COMPONENTS OF BODY LANGUAGE

COMPONENTS OF BODY LANGUAGE

Non-verbal communication has emerged as area of major interest to budding managers / leaders because they can exploit the knowledge successfully during negotiations and other major human interactions. Based on the developments in the broad field of body language, subject can be grouped in to the followings;

(1) Kinesics

Kinesics is the study of movements of different parts of the body

(2) Paralinguistics

Also called Para Language - it concerns with study of the role of the vocal aspects viz., volume, speed, modulation, clarity etc while speaking.

(3) Proxemics

It relates to the role and importance of personal or spatial distance when people interact socially.

(4) Chronomics

It relates to concept of time and its impact on humans in communication.

(5) Neuro Linguistic Programming

Effective communication is the perception of „what has been received‟ rather than „what has been delivered‟ and in this five human senses have significant role and influence. Neuro Linguistic Programming studies this aspect of human interaction.

ROLE OF APPEARNACES IN BODY LANGUAGE

ROLE OF APPEARNACES IN BODY LANGUAGE

In the context of non-verbal communication, appearances should include:
1. Clothing
 Hairdressing and style
 Jewellery and other accessories like watch, belt, shoes etc
 Cosmetics including choice of perfume
 Pair of spectacles
Initial thought may verge on the feeling that the above are quite unrelated to body language including movements, gestures, postures etc. However, a little deeper thought should convince that they are related to body language and can have serious influence on gestures, expressions and movements and change their meanings significantly.
It is said that a person is known by his dress and address. It emphasizes not only the kind of dress he wears but also the way he addresses his listeners. Perhaps it has some link with his postal address indicating his social status if he is residing in the upper class locality.

ADVANTAGES OF BODY LANGUAGE

ADVANTAGES OF BODY LANGUAGE

(1) Advantages of Body Language
Resourceful managers make effective use of the power of the body language. They are able to take several advantages by taking note of the signs and signals of body language:
1 It is a visual form of communication and is readily visible to the receivers of the message and facilitates decoding the message more accurately.
2 Body language happens simultaneous to oral communication and supplements it, especially in face-to-face communications.
3 Since body talks subconsciously, it adds intensity to the message. Without these gestures, expressions and postures, the communication may be bland.
4 People are generally mindful of the body language. Its proper use can enhance the environment for business negotiations.
5 It is a very good tool in face-to-face communication among small groups

IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

Researches have confirmed that verbal communication, both oral and written, primarily helps in conveying information and non-verbal communication assists in negotiating inter-personal attitudes and behaviour. In some cases, non-verbal communication even substitutes oral communication - a woman can give a man a „look to kill‟ without speaking a word.
In respect of body language and the rules it follows, human beings are at the same stage of development as other animals and are governed by the biological rules that control their actions in the form of gestures, expressions and sounds. It is rather interesting to know that human beings are rarely aware of their postures, expressions and sounds that accompany their oral messaging.
Persons trained well in body language can reap the following benefits:

(1) Securing reliable feedback

Body does not lie although human beings can easily be swayed in to telling things that are not true. A perceptive and trained speaker can easily find out if he is speaking above, below or in line with the level of understanding of the audience and change / modify the message and his style to suit.

(2) Distinguishing truth from lie

Sensitive observers of body language can capture cues from non-verbal communication and compare it with the verbal communication and if they do not match, they get the uncanny feeling that the speaker is not telling the truth. There is a famous maxim, „Words may lie but the body seldom does‟. Body language has been described as the language all speak but very few understand it.

(3) Women are more perceptive that men

Also called „women intuition‟, they have an innate ability to pick up and decipher non-verbal signs and signals and have an eye for details. No wonder, few husbands can lie successfully to their wives. Conversely, most women can pull a fast one on their men without their realizing it. Female intuition is very high among women who have grown up children. Mothers solely rely on non-verbal communication to interact with the child for the first one year or so.

