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.
