The following are items that are important in non-verbal communication and they should be put into consideration during non-verbal communication:
The space or distance between two people in a non-verbal communication situation affects the way each other’s reception of the message transmitted from the other. Too much distance always has a negative impact and close proximity also may have a positive or negative bearing on the communication. Close proximity may be perceived as friendliness or a threat and invasion of private space.
The way in which your orientation relative to another individual in any situation affects the reception of the non-verbal communication. The orientation in terms of face to face, back to back, side to side or any other angle influences how the person feels about you. It may make them feel threatened, demeaned or considered. The most desirable orientation is a face to face view.
The way one takes posture corresponds to their facial expression. This kind of output influences the recipient’s perception of you. A contorted or unusual posture shows sickness, pain, sadness or fear. Posture tells a lot about the emotion of the sender.
Gestures can have explicit or vague meaning, it is therefore important to know the kind of gesture that one is using in a given situation as they depict emotion towards a given subject or person.
- Facial Expression
Facial expression is the most basic indicator of emotion. Most facial expressions are explicit and one can assign a particular meaning or emotion to a given facial expression. It is thus careful to know the kind of facial expression one is showing.
- Eye Contact
Eye contact can be perceived as a facial expression or gesture. Eye contact can show the gravity of a situation or feeling. Prolonged eye contact may be considered intrusive and threatening while too little eye contact depicts one who has a secret or something to hide.
- Direct Contact
This is in the form of body contact. It is crucial in strengthening the above aspects. It may be considered intrusive and threatening or caring and tender when supplemented carefully with the other aspects.
In the given situation, when eye contact is maintained, the patient will gain a sense of trust ad concern. When it is not maintained the patient might feel ignored and unwanted. Eye contact is essential in calming the patient down to open up.
When touch occurs the message can either be perceived as threatening or caring, warm and kind. It has to be done carefully to put across the right message. A gentle and soft touch will give across the message of care and concern, which is much needed in the situation.
Facial expression is key in showing the emotion and perception to the patient. When a smile is maintained, the patient would feel a sense of welcome and kindness from you. It would assure the patient that they are safe and cared about.
Non-verbal communication forms 93% of communication, as such it is crucial to respond to non-verbal communication. For example, in this case the patient appearing in torn clothes, suggests she has gone through a physical ordeal. The fact that she is hunched over and keeps her arms in front of her body confirms this and suggests she is in some considerable amount of pain. Her murmuring and inability to maintain eye contact suggests fear and genuine concern for her safety. It is crucial to attend to these signs and react accordingly in a reassuring and caring way.
Non-verbal communication can either show positive or negative emotion. This can become a hindrance to communication as all that the recipient perceives is the signs and signals from the non-verbal communication.
Barriers to non-communication may take the following forms:
Physical barriers such as object or people can be obstructions to non-verbal communication
Ignorance can be a barrier as well. When one chooses to ignore the signs depicted by another is a huge barrier.
Personality may be a barrier. Some personalities are very animated and tend to use a lot of gestures. This may be misjudged by other people.
Lifestyle can be a hindrance. It is difficult to correctly gauge the information from an individual when their lifestyle comes into play. A good example may be in this scenario where one can perceive the patient as a drug addict as they depict signs associated with drug addicts.
Hinde, R. A. (1975). Non-verbal communication. Cambridge Unbiversity Press.
Malandro, L. A., & Barker, L. L. (1983). Non verbal communication. Don Mills: Addison-Wesley.
Sinha, M. (2012). Non verbal communication. Jaipur: Pointer Publishers.