BODY LANGUAGE THROUGH AGES

BODY LANGUAGE THROUGH AGES

Humans have been using body language to convey our thoughts since ancient times and have been aware of it as is evident from the following ancient sayings:
 Actions speak louder than words
 Watch out for the man whose stomach does not move when he laughs
 The eyes of men converse as much as their tongues, with the advantage that the ocular dialect needs no dictionary but is understood the world over
 Learning is acquired by reading books but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men and studying various editions of them
 Communication is like a dance, with every one engaged in the intricate and shared movements across many subtle dimensions, yet all strangely oblivious that they are doing so
 Mortals can keep no secrets. If their lips are silent, they gossip through their fingertips. Betrayal forces its way through every pose.
At any given moment, the brain assumes a certain attitude which gets communicated to people around through various parts of the body that respond instinctively with specific actions, gestures, expressions, sounds, movements, dress, perfume etc

Non-verbal CUES in Body Language

Non-verbal CUES in Body Language

Human beings have always communicated with other members of the species. Before spoken languages were developed, they used different parts of the body to convey their emotions, feelings and ideas. People have been aware of using parts of the body to convey their thoughts since times immemorial. Whenever brain assumes certain attitude, it gets communicated to people around through body parts as they respond intuitively with specific actions, gestures and expressions. Persons trained in body language can secure reliable feedback from their audience and distinguish when the speaker is telling a truth or lie. Women have eyes for details and are more receptive than men in picking up these cues and clues.
Objective of learning body language is to gain knowledge and modify own behaviour, change oral communication in line with the feedback and respond quickly for better total impact on the audience. Monitoring non-verbal cues enables people to improve interaction, establish rapport by learning what pleases / offends and bring about a subconscious motivation to conscious level for complete understanding with others.
Communication is 7 % verbal, 38 % vocal and 55 % non-verbal – nearly 80 % coming from the upper part of the body. Advantages to managers are that body language is visual, happens simultaneous to oral communication, makes message more intense, enhance environment for interaction / negotiation and is very effective in small gatherings. Limitations are that, being non-verbal, it is not taken as seriously as oral / written communications, gets influenced by local culture / customs, listeners / observers have to be very careful and attentive to notice and infer and is not very effective in large gatherings.
It is now recognized that besides body parts, clothing, hair styles, jewellery, accessories, cosmetics / perfumes and even pair of spectacles / sunglasses play significant role in body language. A person is also known by his dress and address.
Five major areas of study of body language are kinesics (movements of body parts), paralinguistic (voice power), proximics (concept of personal spaces), chronomics (impact of time and timing) and neuro linguistic programming (role and influence of human senses and mind).
Kinesics is the most important part of non-verbal communication and covers facial expressions including smiling, eye contacts and related gazing, glancing and eye blocking, hands, palms, handshakes, double handshakes, arms etc, thumbs / fingers and legs, body postures, standing / walking styles etc.

PERSUASIVE SPEECH

PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Besides flow of information, speaking involves persuading others to a common goal as that is the „core purpose‟ of communication. Sales persons persuade potential buyers to partake their products and services. Potential employees try to sell their skill sets and competence to future employers. Managers and leaders motivate their employees to reorient their mindsets leading to change in their attitude to the work and to the firm, resulting in higher performance and rewards.
When speakers try to persuade, motivate and guide listeners to a goal, the speeches are persuasive. All speakers must learn the importance of:
 How they physically present themselves?
 How they say things?
 What things they say?
Since students have to be good speakers, it will be very beneficial to them if they learn and master the following important elements for becoming effective, persuasive speakers:
(1) Demonstrated skills in public speaking and attentive listening and ability to articulate and use body language to the best effect
(2) Understanding of elements of persuasion
(3) Identification of elements of personal credibility
(4) Ability to analyze other speakers‟ speeches
(5) Confidence to outline the main ideas and thoughts on a subject
(6) Creating and crafting persuasive speeches

Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication comprises of all forms of communications other than the verbal one. Although world has become more aware of it in the last 50 years, its role and relevance is increasing at a higher rate than the requisite knowledge about it. Human body movements, postures, gestures including appearances etc are guided by inner thoughts, emotions and feelings. Just as any language uses a set of symbols to represent letters and words to convey the meanings, body language, mostly unconsciously, carries messages, attitudes, status, mood etc of the person. Although dress, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics are used to convey own feelings consciously but most persons doing so are unaware of their importance in interpersonal communications.
Body language has emerged as the richest language known and researches are adding more and newer dimensions to the concept and scope of non-verbal language.