Why Are Your Nonverbal Cues So Important At Work/In Business?

Because nonverbal cues are sent primarily from the “emotional brain” rather than the neo cortex they create more honest and revealing messages. Nonverbal cues can help business people determine others’ motivations and analyze business interactions with much more richness; depth and insight than can come from simply relying on spoken or printed words.

Professionals who understand nonverbal cues can evaluate what their clients, customers and co-workers are really telling them in order to know how to better meet their needs—to give a better price, offer more (or fewer) details, or wrap it up and go for the close. 

For instance, in a sales setting, a prospect may be saying, “Yes, go on,” but if her arms and legs are crossed with one foot bouncing towards the door, her nonverbal signals are sending a different—and much more reliable—message than her words. Her body language may be saying, “I’m not pleased with this” or “I’m not too sure about the way it’s being presented” or “Speed it up, I’m ready to get out of here.”

Employers can evaluate the messages their employees are sending to customers, clients or fellow workers and know whether that employee is hurting or helping business. And employees can learn to read the subtle signals a boss is sending in order to adjust their behavior accordingly.

 In power-differential relationships, such as with superiors and subordinates, successful interactions depend on both parties being able to use and read body language. Superiors need to know how to make their subordinates comfortable while communicating their desires in order to get results. Subordinates need to know how to read the boss’s subtle signals to discern the best way to approach professional situations.

 

Read the words below and notice how notice the meaning can change dramatically depending on your nonverbal cues such as vocal delivery and your facial expressions and gestures.

“I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s no big deal. “  

“You did it.” 

“No.” 

“Please let’s forget all about it.”  

“Whatever you want is fine with me.”   

“The deadline is Sept 26^th.”

Did you notice a difference? Did you see how you communicate your message with more than your words? The true meaning of a message comes from the timing, the situation or environment, the facial expression, gestures, posture, space and voice – not the words.  Many times people use the right positive words with a negative delivery and hide behind the words.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

What is a Nonverbal Cue?

A journalist at Forbes asked me today to define what a nonverbal cue is.  Please read my answer below.

 

What’s a nonverbal cue?

Nonverbal cues include all the communication between people that do not have a direct verbal translation.  Nonverbal cues are all body movements, body orientation, nuances of the voice (called Paralanguage) facial expressions, details of dress, and choice and movement of objects that communicate.

Time and space can also be perceived as having nonverbal cues.  If you send a text on a Saturday night requesting your team work on a project the fact that it is a text is a cue, the day of the week and the time of day the text is sent all are nonverbal cues. Conveying things about you as the sender and what the receiver feels about them and about the subject of the request.

To clarify the statement that nonverbal cues include all the communication between people that do not have a direct verbal translation. So for example the OK sign you make with your hands is considered verbal communication while an upward movement you may make with your hands as you say ok is nonverbal communication.

 How do you define Nonverbal Communication? Here is the list of cues and behaviors under each separate category of nonverbal communication.

Kinesics – body movement and placement, including gesture, leaning, facial expressions.  kinesics: see body language.  

Paralanguage - voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style

Prosodics - features such as rhythm, intonation, stress

Vocalics  par·a·lan·guage
n.
The set of nonphonemic properties of speech, such as speaking tempo, vocal pitch, and intonational contours, that can be used to communicate attitudes or other shades of meaning.

Noun 1. - vocalizations other than words, such as sighs and moans

Haptics - touch

Proxemics  prox·e·mics
n. (used with a sing. verb)
The study of the cultural, behavioral, and sociological aspects of spatial distances between individuals. - spatial distances

Chronemics -time

Olfactics - smell, pheromones 

Artifacts  artifacts

see specimen artifacts. - use of objects such as cell phones, purses, cigarettes

Technics - A label I have given to the nonverbal aspects of written texts, and electronic communication font choice, handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, length of text, physical layout of a page and the timing of messages.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.