A study at ULCA a few years ago revealed that of a performance was based on the word used, voice quality (38%) and non-verbal communication (55%).think about that!

 Look back at speaker or the teachers you have listened to, which ones stand out as memorable? The ones who are more animated and entertaining or the ones that just gave out of information? is not to say that you have to entertain the interviewer(no jokes please!), but it does mean that the conversation should be more interactive. If you say you are excited about the prospect of working for this company, but don’t show any enthusiasm, your message will fall flat. So ,smile, gesture once in a while, show some energy and make the experience more pleasure for both sides.

Following are some non- verbal pitfalls to watch for

Ø   The handshake:  it’s your first encounter with interviewer. He or she holds out his or her hand and receives a limp, damp hand in return-not a very good beginning. Your handshake should be very firm –not bone crushing-and your hand should be dry and warm.try running cold water in your hand as when you first arrive at the interview site.

Ø   Your posture: stand and sit erect. We are not talking ramrod posture, but  show some energy and enthusiasim.

Ø   Eye contact:  look the interviewer on the eye. You don’t want to stare , as this shows aggression. Occasionally, and nonchalantly, glance at the interviewer hand as he or she is speaking on the contrary, by constantly looking around the room while you are talking, you convey a lack of discomfort with what is being discussed.

Ø   Your hands: gesturing or talking with your hand is very natural. Getting carried away with hand gestures can be distracting . Avoid touching with your mouth while talking. watch yourself in a mirror while talking on the phone.

                                                     Mrs Sumitra Biswal

                                        Lec. Communicative English

Product Description
This volume on non-verbal communication studies offers numerous suggestions for further research in many hitherto unexplored areas. The 20 contributions include theoretical and empirical cross-cultural studies of gestures from historical, communicative and sociopsychological perspectives. In addition the volume presents novel psychological and clinical studies of non-verbal behaviours in connection with, for instance, aphasias and children’s experience of artificial… More >>

Advances in Non-Verbal Communication: Sociocultural, Clinical, Esthetic and Literary Perspectives

Using this advanced technology, users are able to make international and long distance calls at significantly low rates. Noticing this fact, existing PSTN providers are moving to venture into the field of Internet telephony for reaping profits. Consequently, anyone with a wide client base and effective sales marketing team can avail managed partitioning services. SMBs are making the most of the available IP opportunities and realizing their growth objectives.

While focusing on the investment point of view, this managed switch partitioning does not require much. The basic aim of managed services is to increase the output and to expand the business arena without setting up infrastructure. These services are offered by the VoIP providers to various resellers and wholesalers at affordable rates.

The managed VoIP services allow users to transmit and receive voice, data and video over a single IP network. Thereby, this reduces cost of calls and enhances call productivity. In the managed services, the voice or analog signals are converted into digital compressed packets. Later, they are routed through VoIP switches across the Internet. The packet switching technique of transferring the data is very fast, as packets are channeled onto various paths. Among various switches, nextone switch is the one of the most reliable and stable. Benefits associated with the switch include:

1.Instant termination of over 20,000 calls

2.Generation of valid reports pertaining to sales and traffic. This facilitates greater control over the business.

3.Enhancement and diversification of business operations through hosted VoIP switches.

In a nutshell, for venturing in the IP telephony domain, large investment is not required. Therefore, considering these facts, existing providers are offering managed VoIP services; and wholesalers and resellers are making the most of these offers and expanding their areas of business.

Women are attracted to the man who knows what he wants and is confident with himself, who oozes confidence from every inch of his skin and follows through with action.

Elements of body language:

Posture

Smile

Eye contact

Facial Expressions

Your way of doing different things

Voice Tonality also plays a key role in your success with women. It doesn’t matter what you are saying, but what REALLY matters is how you are saying it. You can talk about the boring thing that would bore her and can still get an incredible response… because of the WAY you say it and the way you NONVERBALLY communicate your sexual attraction.

GOLDEN RULE: Speak slowly, surely and more deeply. All women love a very slow, deep speaking voice. Women find this to be very sexy and very attractive.Getting started to get your body language perfect tips from the Top

Imitate the top performers in every field. They’ll teach you how to be a success in your field. Let me explain this to you with an example.

Entertainer Dick Cavett had a little trick when he was starting out to show business. Just before he was about to go onstage, he’d look in a mirror and pretend he was Bob Hope. He’d imitate Hope’s air of confidence, the way he carried himself, so that some of that self-assurance would rub off on him.

You can do that in your field. Pick out people who are really good and try to imitate them.

GOLDEN RULE: Always act the way as your hero will act in that particular situation.

Body Language Basics

Keep your body open. That means keeping your arms down by your sides, not crossed over your body as a buffer. Before he took some pointers from Glass, Tim Cowgill, 46, was shutting people out by his body’s signals. “I would close my arms across my front,” he says, “and back myself up against a wall.” And 41-year-old Deborah Garrett says she wasn’t getting close to people, either – figuratively or literally. “I kept my distance, clutching a glass to keep something between me and others.”

