4.4 Nonverbal Messages

Nonverbal Communication in Professional Contexts

Although important, there is rarely any training or instruction related to nonverbal communication, and a consistent issue that has been reported by employees has been a difficulty with mixed messages coming from managers. Interpreting contradictory verbal and nonverbal messages is challenging in any context and can have negative effects on job satisfaction and productivity. As a supervisor who gives positive and negative feedback regularly and/or in periodic performance evaluations, it is important to be able to match nonverbal signals with the content of the message. For example, appropriate nonverbal cues can convey the seriousness of a customer or coworker complaint, help ease the delivery of constructive criticism, or reinforce positive feedback. Professionals also need to be aware of how context, status, and power intersect with specific channels of nonverbal communication. For example, even casual touching of supervisees, mentees, or employees may be considered condescending or inappropriate in certain situations. A well-deserved pat on the back is different from an unnecessary hand on the shoulder to say hello at the start of a business meeting.

In professional contexts, managers and mentors with nonverbal decoding skills can exhibit sensitivity to others’ nonverbal behavior and better relate to employees and mentees. In general, interpreting emotions from nonverbal cues can have interpersonal and professional benefits. One study found that salespeople who were skilled at recognizing emotions through nonverbal cues sold more products and earned higher salaries (Byron et al., 2007). Aside from bringing financial rewards, nonverbal communication also helps create supportive climates. Bosses, supervisors, and service providers like therapists can help create rapport and a positive climate by consciously mirroring the nonverbal communication of their employees or clients. In addition, mirroring the nonverbal communication of others during a job interview, sales pitch, or performance evaluation can help put the other person at ease and establish rapport. Much of our mirroring is natural, so trying to overcompensate may be detrimental, but engaging in self-monitoring and making small adjustments could be beneficial (DePaulo, 1992).

You can also use nonverbal communication to bring positive attention to yourself. Being able to nonverbally encode turn-taking cues can allow people to contribute to conversations at relevant times, and getting an idea or a piece of information or feedback in at the right time can help bring attention to your professional competence. Being able to encode an appropriate amount of professionalism and enthusiasm during a job interview can also aid in desired impression formation since people make judgments about others’ personalities based on their nonverbal cues. A person who comes across as too enthusiastic may be seen as pushy or fake, and a person who comes across as too relaxed may be seen as unprofessional and unmotivated.

Nonverbal skills are important in the workplace, even if working remotely. Lufkin (2022) mentions that employees who do not turn on their cameras during virtual meetings can experience a lower promotion rate due to the reduction in nonverbal communication efforts.

All About Nonverbals

Nonverbal communication is the process of conveying a message without the use of words; it relates to the dynamic process of communication, the perception process, listening, and verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is fluid and fast, universal, confusing, and contextual. It can add to or replace verbal communication and can be intentional or unintentional. Nonverbal communication communicates feelings and attitudes, and people tend to believe nonverbal messages more than verbal ones.

Nonverbals say everything without saying anything.  They can convey messages that can either strengthen or detract from what you are saying. Even if you don’t intend to send nonverbal messages, your appearance, every movement, your facial expressions, and even the nuances in your voice convey meaning. In written communication, nonverbals exist through formatting, punctuation uses, emoticons, and even timing.  Think about a time when you saw a friend read your message, but it’s been an hour, and they still haven’t responded. Time is a major aspect of nonverbal communication that is often overlooked.

Types of Nonverbals

Common nonverbal messages we will explore have to do with body movements  (kinesics), facial expressions and eye contact, artifacts and appearance, paralanguage (vocalics), space (proxemics), and time.

Body Movements

The study of body movements, called kinesics, is key to understanding nonverbal communication. Since your actions will significantly contribute to the effectiveness of your business interactions, let’s examine four distinct ways body movements that complement, repeat, regulate, or replace your verbal messages.

Body movements can complement the verbal message by reinforcing the main idea. For example, you may be providing an orientation presentation to a customer about a software program. As you say, “Click on this tab,” you may also initiate that action. Your verbal and nonverbal messages reinforce each other. You can also reinforce the message by repeating it. If you first say, “Click on the tab,” and then motion with your hand to the right, indicating that the customer should move the cursor arrow with the mouse to the tab, your repetition can help the listener understand the message.

In addition to repeating your message, body movements can also regulate conversations. Immediacy cues such as nodding your head to indicate that you are listening may encourage the customer to continue asking questions. Holding your hand up, palm out, may signal them to stop and provide a pause where you can start to answer. Posture can also play into how you are perceived to be attentive or withdrawn from your work.  It can convey an air of confidence or desire to engage.

