ABSTRACT
Expressivity and sensitivity, together with self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation, are the core components of nonverbal skillfulness. The nonverbal cues of others provide a window into their attitudes, physical state, personality and personal characteristics, intelligence, deception and insincerity, concern for appearance, and needs or intentions. Nonverbal communication is a multi-channeled experience. When the cues sent through different channels are consistent or redundant, the nonverbal expression is sincere and believable. When the messages sent through these same channels are inconsistent, however, the disparate cues can leave the receiver wondering about a message's truth. According to nonverbal experts Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen, nonverbal cues speak to us in different ways through three distinct codes: the intrinsic communication code, the iconic communication code, and the arbitrary code. Five cultural dimensions are reflected in the nonverbal communication of the members of global cultures namely individualism versus collectivism, immediacy versus nonimmediacy, low versus high power-distance, low versus high context, and femininity versus masculinity.