Reflect self-confidence. A poised presentation invites others to treat you with respect. Stand up straight, but not to the point of looking stiff. When sitting, keep a straight back to avoid a sloppy slouch. And when walking, move self-confidently at a steady pace – not too fast or too slow – with your arms swinging freely at your sides.

Consider “respectful” touching. An appropriate, gracious touch – on the arm, for example – is unlikely to offend, but can serve as a friendly, bonding gesture.

Relax your face. Your face is responsible for about 75 percent of nonverbal communication, according to Glass. A furrowed forehead, for example, might be construed as critical. For a positive look that doesn’t intimidate, release the tension in your forehead, while also relaxing the muscles around your eyes, mouth and nose. And smile – a genuine smile – with some teeth showing.

Make consistent eye contact. To make a connection, look at a person’s face while you’re engaged in conversation, instead of glancing around as if looking for alternative entertainment. In other words, show that you’re interested.

Don’t be shy. “Shy people are selfish people,” according to Glass. “It’s not all about you. Focus more on being interested – not interesting- and your mind-set will move away from how awkward you might be feeling.” DONT GET self-conscious. Remember, self-consciousness is opposite of self-confidence.

Some major areas of nonverbal behaviors to explore are:

Eye contact Facial expressions Gestures Posture and body orientation Proximity Paralinguistics Humor

Eye contact:

Eye contact, an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of communication. And it signals interest in others. Furthermore, eye contact with audiences increases the speaker’s credibility. Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth and credibility.

Facial expressions:

Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:

Happiness Friendliness Warmth Liking Affiliation

Gestures:

If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. A lively and animated teaching style captures students’ attention, makes the material more interesting, facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment.

Posture and body orientation:

You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit. Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to students that you are approachable, receptive and friendly.

Proximity:

You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading  space. Some of these are:

Rocking Leg swinging Tapping Gaze aversion

Paralinguistics:

This facet of nonverbal communication includes such vocal elements as:

Tone Pitch Rhythm Timbre Loudness Inflection

Humor:

Humor is often overlooked as a tool, and it is too often not encouraged . Laughter releases stress and tension. Obviously, adequate knowledge of the subject matter is crucial to your success; however, it’s not the only crucial element. Creating a climate that facilitates learning and retention demands good nonverbal and verbal skills. To improve your nonverbal skills, record your speaking on video tape. Then ask a colleague in communications to suggest refinements. 

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Few people today have not heard Sun Tzu’s famous axiom, but how can you know an enemy you have never met before? This is the situation most fighters face when competing in sparring tournaments. Even seasoned veterans of the tournament circuit who know and will have studied the fighting techniques of other regulars, must still face new and unknown fighters. How can you know what type of fighting tactics these will use against you? The answer lies in knowing human behaviour.

In the Far East strategy focuses more on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of human nature than the use of sheer force. Tactics were aimed at taking advantage of an enemy’s foibles and character flaws over finding a weakness in a formation or fortress. In the sparring arena we all have certain flaws that we unconsciously reveal through a type of non-verbal communication called telegraphing or Tels for short. Telegraphing is the name given to unconscious body movements that `Telegraph’ a person’s intentions in advance of an attack. The ability to `know’ an opponent is through the observation of his Tels. But this is a two edged sword. Not only do you need to be able to read your opponent, you must prevent your opponent from reading you. This is where the strategies of The King, The Fool, and The Fox come in. But the first thing is to read others. The following are some Tels that are common among martial arts fighters.

Reading Non Verbal Communication

Eyes/Focus

Watch the opponent’s eyes. Most fighters will focus on the intended target briefly before attacking. For example, if the attack is to be to the lower part of the body the eyes will drop just before the attack. If the attack is to be to the upper body, the eyes will look upwards. If the intention is to grapple, the opponent’s eyes often focus on your hands or waist. As a rule; where the eyes look, the attack will follow.

Hands and Arms

It is thought that long before man was able to speak he was able to communicate through the use of an extensive hand language. The use of hand gestures to emphasize speech is still an integral part of our modern communication. It thus comes as no surprise that the hands reveal much about what we are thinking. One of the most common Tels among novices is dropping the hands, and chambering the arms. When a fighter drops his hands, it is usually a prelude to a kicking attack. This is often the result of poor training whereby students feels they need to use their hands to counter balance a kick, at other times the fighter drops the hands in order to clear the way, so to speak, for their kick. Professional fighters know this Tel well and will maintain a proper guard position while launching a kick.

The next most common Tel using the arms is a chambering action. Many fighters chamber their arms before launching a hand technique. This is what Bruce Lee was trying to counteract in his students when he taught them the one and three inch punch. A pro just shoots out the punch instantly; the amateur will pull back and chamber the punch first giving the perceptive fighter advance warning.

