Welcome to this lecture on verbal and non verbal communication. Now, I think most of us would agree that if we saw someone with this facial expression we would all understand its meaning. We would all understand this person is not very happy, and in fact this person is angry. Just like if we saw this facial expression, we'd probably understand this person is feeling surprised. Or maybe with this facial expression they're feeling stunned or disgusted about something. And with this facial expression we'd get the idea that this person is happy. With the added hand gesture, we might get the meaning that the person is happy about a specific task that they just completed and that they completed it successfully. So what we're talking about here are different facial expressions, hand gestures, all of which are nonverbal communication, and how they give us meaning. But what about verbal communication? And how does that influence the non-verbal communication, can we get the whole meaning of a message with just verbal communication alone? Probably not. So, the whole purpose of this lecture is to teach you how to identify how verbal and non verbal communication influence meaning, and also how to use appropriate verbal and non verbal communication within a business context. So let's take a look at the differences between verbal and non verbal communication. Well first of all, with verbal communication, it's basically made up of words. You use words to communicate meaning. Non verbal communication would include things like body language, or vocal tone, or eye contact, just to name a few. And if we look at non verbal communication in a little bit more detail, we would learn that non verbal communication on its own usually cannot tell us everything. In fact, the non verbal communication is an important component to the verbal communication, because it enhances the meaning of what you're trying to say. And this is things like your body language, your eye contact, the rhythm and the tone of what you're saying. So non verbal communication is quite important, it includes things like hand gestures. If I say okay, plus I give you the okay symbol, I'm enhancing that everything is okay. And I'm enhancing the meaning of okay, it's a very simple basic example. I can enhance that I'm happy and when I'm saying that I'm happy, I can answer with a smile. Or maybe if I'm sad or upset about something I can enhance the meaning what I say with a frown. If I'm speaking to an audience whether it's in a job interview or in a presentation, if what I'm trying to say, the words that I'm saying, want to invoke some confidence in my message, if I make eye contact with the audience members, I'm enhancing that confidence as well. Tone is another important part of non-verbal communication. If we look at tone and we say something like, good job, I can enhance the meaning of that message. Of that verbal communication, of the words good job, by changing the loudness of how I say it, or maybe the tone or the pitch of my voice, or maybe the rhythm and the speed of how I speak. That can maybe enhance, maybe I'm really excited and I just wanna say good job! Other things that are included in non verbal communication are things that are not always related to your body language. It might also be the space between you and the speakers. If you look at, for example, Edward T Hall's diagram of personal reaction bubbles, you can see that perhaps if I'm very intimate with someone, and I wanna communicate a message with them, I might move closer to them, all right. This is an important example for presentations, or even in a job interview. The space that you have with a speaker can also enhance your meaning. So for example, if I get closer to the speaker, I might be telling the person that what I'm saying is really important, you should listen. If I lean back as you're talking I'm giving you the speaker the message that I'm listening, right? So there are different types of body movements, and different variations of space that influence and enhance your verbal communication. Now later on in the specialization, we'll go into more detail about communication barriers, or appropriate use of communication for both verbal and non verbal communication particularly in intercultural situations. So we'll revisit Edward T Hall's theories, and talk about how one type of communication might be more appropriate than another within a certain cultural context. But for now let's look at some very basic verbal and non verbal barriers. If we're looking at verbal barriers in communication you might think of knowledge or vocabulary. Perhaps the person that you're speaking to might not have a vocabulary of that specific type of context, or the knowledge of what you're talking about. And, they might have a different interpretation of the words that you are saying. So, you need to be aware of that. For non verbal barriers, you might be using inappropriate or conflicting signals. That don't match the words that you're saying. And, again, there might be differences in perceptions or interpretations of your body language, or your facial expressions, so you need to be aware of these. For verbal, again, for barriers there might be language differences. This is quite related to vocabulary. Perhaps you are talking to someone who's English is a second language, and that could create a barrier. And you may be using inappropriate expressions, maybe in a very formal context, your using informal type of language that might be inappropriate and offend people. For non verbal communication, you might use inappropriate emotions, or there might be distractions. Perhaps your body language is too distracting. Perhaps the space that you give between you and your speakers is inappropriate, and it might distract from your main message. So these are all types of barriers that you need to consider when you're communicating, and they influence each other of course as you're trying to communicate a message. Now let's look at a very specific example, and we'll go back to the one we mentioned in the previous lecture, the one about job interviews. Remember the channel of communication is live, is face to face, and your medium is speech. Now of course, let's take a look at the mode of communication, well your mode of communication would then be verbal, spoken. And your non verbal would be your body language, your hand gestures, your facial expressions, and these are all important. So if you look at your spoken word, your non verbal in your job interview, what you say will be perceived on how appropriate or good you will be for the job that you're being interviewed for. But your non verbal communication will also be used to enhance what you're trying to say, because your non verbal communication will be looked at just as much probably, as your verbal communication. Because your nonverbal communication will enhance what you're trying to say, and it'll also be considered is it appropriate or inappropriate for the job interview. So now it becomes clear that your verbal and non verbal communication work together to influence meaning of what you're trying to say. And it should also be clear that certain situations, certain business contexts will require a different type of verbal and nonverbal communication. That's all for now. Thank you.
