10 Non-verbal communication tactics for workplace

10 Non-verbal communication tactics for workplace

A decent communication is the underpinning of any efficacious relationship, be it personal or proficient. The usage of non - verbal communication aids in connecting better with other individuals and also helps in building better relationships. Body language is the most common form of non – verbal communication. So let us first try to understand what are non – verbal communication and body language and the importance of non-verbal communication.

While interacting with people, we all make use of gestures. Non- verbal gestures like in what manner we are seated, the volume and pace at which we converse, how close we stand, how much eye contact we make, propel resilient indication to the other person. These signals carry a lot of prominence even if you are not speaking to the person.

Often what you say is not what you mean through gestures that are palpable from your body language, and if people are forced to pick amongst the two, people are inclined towards non – verbal communication as they are more tangible and accurate. You can manipulate what you are saying but you cannot manipulate your body language and hence your predilection goes to body language, which is why gestures conveyed through your body language convey a lot of significance when you are interacting with people.

Importance of Non – verbal communication:
When your non – verbal gestures go laterally with your words, they upsurge conviction, lucidity and affinity with the individual; and if they do not match then they surge tautness, suspicion and misperception amongst the individuals. If you want to turn out to be a enhanced conversationalist, it’s imperative to become more profound not only to the others body language but also to your own.

Non – verbal signals showcase five things:

• Repetition – recurrence of the message a person is speaking

• Contradiction- controvert the message spoken by a person

• Substitution – In certain situations, people do not have words, for example, situations like while paying condolence to somebody. In these kinds of situations the non – verbal cues play an important role in conveying your thoughts.

• Complementing – the non – verbal cues complement your words

• Accenting – they may inflect or emphasize a verbal message.

Types of non – verbal communication and body language:

• Facial Expressions

• Body movements & Stances

• Gesticulations

• Eye contact

• Touch

• Space

• Voice & tone

Tips to read body language and non – verbal communication:

• Look for discrepancies: The verbal message and the body language should go hand in hand, i.e. what you say should be reflected by your gestures as well. For example: In an interview, you verbally say you are confident but on the other hand you are constantly shaking your legs or fingers.

• Belief your predispositions: You should never ignore your instincts. Your mind may be picking up the mismatch between the non – verbal and verbal cues, which you may not be able to identify.

• Try to analyse all the non – verbal signals: If there are multiple chances, where the individual has a mis – match between verbal and non – verbal cues, then you should not believe him. But, if there has been only one such instance, you can ignore. But remember not to ignore multiple signals which do not match.

Tips to improve your body language or non – verbal gestures:

1. Become aware of your body language
You should initially try to evaluate what signals you are sending to other people. So first try to read your body language by seeing gestures like, are you fiddling with something? Your attention is wedged somewhere else?

You are not making eye contact with the person and so on. If you are incapable to check your own body language, try to check the other person’s body language, i.e. is he irritated? Or is he exasperated?

2. Construct nonaligned behaviours
If say you have the convention of shaking your legs while you’re seated, train yourself to sit straight without shaking your legs. Or if you have any such habit, train yourself to be tranquil and composed.

3. Look for alignment between what you say and how you say it
Your words should be in line with your body language. For example, if you are at a place where there is grief, you cannot have a smile on your façade and interconnect with the person. You need to have a stable and emphatic body language.

4. Taking care of the Paralinguistic
This aspect of non – verbal communication comprises of verbal rudiments such as:

• Tone
• Pitch
• Rhythm
• Timbre
• Loudness
• Inflection

It is very important that you club the above mentioned facets in your words. They convey a lot of non- verbal cues and messages to the other person. If you express in one tone or pitch people will feel dreary to talk to you and your message will not be professed in the same way as you want it to be perceived.

5. Maintaining an eye-contact
Eye contact is an imperative conduit of interpersonal communication, which aids in regulating the drift of the message being conveyed to the individual. Eye contact also proliferate the presenter’s integrity. When you maintain an eye contact with your spectators you express concentration, apprehension, cordiality and integrity.

6. Facial Expressions
The expressions on your face speak a lot about what is actually going on in your mind. If you are happy, you will have a smile on your face and likely if you are sad you will have a frowning look on your face.

When you approach people with a smile on your face that conveys the message that you are happy and you are welcoming them with warmth. If you frown then people find you unfriendly and that you are not interesting in communicating with them.

7. Clothing
The way your attire looks, articulates your persona, your background as well as your financial prestige. Especially when you are attending business meetings your attire plays an important role in expressing your interest and professionalism.

8. Proximity
While networking with people you have to uphold a comfortable distance. If you stand too close to a person, he may not feel comfortable and will not be able to focus and comprehend to what you are trying to say. At the same time, if you stand too far off he may not be able to hear you, or he may have to stress his auricles to be able to hear you properly.

9. Being aware of non-verbal cues being misread
A person’s overall comportment is far more expressive than a single gesture observed in sequestration. As I had mentioned earlier as well in this article, do not go for just one mislead gesture, look for a group of gestures which misguide you.

For example, a person is not maintaining eye contact with you, it’s not necessary that he is not interested in the conversation or lacks confidence, but it could also be that he is squint.

10. Ask questions
Confused? What do I mean by asking question? Well if you are unable to understand the opposite persons gestures, there is no harm in reconfirming or asking him what he means. For example, you can just repeat what he said and ask him if you have understood it in the right way.