How time and space communicates

How silence communicates

Nonverbal communication• Nonverbal communication is sending and receiving messages in a variety

of ways without the use of verbal codes.• Nonverbal messages communicates the same meaning as verbal message.• Nonverbal message helps

To discoverTo establish and maintain relationship To helpTo persuadeTo playTo complementTo regulateTo substitute

• Two categories of non-verbal language– Nonverbal messages produced by

the body– Nonverbal messages produced by

the broad settings(silence, space and time)

Space communication

• Space communication is also known as proxemics, which speaks as surely and as loudly as words and sentences.

• Proxemics is the term coined by professor Edward T. Hall, author of well The Silent Language (1959) to refer to 'the study of how man uses space - the space that he maintains between himself and his fellows and which he builds around him in his home and office'.

• Edward Hall distinguishes four proxemics distances• Spatial distances• Territoriality• Artifactual communication• Touch communication

Spatial distance

• Spatial distance defines the type of relationships between people and the types of communication in which they are likely to engage.

• Four types:– Intimate distance– Personal distance– Social distance– Public distance

Relationship and Proxemic Distance

• Intimate relationship:Distance 0-18 inches

• Personal relationship:Distance 1 ½-4 feet

Relationship and Proxemic Distance

• Social relationship:Distance 4-12 feet

• Public relationship:Distance 12-25+feet

Distance Between Faces Tone of Voice Type of Message very close (3-6 inches) soft whisper top secret

sensual close (8-12 inches) audible whisper very confidential

neutral (20-36 inches) soft voice, personal subject low volume matter

neutral (4.5-5 feet) full voice non-personal

information across the room (8-20 feet) loud voice talking to a group

stretching the limit

Territoriality• Territoriality is a possessive or ownership reaction to

an area of space or to particular objects.

• Two dimensions of territoriality are territorial types and territorial markets

Territory types

Personal territories are your exclusive preserve: your desk, room, house, or backyard. In those areas you’re in control.

Social territories territories are areas that are open to all people, such as a park, movie house, restaurant, or beach

psychological territories

Territorial markers

• Central markers are items you place in a territory to reserve it.

• Boundary markers set boundaries that divide your territory from “theirs.”

• Earmarkers —a term taken from the practice of branding animals on their ears . These are identifying marks that indicate your possession of a territory or object.

Artifactual communication

• Artifactual communication is communication via objects made by human hands.

• This includes color, clothing, body adornments, and decoration of space.Color communication: Color affects us physiologically. It influences perceptions and behaviourClothing and body adornments:People make inferences about who you are from the way you dress.Space decoration:The way we decorate our space also communicates about us.

Touch communication

• The study of touch communication is referred as haptics.• Touch is perhaps the most primitive form of communication• Touch communicates positive feelings.• Touch often communicates your intention to play, either affectionately

or aggressively.• Touch may control the behaviors, attitudes, or feelings of the other

person.• Ritualistic touching centers on greetings and departures;

Time communication• The study of time communication is known as chronemics.• It concerns how we organise time, react to it and

communicate message through it.• The way a person treats time reveals something about that

person.• A person who is consistently late may not be well organized;

the person who is kept waiting may feel that he or she is not highly regarded by the other person.

Time communication

time

monochronic

Tackle one task at a time

polychronic

Tackle many tasks at a time

Silence communication• Like words and gestures, silence also communicates

important meanings and serves important functions.• Silence allows the speaker time to think, time to formulate

and organize their verbal communications.• Attitudes toward silence can be dramatically different

– Ex: many cultures expect more silence from women and children than from adult men

• It can have a positive or negative impact on communication process

Functions of silence• cognitive• discursive• social • affective.

• People cause others to be silent…– to gain attention– to maintain control– to protect– to teach– to attempt to eliminate distractions– to show respect for authority or tradition

Reference • Human communication by Joseph A.De Vito• Silence in intercultural communication: Perception and performance by

Ikulo Nakane