Verbal and non-verbal communication

Even an ordinary greeting can tell a lot about a person, even with a minimum of spoken words. The thing is that we use not only verbal techniques, but also different types of non-verbal communication. That is, intentions and mood can be demonstrated without using speech. Of course, it is not easy to learn such a "reading of people", but it's worth starting to recognize different methods of communication.

Features of verbal communication

Most often this way of interaction is divided into two types: oral and written speech. But there is also an internally directed speech, which we use when we think about our speech or mentally compose the text of the message. Consolidates all kinds of conservative styles of communication - and in a letter, and in a personal conversation, we use certain established words and phrases. So it has always been, but recently there has been an interesting tendency to simplify the written speech when communicating through Internet services. Many etiquette rules are discarded, without which the information value of the message will not be affected.

There is also dactyl speech, which refers to verbal methods, but also has elements of non-verbal communication. It is a finger alphabet used by people who can not interact with others orally.

Another point that is important in the conversation is the presence of feedback, without it a person can not be sure that his information is correctly perceived by the second party. To understand this, control questions can be used, as the teachers do. Also, the nonverbal communication methods that people often use unconsciously can also suggest the effectiveness of verbal impact. Of course, some manage to perfectly manage themselves, not giving out their true attitude to what is happening, but most do not have such abilities, so postures and gestures can bring a lot of interesting information about another person.

Types and etiquettes of non-verbal communication

To the interaction of this kind are all non-verbal means of communication. The main ones are gestures, facial expressions and pantomime.

  1. Gestures are one of the oldest ways to exchange information, invented even a language based on movements of the head and hands. But even without its use, gesticulation can say a lot. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to its intensity, the higher it is, the more one worries about the topic of conversation. But this indicator is not universal for representatives of different nations. Thus, the most active use of gestures by the Mexicans, followed by the Italians, they are greatly behind the French, well, the most reserved are the Finns.
  2. Mimicry is a movement of the facial muscles, which tells about the emotional state of the interlocutor. According to the results of the research the person transmits about 10-15% of all information, and the number of descriptions of his expressions exceeds 20 thousand. The main attention should be paid to the lips and eyebrows, also important is the look. An attempt to escape from visual contact can be seen as an attempt to lie or a bad attitude towards the interlocutor. A close look is a sign of high interest, mistrust or challenge. We must understand that this indicator is influenced by nationality. Residents of the southern regions look more often at others, and people from Asia, for example, the Japanese consider this a manifestation of impoliteness, trying to focus the look in the neck. Also there are different types of eye contact: business (fixation at the forehead level), social (distance between the mouth and eyes) and intimate (from the chin to the chest level).
  3. Pantomimika includes postures, gait, posture and general movements of the whole body. Gait can tell you about the mood, health and character of a person. For example, a light walking style speaks of cheerfulness, and hard - about aggressiveness or a state of anger. Positions hold a great informational load, there are about a thousand of them. The tension of the position of the body will speak of a subordinate status in relation to others present. Everyone knows about the open posture, which corresponds to the readiness to cooperate, but not everyone remembers that the closed pose not only indicates disbelief or disagreement of the interlocutor, but also prevents him from absorbing about a third of the incoming information.

Also for non-verbal interaction, touching is important (handshakes, pats on the shoulder), timbre of voice and rhythm of speech, intonation, pauses, inclusion of laughter, breath of the speaker. The totality of all these moments allows you to get an idea of ​​the nature and some habits of a person after several minutes of communication.