Body Language

With the “tools” of nonverbal communication, we are able to convey subtle and fuzzy information such as happiness, disappointment, anger or love that would otherwise be difficult and sometimes impossible to transmit with the only use of words.

If, for example, our sport team wins, we start jumping around the room (a sign of joy) raising our hands up in the air (this means: I am big, I am powerful, I am better than you).
These are nonverbal messages that would not be so intense if expressed solely with words.

Moreover, with the combination of these two “transportation media”, verbal communication and body language, the information we send will be correct, with minimal distortion and with a reduced risk of wrong interpretation. The nonverbal part of the communication will function as a confirmation and a completion of the verbal part and this will help the receiver in the decoding of the information.

If, as in a previous example, we tell someone “nice to see you”, he or she can understand the real meaning of our message by reading our body language:

• Our facial expression -do we look relaxed, nervous, angry-
• The way we shake his or her hand -do we try to crunch it or is it just a regular business meeting handshake-
• The tone of our voice -is it polite or anxious-
• Etc...

Therefore, if we say the aforementioned sentence with a bored facial expression and an anxious tone of voice, the other person will probably understand that we are not so happy to meet him, even tough we said the contrary with our words.