Body movements also substitute or replace verbal messages. Ekman and Friesen found that facial features communicate to others our feelings, but our body movements often reveal how intensely we experience those feelings (Ekman & Friesen, 1967). For example, if the customer makes a face of frustration while trying to use the software program, they may need assistance. If they push away from the computer and separate themselves physically from interacting with it, they may be extremely frustrated. Learning to gauge feelings and their intensity as expressed by customers takes time and patience, and your attention to them will improve your ability to facilitate positive interactions.

Facial Expressions & Eye Contact

Facial expressions involve using your face to display feelings and attitudes nonverbally. They may reinforce, or contradict, the spoken word, and their impact cannot be underestimated. As in other body movements, your facial expressions should come naturally, but giving them due thought and consideration can keep you aware of how you are communicating the nonverbal message.

Facial expressions should reflect the tone and emotion of your verbal communication. If you are using humor in your speech, you will likely smile and wink to complement the amusement expressed in your words. Smiling will be much less appropriate if your presentation involves a serious subject such as cancer or car accidents. Consider how you want your audience to feel in response to your message, and identify the facial gestures you can use to promote those feelings. Then practice in front of a mirror so that the gestures come naturally.

The single most important facial gesture (in mainstream U.S. culture) is eye contact (Seiler & Beall, 2000). Eye contact refers to the speaker’s gaze that engages the audience members. It can vary in degree and length, and in many cases, is culturally influenced. In some cultures, there are understood behavioral expectations for male gaze directed toward females, and vice versa. In a similar way, children may have expectations of when to look their elders in the eye, and when to gaze down. Depending on the culture, both may be nonverbal signals of listening. Understanding your audience is critical when it comes to nonverbal expectations.

When giving a presentation, avoid looking over people’s heads, staring at a point on the wall, or letting your eyes dart all over the place. The audience will find these mannerisms unnerving. They will not feel as connected, or receptive, to your message and you will reduce your effectiveness. Move your eyes gradually and naturally across the audience, both close to you and toward the back of the room. Try to look for faces that look interested and engaged in your message. Do not focus on only one or two audience members, as audiences may respond negatively to perceived favoritism. Instead, try to make as much eye contact as possible across the audience. Keep it natural but give it deliberate thought.

Eye contact can also direct conversation.  Visual contact in a group may appear as an invitation to speak, so looking at someone intently or avoiding looking at anyone may direct where a conversation is going. 

Artifacts

Artifacts are forms of decorative ornamentation that are chosen to represent self-concept. They can include rings, tattoos, and even nail polish, but may also include brand names and logos. From clothes to cars, watches, briefcases/purses, and even eyeglasses, what we choose to surround ourselves with communicates something about our sense of self. They may project gender, role or position, class or status, personality, and group membership or affiliation. Paying attention to a customer’s artifacts can give you a sense of the self they want to communicate, and may allow you to more accurately adapt your message to meet their needs. In your line of work, a tattoo might be an important visual aid, or it might detract from your effectiveness as a business communicator. Body piercings may express individuality, but you need to consider how they will be interpreted by employers and customers.  Some workplaces have dress codes, personal appearance standards, or hygiene requirements.  It’s good practice to check with your organization or workplace to understand these standards.

Paralanguage

Paralanguage is the exception to the definition of nonverbal communication. You may recall that we defined nonverbal communication as not involving words, but paralanguage exists when we are speaking, using words. The voice can convey a lot.  Even if you can’t hear what someone is saying, you can generally get an idea of how they are feeling if you hear how they are saying it. Paralanguage involves verbal and nonverbal aspects of speech that influence meaning, including tone, intensity, pausing, and even silence. Vocal variety, the variation of vocal expression through pitch, tone, volume, rate, helps keep your audience engaged. “Strong vocal variety can greatly enhance your effectiveness as a communicator” (Brown, 2020).

Perhaps you’ve also heard of a pregnant pause, a silence between verbal messages that is full of meaning. Silence or vocal pauses can communicate hesitation, indicate the need to gather thought, or serve as a sign of respect. “A well-placed pause adds variety, drama and clarity to your speech” by interrupting the cadence and bring the audience back into an active listening state as well as emphasizing the information after the pause (Brown, 2019).

Keith Basso quotes an anonymous source as stating, “It is not the case that a man who is silent says nothing” (Basso, 1970). Sometimes we learn just as much, or even more, from what a person does not say as what they do say. In addition, both Basso and Susan Philips found that traditional speech among Native Americans places a special emphasis on silence (Philips, 1983).

Space

Space, in the realm of nonverbal communication, encompasses the distance between individuals and objects, bearing significance in social dynamics and cultural norms. Space is often associated with social rank and is an important part of business communication. Who gets the corner office? Why is the head of the table important and who gets to sit there?

Edward Hall served  in the European and South Pacific Regions in the Corps of Engineers during World War II and traveled around the globe. As he moved from one place to another, he noticed that people in different countries kept different distances from each other. Different cultures exhibit varied expectations regarding personal space, with urban settings often allowing for closer proximity compared to rural or culturally distinct environments. Hall wondered why that was and began to study what he called proxemics, or the study of the human use of space and distance in communication (Hall, 1963).

