The Importance of Nonverbal Communication: Actions Speak Louder than Words

Communication plays a big role in the lives of people. The great progress of humanity from all industries resulted from harmonious communication. The sharing and receiving of knowledge and information made way to planning, creating and maintaining things individually and as a group. In short, communication has a significant part in the world’s evolution. Humans communicate in verbal (the use of sounds and words) or non-verbal (without the use of spoken language) ways and can do a combination of both.

Non-verbal communication is significant whether it is done consciously or not. According to Barry, Lewick and Saunders in their writing “Essentials of Negotiation,” attending behavior (any behavior involved while listening) as non-verbal communication approach has effects on how you connect with others. These behaviors allow others to know that you are listening and help them to receive your message. However, conflicts may arise due to misunderstandings especially when there are no words said to clarify and explain the true meaning of a person’s actions. Non-verbal behavior encompasses all communicative acts except speech (Mandal, 2014). Body language, clothing and appearance, voice, space and distance, color, time and touch are aspects of non-verbal communication. These cues express a person’s feelings, intentions and even leave an impression about him/her.

It is human nature to make decisions quickly, based on subconscious impression of a person’s physical appearance and actions. For example, an applicant with good posture, proper attire, loud and clear voice and maintains eye contact can be interpreted as smart and confident individual. He/she may gain positive feedback from the employers. Another example on political communication suggests that the physical traits of a person such as attractiveness and competent look have a part in the success of attracting votes and policy support (Lausten and Petersen, 2015). With the significant impacts of non-verbal communication, one must be sensitive and aware of his/her own actions, because people’s actions are louder than words they say. For an instance, yawning in front of a speaker can indicate disinterest in listening and may insult the speaker. Even if the person is just tired but still attentive, the speaker who sees the action will still feel disrespected since the doer of the action has the only absolute knowledge about his behavior.

As seen from the essay, the importance and effects of non-verbal communication are evident in our daily lives. These cause peace and harmony with others and conflicts when they are neglected. Therefore, humans as communicative beings must put non-verbal communication as equally important to verbal. As the quotation says, “Actions speak louder than words.”