Non-verbal communication is the use of other senses to pass information without talking. Nonverbal communication dates back earlier than verbal communication and is understood by more cultures universally than verbal communication. The most commonly used senses for nonverbal communication sight and touch. Nonverbal communication is used in conveying interpersonal and emotional messages or where different people lack a common verbal language (4.1 Principles and functions of nonverbal communication.).
One of the major nonverbal communication in our culture is maintaining eye contact when talking to someone. However, this form of nonverbal communication is considered rude in some cultures especially if it involves using it while talking to new people. Our form of nonverbal communication is used to supplement verbal communication by serving different functions. This nonverbal cue affects how we communicate with people from other cultures in the ways discussed below (4.2 Types of Nonverbal Communication.).
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Eye contact is important during the start of conversations to gain the attention of the listener. It is used to determine whether the other person is interested. We combine eye contact with verbal communication to indicate to people of other cultures that we are interested in starting a conversation. In cultures where eye contact is also used during communication, when we shift our eyesight during communication makes them think that we are deceiving them or not paying attention. This reduces the credibility of the message we are conveying. Also, avoiding eye contact can make people of some cultures see a form of disinterest (4.4 Nonverbal Communication in Context). Eye contact enables the communication to keep going and other nonverbal cues are incorporated to increase the effectiveness of the interaction. Using eye contact has enabled people from our culture to create rapport with people from other cultures and this has led to more interactions. People from different cultures have a good impression of people from our culture and many people are interested in talking to us (4.3 Nonverbal Communication Competence).
However, eye contact has not only affected our conversations with people from other cultures positively, but we have met some negative reactions. Some other people found it rude and we cannot communicate since interactions are terminated.
References
University of Minnesota. (n.d.-f). 4.2 Types of nonverbal communication. In Communication in
the real world: An introduction to communication studies.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/4-2-types-of-nonverbal-communication/
University of Minnesota. (n.d.-g). 4.3 Nonverbal communication competence. In
Communication in the real world: An introduction to communication studies.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/4-3-nonverbal-communication-competence/
University of Minnesota. (n.d.-h). 4.4 Nonverbal communication in context. In Communication
in the real world: An introduction to communication studies.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/4-4-nonverbal-communication-in-context/
