Nonverbal Communication

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Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication and language are different. There has been some research claiming that humans used nonverbal communication before they developed a language. Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages without using words by means of facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, postures, physical appearance, and tones of voice. The concept of nonverbal communication is complex. It is almost impossible to know exactly what it includes, but the majority of our talking is done without speaking.
No one can speak more than one word at a time, but nonverbal messages can be sent in multiple ways at the same time. The meaning of nonverbal messages differs between cultures (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119), races, and sometimes gender (Burgoon and Saine, The Unspoken Dialogue: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication, 130). Nonverbal and verbal communications sometimes contradict each other because people are sometimes unaware of the nonverbal messages that they send (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 119).
The movement of the body makes up a language, in which certain movements have specific meanings. Kinesics focuses on how people communicate through movement and posture, gestures, and the face and eyes (Morreale, Spitzberg, and Barge, Human Communication: Motivation, Knowledge, & Skills, 124). Kinesics refers to all types of body movement, except for touch, that may act as nonverbal communication. Body movement and posture are known as body language.
Gestures are large and small movements of the hands and arms that send messages. Gestures complement our speech, bridge our silences, send unspoken messages, or express our approval or disapproval (Lamb and Watson, Body Code: The Meaning in Movement, 1). Negative gestures like fidgeting lets others know that a speaker is...