Excellent and strong communication skills are essential in creating a healthy personal, and professional relationship. Two ways are predominant in communication: nonverbal and verbal communication. Verbal expressions are used on an orderly basis. People widely use nonverbal communication as it gives plenty of information about people or even situations (Adler & Protor II, 2012) . The nonverbal communication skills provide valuable information concerning situations, such as a person's feelings, how to address people, and how someone can receive information. This paper discusses the commonly used nonverbal skills in a community meeting, their meanings, and their cultural or gender influence.
After a clear observation of people’s behavior, a bus station, I noticed that nonverbal communication skills are commonly used to share information between people. Some of the common nonverbal communication skills observed were: facial expressions, body movements, postures, eye contacts, paralanguage, and proxemics. Facial expression is where humans use the face to display multiple expressions where each expression communicates a bunch of information with a lot of ease. Examples of facial expression features are smiling and eye-roll. I noticed this as people in the terminal would smile when they recognized each other. The body movements are ways people position their bodies naturally depending on the situation or how they feel, such as excitement. In the station, as people were talking to each other, they nodded their heads as an indication of agreeing or disagreeing in the conversation. Postures is a nonverbal communication skill that is a critical element that makes a powerful conviction about people. It creates a perception of how people are affected by how they walk, sit, stand, or hold their hands. In my observation, some people in the bus station maintained an open posture as they kept their legs distanced apart. The body was exposed as they talked, which gave in the impression of interest to the discussion.
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The impression created by eye contact indicates that an individual is interested in the conversation or discussion. Eye contact involves looking semi-randomly around the eyes, which can be eyelids or eyebrows. In the bus terminal, people maintained their eye contact with the vehicles approaching to board. Para-language was another nonverbal skill identified in the bus station. It involves the aspects of voice, such as the speed of speaking, tone, and pitch. People in the bus station would talk in low tones as they consulted to each about the arrivals of the following bus. This is a sign that they are not interested in others knowing what they are saying.
The individuals in the terminal were about one foot away from each other, portraying the proxemics nonverbal communication skill. This ensured that each of the individuals as comfortable as he/she waited for the bus. The last nonverbal communication skill identified was the physiological changes. It is crucial to have excellent speaking skills and a proper understanding of nonverbal communication skills in a conversation to develop a healthy relationship. Having reasonable control and awareness of nonverbal skills gives a person an advantage while speaking.
Gender certainly influences nonverbal communication skills, but the differences are a matter of standard rather than kind. Even though people sometimes behave in manlike and feminine characters, there are some identifiable distinctions on how men and women act and look (Adler & Protor II, 2012) . From my observation, there was evidence of gender influences, such as paralanguage, posture, and touch. Paralanguage was commonly used by ladies more than gents. It was commonly used when they would talk to each other and nod their heads as a sign of understanding. They used gesture noises like “mmmh” and also nodding. Gents used words like “I understand” to show that they understood when they consulted for something.
Posture skill was another skill identified where gents were greatly affected. While seated, gents stayed with their arms further away from their bodies and kept their legs apart. Ladies had kept their arms close to their bodies, and their legs close. Touch was another gender influence depicted in the bus terminal. The gents in the terminal used the introductory handshake as they started their conversation with each other to set their tone for their communication. Ladies had to hug and handshake other fellow members as they left the station. Proper understanding of the different gender influences in nonverbal communication helps a person to manage and work in a divergent environment.
Interpreting non-verbal communication was not easy. The nonverbal cues do not have a fixed meaning. They are influenced by the context in which they happen, such as the place and the people involved. It was challenging to interpret the meaning of the nonverbal cues because I could have interpreted differently from what the person means. For example, a head nod in the bus station could have different meanings to two people. The ability to interpret nonverbal cues is essential because it can get a real sense of expression and hence understand the information conveyed by the skill. There was low confidence that the meaning I assigned to nonverbal communication is true since most of them are related to cultures. Thus it was hard to relate the skill with the culture; it originated as different nonverbal skills have different meanings.
In conclusion, nonverbal communication is essential in creating a good relationship. From the observation that I carried out, it was evident that many people use nonverbal communication skills, such as gestures and eye contact, while interacting. Nonverbal communication is influenced by gender, and differ between the male and female. Interpreting the nonverbal behaviors is difficult since they vary from culture to culture. The nonverbal cues help people to link with others, express their ideas well, and develop good relationships.
References
Adler, R. B., & Protor II, F. R. (2012). Looking Out Looking In (14 ed.). Santa Barbara: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
