6: Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Communication Blends with Verbal Communication

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When interacting with others, you don’t just use either verbal or nonverbal communication. Instead, you blend both to create and interpret messages (Birdwhistell, 1970; Jones & LeBaron, 2002). You can do this in five ways:

Replace verbal expressions with nonverbal, such as shrugging your shoulders and turning your palms upward instead of saying, “I don’t know.”
Repeat verbal messages—for instance, saying, “It’s up there” and then pointing upward.
Contradict verbal messages with nonverbal communication deliberately—for example, using sarcasm by telling a friend “I love that song” while rolling your eyes, to indicate that you really don’t like the song at all.
Enhance the meaning of verbal messages, such as telling a cousin about a professor who kept blinking her eyes while lecturing—and blinking your own eyes repeatedly to demonstrate the teacher’s nervous behavior.
Spotlight certain parts of verbal messages—for example, elevating the volume of your voice on a single word: “I did NOT mean it that way!”