What is a non-verbal communication?

Barriers to communication can be defined as things that hinder effective communication. When there is a barrier to our communication, information can’t flow the way it should be. There are different types of barriers to communication, which include” Personal perception barrier which is caused by misunderstanding, poor retention due to memory problem, lack of attention, discomfort due to illness, hearing problems, poor listening skills, information overload.

Environment barrier which is caused by loud background noise, poor lighting, and lack of ventilation, uncomfortable setting, unhygienic surrounding, and bad odor. The psychological barrier which is caused by distrust and unhappy emotion, emotional disturbances, psychotic or neurotic illness. The social barrier is caused by differences in social norms, values and behavior, and different social strata.

Non-verbal communication is a type of communication which does not involve spoken words and writing, but it involves the five sense of the body including body movement, posture, physical appearance silence, and facial expression is used when a message is delivered. One of the major functions of non-verbal communication is that it replaces and also complement verbal communication.

During non-verbal communication, one has to pay close attention so that the information will not be altered; facial expression can be neutral, anger, surprise, sadness, and fear. Posture can be aggressive, defensive, arrogant. Physical appearance like the person's clothes, height, skin tone. One of the major problems of non-verbal communication is that is can be misunderstood here. The receiver doesn’t understand the message.

Nonverbal communication can be referred to as a process or method of passing information without the use of words, either written or spoken. Nonverbal communication is also known as manual communication. It was introduced in 1956 by psychiatrist Jurgen Ruesch and author Weldon Kees in the book Nonverbal communication. There are several nonverbal languages. However, Judee Burgoon recognizes six different nonverbal dimensions, which include:

1. Kinesics or body movement - involves facial expressions, eye contacts, body language, gesture, posture, nodding, and behavior.

2. The vocalic includes volume, rate, and message. A perfect example of this is sarcasm in which the tone of what a person says is different from what they mean.

3. The personal appearance.

4. Our environment and its component.

5. Our personal space - people are very sensitive to their personal space, which is normally reserved for intimacy; this passes a message to a stranger without been said that the other party should keep off.

6. Haptics or touch and chronemics or time.