Five Nonverbal Communication Strategies

1) Non-language behaviours play a prominent role in communication. (Starkey,1969) They present more information than the words we say, through non-verbal channels such as facial expressions, gestures, eye-contact, proxemics, haptics, vocalics, smell, time and artifactics. Thus, in order to enhance communication with my committee members, I cannot rely heavily on verbal communication. Instead, I will need to engage the use of five non-verbal communication strategies.

Many researchers believe that the richest form of non-verbal communication is facial expression. According to Ekman and Friesen, our face is divided into three sections. The first section includes the brow and the forehead. The middle section comprises of the eyes, eyelids and nasal passage and the lower region consists of the mouth, rest of the nose, cheeks and chin.

Our self-concept consists of gender identity, social identity and cultural identity. Gender identity refers to personality characteristics and expectations associated with a person’s biological sex in a given culture. Social identity is derived from group memberships and the identification of self within a social group. Culture holds beliefs, values, stereotypes and norms that shape an individual’s cultural identity. (Hewitt, 2002)

Our presentation of self involves three aspects. The first factor is the people whom we communicate with. They determine which particular parts of ourselves we want to show. This is also known as “facework”. Ting Tooney defines face as the presentation of a civilized front to others within interconnecting relationships in a given culture. (Tooney, 1994) Negotiating face involves verbal and non-verbal maneuvers, self-preservation acts and impression management strategies. In presenting ourselves to others, we alter our face based on their responses to