ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a thorough overview of the classic and contemporary research and theory for nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is a powerful communication medium in its own right, with multitudes of scholarly studies demonstrating that body, voice, space, and distance, together with all the other aspects of nonverbal communication, are vital components in the communication exchange - occurring either in concert with verbal communication or on their own. Nonverbal cues are analogic, continuously streaming, in contrast with words which are digital in form; conveyed by an arbitrary code; and have a starting and stopping, or on and off, point. Nonverbal messages may be sent purposefully and intentionally, or unintentionally and unconsciously. But the cues comprising nonverbal communication are sent, they comprise communication behavior other than words. Nonverbal messages fulfill four functions: they substitute for verbal messages, they emphasize words spoken, they contradict or negate verbal messages, and they regulate or control verbal interaction.