Breathing

While watching the opponents eyes use your peripheral vision as well as your hearing to note the opponent’s breathing pattern. The breathing rhythm will give away the time of the attack. Before launching an attack, most people will unconsciously perform a mental version of 1 – ready, 2 – get set, 3 – go. This occurs very quickly but will follow the same pattern, regular breathing during the `ready’ stage, a sudden intake of breath during `get set’, and then exhalation during the attack. (Although some will hold their breath during the attack.) Listen to your opponent’s breathing, when you hear the sudden intake of breath the next instant will see the attack. To use the strategy of `Interception’, attack at the very instant he inhales. Almost no one attacks during the inhale.

Torso

The position of the torso may reveal an opponent’s strategy. A sideways stance with the hips facing 90 degrees to the side favors a kicking attack. If the hips turn, away exposing more of his back, then expect a spinning attack whereas hips turned towards you favors hand and grappling techniques. There is an exception to this interpretation. Most styles and tournaments forbid attacks to the opponent’s back. Some fighters turn their backs towards their opponents to hide legitimate targets and to foul out the opponent should they strike their back by accident. This cheap tactic may win a trophy but no points for skill.

Feet/legs

Using peripheral vision one can notice an impending kick by stiffness or delay in one of the opponent’s legs. The most powerful kicks come from the back leg; as a result, the back leg is often a little more tense or stiff just before being thrown. If the opponent is outside of kicking range, he will first need to close the distance, when he steps forward the kicking leg tends to lag or drag behind slightly.

An intellectual grasp of body language and telegraphing is helpful while practicing and learning but, during actual combat, one must be able to have an instinctive perception of body language and this can only be achieved through observation, and endless practice. Eventually you will forget how you are able to see, you just see.

Hiding Non Verbal Communication

Mastering discretion is greater than employing eloquence.

Chinese Proverb

The first rule in the art of war is that all is a deception. To succeed, a strategist must learn to see his opponent’s deception while creating his own. To hide one’s intentions, our inner goals and desires, one must suppress non- verbal leakage. Our attention being limited we cannot manipulate and control every verbal, facial, and bodily expression all the time. While it’s not possible to suppress every gesture, we are able to fake and control enough to fool all but the most observant. There are three general strategies to prevent giving oneself away: to suppress, to disguise, and to manipulate non-verbal communication.

The King Strategy

Wait long, strike fast.

Chinese Proverb

One method to suppress non-verbal communication is by making as few physical movements as possible. The face becomes a mask set in a certain attitude such as concentration, or nonchalance. The hands make only the minimal number of actions when needed to carry out attacks and defence. The body is kept still, no movement made without purpose. The idea is to provide so little body language that no one can detect any meaning. This is known as the King Strategy and is based on the observation that in both primates and man the most dominant male exhibits the least body movements. The ability to suppress non verbal leakage is a result of superb body control and self discipline.

The Fool Strategy

The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life.

Samurai Maxim

The second strategy is the exact opposite of the King strategy, playing the fool. It involves a non-stop display of acting and gesturing. The idea is to provide so much body language that it is impossible for opponents to detect the true mood beneath the surface display, not being able to read the signs because of too much background noise. There are several roles the fool can play. Some use continuous pantomimes, others pretend to be angry and upset, some tell jokes and tease. Playing the fool also serves another advantage; having your opponent underestimate you. The saying you can’t judge a book by its cover is never truer than in a sparring ring but not everyone knows this. If you succeeded in having your opponents underestimate you they will tend to drop their guard and their responses will become slower. This tactic only works once though with a smart fighter.

The Fox Strategy

He who is fearless in being bold will meet his death; He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.

Lao Tze, Tao Te Ching

This is the most difficult strategy of all, since it requires an acute presence of mind to control both verbal and non-verbal communication so as to intersperse true signals with false signals. This is a dangerous device and requires great acting ability. You manipulate the opponent’s perceptions to make it seem that he can read you, but what he sees is only what you’ve allowed them to see. For example, you could affect a Tel such as dropping the hands when kicking. You exhibit this quirk when making inconsequential attacks, so that the opponent easily recognises it as a `Tel’ and will defend low in anticipation of a kick when he sees your hands drop. Then when going in for the kill you exhibit the Tel that acts as a feint. Knowing how your opponent will react by defending low to the feint, you attack his opening.

Conclusion

To win you must know your enemy and know yourself. You can know your enemy by observing his body language. But to know yourself is to know that you also communicate through your body language to others. Use one or more of the above strategies to hide and or confuse your communications and then wait for your opponent to make a mistake. That’s winning without trying, and Sun Tzu would be proud of you.

Product Description
Taking as its central problem the nature of what is acquired in first language acquisition, this study critically examines what might be called “standard” theories of meaning and their accompanying theories of first language aquisition. It identifies various psycho-linguistic theories…. More >>

Meaning Without Words: Philosophy and Non-Verbal Communication

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This digital document is an article from Doors and Hardware, published by Door and Hardware Institute on April 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1041 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: The power of non-ve… More >>

The power of non-verbal communication.: An article from: Doors and Hardware