success of business through nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication also helps in the success of business. If a businessperson is able to understand other cultures, countries nonverbal communication signals then he will be able to operate his business in those countries also. Good and successful  businessperson understands others' nonverbal messages and able to convey his messages by using appropriate gestures. body postures, facial expressions, space, attitude etc.

Examples of nonverbal communication in the work place

In business, nonverbal communication occurs on a daily basis. There is no area or place in a business where nonverbal signals are not used to convey messages. Pepole in the same business tend to sit side by side but the competitors face one another. Eye contact during the conversation or business meeting express interestor disinterest of listener. Handshake is interpreted as confidence, other touches are looked as wrong. Closed legs or folded arms interpreted as relaxation or resistance to the ideas 

Uses of nonverbal communication

Personality and status: Nonverbal messages show that who you are. This includes your dressing style, tidiness, business space; business documents etc. all these signals express positive or negative messages about you to others.

 

Emotions: Emotions are expressed through nonverbal communication. Your voice and body tell better about you than your words.

 

Uses of nonverbal communication

There are many uses of nonverbal communication:

Modification: Nonverbal communication has a great impact on what you are saying or what you want to say. Nonverbal cues like Positioning of body, movements of hands and head, voice pitch and tone, speed of speaking. These all helps in modifying a speech.

Replacing: Gestures of hand and fingers, facial expressions, nodding with head, pointing with hands, head or whole body etc. replacing the verbal communication. These are mainly done for some kind of request, approval, attitudes and intent.

Controlling conversation: Nonverbal signals are used in controlling conversation e.g. speaking louder or faster to retain control, pausing to allow others to speak, looking away or moving back to show dis interest.

techniques for improving nonverbal communication skills in the workplace

Pay attention to your voice: As a speaker you should pay attention to your voice pitch or tone, because voice changes the meaning of the word. You should avoid talking too fast. Your voice should be clearly audible to the audience and neither talk too loud nor too soft.

 

Give appropriate facial expression while talking with the staff members: Facial expressions play an important role, so while talking with the staff member use nodding for giving approval of something, smiling, looking intent or concerned.

 

Increase knowledge about other cultures: For a successful business, it is very necessary that businesspersons should respect other cultures. You should learn to widen your knowledge about other cultures. This helps you to understand their nonverbal messages e.g. If you go for a making a deal in Germany.  In Germany, forming a thumb and forefinger into a circle for success would be in deep trouble. However, this is not considered same in other countries.

Techniques for improving nonverbal communication skills in the workplace

• Reduce or eliminate physical barriers: It is very important to reduce or eliminate physical barriers between sender and receiver. It is more effective to arrange chairs in circle while meeting rather than giving lecture from behind the lectern or desk. This helps in proper feedback.

 

• Improve your decoding skills: As a listener, you should pay attention to facial expressions, body gestures. By giving close attention to unspoken behaviour you can improve your nonverbal communication skills. 

   

• Ask questions for more information: When you are confused about verbal meanings and nonverbal cues, do not be afraid to ask any question. It is good idea to clarify your confusion by seeking additional information. You can say like, “so what you are saying is that…."

Techniques for improving nonverbal communication skills

• Maintain eye contact: In Canada and US, eye contact is very important in different types of business deals, job interviews, presentation etc. Appropriate eye contact enables you as a sender to know receiver’s interest, attentiveness, credibility. Receiver becomes able to judge the speaker’s confidence, sincerity etc. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain appropriate eye contact in order to improve nonverbal communication skills in the work place.

  
  

• Use posture to show interest: For effective nonverbal communication, you should have control on your body posture.  It includes your walking style, standing position, sitting position etc. on the work place. Leaning toward the speaker shows interest, attraction. On the other hand pulling away and shrinking back express fear, lack of confidence etc. erect posture also conveys a message of confidence, competence, diligence and strength.

   

• Space and business documents: You should keep in mind that the appearance of business documents, business space and yourself is also very important. This conveys positive or negative message about you to others.

   

• Take help of family and friends: To become more efficient in nonverbal communication, you should take help of your family and friends. They will monitor your gestures, your conscious or unconscious body movement.

8 main groups of nonverbal communication

5) Personal space (Proxemics) - Personal space refers to the distance at which we feel comfortable while interacting with other people. It depends on the person with whom we are interacting. We usually tend to stand closer to our family members, friends or persons known to us as compared to unknown persons. The amount of space we need influenced by many factors such as social norms, culture or society, personality, level of familiarity. 

 6) Eye Contact- Eye contact is very important in nonverbal communication. Eye contact enables sender of the message to judge the interest, attention of the receiver. Eye contact provides feedback. During the presentation, it is very necessary to make eye contact with the audience because it reveals speaker’s sincerity, confidence.

 

 7) Appearance- our appearance also matter during nonverbal communication. Our choice of color, clothing, and hairstyle also effect nonverbal communication. Others can make judgements about us from our appearance. It is very important for the job seekers to dress appropriately for interviews with the employers because first impression is the last impression.

 

 

 8) Time- Time management tells about our personality and attitude. In the workplace punctuality is play an important role. If we reach on time , attend all meetings  and appointment on time , giving  time to projects and individual  all these things can send positive nonverbal message to others.  

8 main groups of nonverbal communication

1. Facial expressions: Face is an index of mind. Facial expressions such as eye movements, frown and smile have different meaning. Fear, happiness, sorrow, anger, tension all types of emotions are generally expressed through our face. hese facial expressions are similar throughout the world.

 

2. Gestures: It is deliberate body movement to convey a message. Movement of hands, legs, arms, head e.g. handshakes, raising finger to say something, shaking head from side to side to say that we don't know, point out something with a finger, wave hand to say "goodbye" or "hello".

   

3. Tone and volume of voice: It is also called as Paralinguistic. Different tone and voice express different meaning of the same word. When said something in a loud voice listener might interprets enthusiasm and interest, but the same said in hesitate tone of voice might convey disapproval or lack of interest.

   

4. Body Posture: Body posture and movement also convey information. Especially during interviews or talking with employers, body postures have a great importance to convey the exact meaning of what you want to say. Erect body posture convey a message of confidence, competence, diligence and strength. In the workplace we can make good impression by controlling our body posture.

Introduction

Communication is a process of sharing and exchanging information, ideas, thoughts, feelings to other persons. It is a two way process in which sender and receiver is involved. Communication acts a bridge between sender and receiver. Communication is mainly of three types :

1) Written Communication

2)Oral Communication

3) Non-verbal Communication

 

Non-verbal communication is a communication in which we use gestures, facial expressions, hand movements, signals, touch, body movement, eye contact to share our feelings, thoughts, ideas with other persons. 80% of our communication is non-verbal. Sometimes non-verbal communication leave much impression on other person to whom we are talking. Non- verbal communication is refers to a talking without using words. I am sure that everybody would remember a great saying 'Action speaks louder than words'. Non verbal communication is used in almost everywhere but sometimes some of us are unaware of this. It is used during interviews for the job, talking with other persons whether it is formal or informal communication. Even we can judge other person from his/her gestures, hand movement etc. that what he/she is thinking etc. 

 

These are the some examples of non-verbal communication. From these gestures we can judge other person. A person who uses non-verbal  communication while dealing with other people has more confidence in himself/herself. So, Non verbal communication plays an important role in our day to day dealings.