Wednesday 15 January 2014

Non-verbal aspects of communication

Consider, for instance, a woman appearing before a magistrate: he will ask her questions, she will have to respond. This is the verbal side of the communication between the two. Factors in this process include how the magistrate looks at her (or not), and how she looks at him (or not), the sound of their voices, the clothes they wear, the distance at which they stand or sit from each other (is he sitting in an elevated position?). It also includes questions such as: Does the meeting start in time? Is the woman kept waiting? These are all factors (this is not an exhaustive enumeration) we see as part of non-verbal communication that strongly influence the communication process.

Hans Durrer
Ways of Perception
On Visual and Intercultural Communication,
White Lotus Press, Bangkok 2006

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