ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a very important component of our everyday interaction—nonverbal communication. The nonverbal symbols people use are influenced by social, cultural, and psychological aspects of their frames of reference, as are the meanings that are drawn from those behaviors. Researchers have long known the impact of nonverbal communication on meaning. The main categories of nonverbal communication include: kinesics, proxemics, haptics, chronemics, artifacts, and paralanguage. The chapter discusses the following types of kinesics: eye contact, facial expression, posture, gestures, and movement. Effective communicators are aware of how members of other cultures view postures and body placement differently. Gestures, movements involving the arms and hands, are often what people think of first when they hear the term body language. One of the most consciously manageable forms of nonverbal communication is found in our artifacts, which are the objects we surround ourselves with and display to others.