Hall (1969) identified two key dimensions of space: territory and personal space. Territory denotes one's claimed or defended space, evident in physical markers like fences or room decor. Meanwhile, personal space refers to the invisible boundary surrounding individuals, impacting everyday interactions such as stairway navigation or seating arrangements.

Understanding and adhering to spatial norms enhances effective communication, whether in interpersonal interactions or public speaking engagements. When you occupy space in a presentation setting, the audience will expect to behave in certain ways. If you talk to the screen behind you while displaying a PowerPoint presentation, the audience may perceive that you are not paying attention to them. If you stand behind a podium, you may have to try harder to connect with the audience because there is a barrier in the space between you and the audience.

Time

Do you know what time it is? How aware you are of time varies by culture and normative expectations of adherence (or ignorance) of time. Some people, and the communities and cultures they represent, are very time oriented. The Euro Railways trains in Germany are famous for departing and arriving according to the schedule. In contrast, if you take the train in Argentina, you’ll find that the schedule is more of an approximation of when the train will leave or arrive.

Chronemics is the study of how we refer to and perceive time. “Time is money” is a common saying across many cultures and reveals a high value for time. In social contexts, it often reveals social status and power. Who are you willing to wait for? A doctor for an office visit when you are sick? A potential employer for a job interview? Your significant other or children? Sometimes we get impatient, and our impatience underscores our value for time.

When you give a presentation, does your audience have to wait for you? Time is a relevant factor in the communication process in your speech. The best way to show your audience respect is to honor the time expectation associated with your speech. Always try to stop speaking before the audience stops listening; if the audience perceives that you have “gone over time,” they will be less willing to listen. This, in turn, will have a negative impact on your ability to communicate your message. Suppose you are presenting a speech that has three main points. Your audience expects you to regulate the time and attention to each point, but if you spend all your time on the first two points and rush through the third, your speech won’t be balanced and will lose rhythm. The speaker occupies a position of some power, but it is the audience that gives them that position. By displaying respect and maintaining balance, you will move through your points more effectively.

When you order a meal at a fast-food restaurant, what are your expectations for how long you will have to wait? When you order a pizza online for delivery, when do you expect it will arrive? If you order cable service for your home, when do you expect it might be delivered? In the first case, you might measure the delivery of a hamburger in a matter of seconds or minutes, and perhaps thirty minutes for pizza delivery, but you may measure the time from your order to working cable in days or even weeks. You may even have to be at your home from 8 a.m. to noon, waiting for its installation. The expectations vary by context, and we often grow frustrated in a time-sensitive culture when the delivery does not match our expectations.

In the same way, how long should it take to respond to a customer’s request for assistance or information? If they call on the phone, how long should they be on hold? How soon should they expect a response to an e-mail? As a skilled business communicator, you will know to anticipate normative expectations and do your best to meet those expectations more quickly than anticipated. Your prompt reply or offer of help in response to a request, even if you cannot solve the issue on the spot, is often regarded positively, contributing to the formation of positive communication interactions.

Attributions: 

Information for the 'Nonverbal Communication in Professional Contexts' section was adapted from 

Communication in the Real World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. 

Information for other portions of this section was adapted from 

Business Communication for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. 

References:

Basso, K. A. (1970). To give up on words: Silence in western Apache culture. In D. Carbaugh (Ed.), Cultural communication and intercultural contact (pp. 301–318). Laurence Erlbaum.

Brown, B. (2020, September). Why vocal variety is so valuable. Toastmasters International. https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2020/sept/toolbox-why-vocal-variety-is-so-valuable

Brown, B. (2019, July). Silence is golden. Toastmasters International. https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2019/july/silence-is-golden

Byron, K., Terranova, S. & Nowicki Jr., S. (2007). Nonverbal emotion recognition and salespersons: Linking ability to perceived and actual success. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 37(11), pp. 2600–2619.

DePaulo, P. J. (1992) Applications of Nonverbal Behavior Research in Marketing and Management. In Applications of Nonverbal Behavior Theories and Research, ed. Robert S. Feldman. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. (1967). Head and body cures in the judgment of emotions: A reformulation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 24, 711–724.  

Hall, E. (1966). The hidden dimension. Doubleday.

Hall, E. T. (1963). Proxemics: The study of man’s spacial relations and boundaries. In Iago Galdston (Ed.), Man’s image in medicine and anthropology (pp. 422–445). International Universities Press.

Lufkin, B. (2022, July 13). Is it up to employees to fix the remove work promotion gap? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220713-is-it-up-to-employees-to-fix-the-remote-work-promotion-gap

Philips, S. (1983). The invisible culture: Communication in the classroom and community on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Waveland Press.

Seiler, W., & Beall, M. (2000). Communication: Making connections (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.