Nonverbal communication scenarios

Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages between two or more people without the use of words.

We can communicate in a variety of nonverbal ways including through our posture, gestures, facial expressions, touch, eye contact, and vocal intonation.

Research suggests that nonverbal communication makes up over 60-70% of all that we communicate. In other words, how we say something is often more important than what we say.

Building relationships and social skills is therefore very dependent on our understanding of nonverbal communication, including our ability to accurately send the right social cues, as well as accurately receive the social cues others are sending us on a daily basis.

Communication is always a two-way street. We play the role of “giver” and “receiver” in every social interaction of everyday. And nonverbal communication is no different.

One of the most important things to know about nonverbal communication is that a lot of it happens unconsciously.

For example, we may not realize it, but when we are lying about something we tend to not look at someone in their eyes very much. We don’t do it purposely, it’s just something that happens naturally when we are trying to hide something.

By being more aware of other people’s nonverbal cues, we can gain a clearer understanding of what a person is really communicating to us.

And by being more aware of our own nonverbal cues, we can gain a clearer understanding of how to communicate more effectively and congruently.

The following sections in this article describe the main ways we communicate nonverbally. However, before we get started, I should point out that these are only guidelines.

There are a lot of reasons why people may act out certain behaviors – and not every behavior is necessarily a nonverbal signal.

For example, a person with their arms and legs crossed may be reserved or shy, or it could also mean that they are just cold.