speaker’s intent. When asked that, the audience responded that it decoded the intent behind the speaker’s words from visual clues 55 % of the time and from the tone of voice 38 % of the time. Only 7 % of the time did the audience go to the actual words.
The words we use are less important than our feelings and attitudes about the words and, generally, when we present them. It is also clear that body language, especially eye contact and facial expressions, are far more influential than words.
Body language offers the speaker and the audience a great deal of insight into how words are received. The speaker also uses body language demonstrated by the audience to judge and moderate the impact they are making.
Your body language is directly related to your mind; according to Dale Carnegie, well known for his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and a renowned professor at Harvard University, stated that our body language not only impacts others but has a tremendous impact on our behavior.
Nonverbal language is the most honest form of communication because the body rarely lies. People will first believe the nonverbal when you say one thing and do another (when your verbal and nonverbal language is not aligned)