It can be awkward to verbally indicate that you want a relationship to end or to move beyond the initiating stage. You wouldn’t tell a new classmate, “I don’t like you. Stop talking to me.” Luckily, nonverbal communication helps you address this issue. You can indicate like or dislike with facial expressions, posture, use of space, or touch (Chapter 4), hoping this individual properly decodes your message.
In the initiating stage of a relationship, you make contact with another person, saying “Hello” or asking for a name. If you think about the number of new people you initiate with on a given day, you won’t be surprised to learn that many relationships don’t move beyond this stage. Just because you say “Good morning” to the woman who sold you a bagel doesn’t mean the two of you will be chatting on the phone later today. But you will likely use your first impression of a person to gauge whether or not you’re interested in moving forward with the relationship (Canary, Cody, & Manusov, 2008).