Non-Verbal Communication...

      Non-Verbal Communication...

         All of us communicate non-verbally as well as verbally.if irritated,we may tense our bodies,press our lips together,and gesture with our eyebrows,with a gaze,a glance or stare we can communicate intimacy,submission,or dominance.

Most of us are good at'reading'non-verble cues to understand the emotions in an old silent film. we are especially good at detecting non-verbale threats.in a crowd of faces,a single angry face will"pop out" faster than a single happy one. some of us are more sensitive these cues than others.

Robert Rosenthal and colleagues discovered this by showing hundreds of people brief film clips of portinos of a person's emotionally expressive face or body,some time with a garbled voice added.for example,after a two second scene revealing only the face of an upset woman,the researchers would ask whether the woman was expressing anger or discussing a divorce.Rosenthal and company repoted that some people are much better 'emotion detectors'than others, and that women were better at it than men.

The growing awareness that we communicate through the body's silent language has led to studies of how job appicants and interviewers communicate (or miscommunicate). There has also been a spate of guide books on how to interpret non-verbal signals.Whether negotiating a business deal or selling a product,it pays to be able to"Read"feelings.Fidgeting for example,may reveal anxiety or boredom.Different expressions may convey the same emotions;either a cold stare or the avoidance of eye contact may signify hostility.A given expression can also conbey very different emotions;folded arms,for example,can signify irrtation or relaxation.