Kinesics - Facial Expression - Gestures - Body Movements - Postures - Touch - Eye Contact Para-linguistic - Tone - Pitch - Speed of Delivery - Pauses - Stress - Speed Breakers

1. Kinesics
And
Para-Linguistics

2. Kinesics
• Kinesics – The study of body language – is the most
important aspect of Non-verbal communication.
• Body language is very suitable for expressing feelings
and emotions.
• Body language includes facial expressions, gestures,
body movements, postures, eye contact and touch.

3. Facial Expressions
• Face, they say, is the index of mind. Expert
communicators are masters of this art.
• Facial expressions can convey a wide range of
responses like acceptance, rejection, satisfaction,
dissatisfaction, anger, worry, surprise, shock, etc.
• For example, A subordinate completes an assignment
and takes it to his boss. The boss glances at the work
and gives a smile. The smile expresses the boss’s
satisfaction and approval. Wrinkles on face suggests
worry.

5. Gestures
• A gesture is the movement of the head, hands or legs
to express an idea, feeling or emotion.
• Speakers often use gestures to underscore their
words.
• Gestures may either accompany spoken words or
stand alone.
• Gestures can be both involuntary and conscious
movements.
• Theatre and cine artists are trained in using gestures
effectively.

6. Body Movements
• Body movements refer to the positioning or
movement of the body when one is engaged in
interpersonal communication.
• They cannot be as subtle or meaningful as facial
expressions or gestures.
• They do express a few significant attitudinal
postures.
• eg. When people are involved and interested, they
tend to lean towards the speaker, and they hold
themselves back when they are not interested.

7. Postures
• Posture means the way in which someone usually
stand or sits or holds his shoulders, neck and back.
• Postures can suggest whether one is relaxed or
tensed up, enthused or feeling low. Sitting or
standing with head erect suggests self-confidence,
dignity and determination.
• At interviews, the candidates postures entering the
room, sitting in the chair and responding to the
questions convey a lot of significant details about
their personality.

8. Eye Contact
• Eye contact is very subtle aspect of body language. It
regulates interaction.
• We like to maintain eye contact with the speaker if the
topic of discussion is pleasant, but in unpleasant
situations, we tend to look sideways or lower our eyes.
• Influential and high-status people maintain high levels of
eye contact. Eye contact indicates our willingness to
interact while its absence suggests the desire to
withdraw.
• Good eye contact suggests self confidence, friendship,
interest, affection. On the other hand absence of eye
contact suggests inattentiveness, guilt, impatience.

9. Touch
• Like gestures, touching is one of the earliest methods
of communication among human beings. How a
person touches someone sends important messages
about their relationship and the situation in which
they are placed.
• It can reveal whether someone is caring, friendly,
patronizing, indifferent or likely to intrude into others
personal space.
• Lovers, mothers and teachers use touch very
effectively.

10. Para linguistics
• The term paralanguage refers to a wide range
of vocal characteristics like tone, pitch, speed
of delivery, the use of pauses, word stress, etc.
• Great orators know how to use these cues
effectively.

11. Tone
• Tone can be gentle, persuasive, appreciative,
sarcastic, angry.
• For example, take a very simple sentence: What an
excellent piece of drafting.
• If this sentence is spoken as an exclamation, it
expresses admiration. However, if a touch of sarcasm
is added to it, it will become highly condemnatory.
• The actual meaning of this sentence can be
understood from the speaker’s tone.

12. Pitch
• Maintaining a constant pitch throughout one’s
speech monotony.
• Pitch variations are necessary to keep the
listener attentive.
• Generally speaking important parts of the
message should be delivered at a pitch higher
than the normal.

13. Speed of Delivery
• Speaking fast is not synonymous with
speaking fluently. If one speaks very fast
words jam into one another and the effect is
incomprehension.
• As a rule, simple parts of the message can be
delivered fast while important parts are
spoken slowly with proper use of stress and
pauses.

14. Pauses
• Giving pauses at the right places is important
for effective communication.
• The normal practice is to give a pause before
and after an important point.
• The first pause creates suspense and raise
anticipation. The second pause gives the
listener sufficient time to assimilate the point
made by the speaker.

15. Stress
• Word stress is of two types:
a. In words consisting of two or more syllables, some
syllables are stressed to suggest change in meaning.
Generally speaking, in two-syllabic words, in nouns
and adjectives the first syllable is stressed while in
verbs the second syllable is stressed.
b. Important words in the message should be carefully
stressed. Look at the following sentences and the
difference in the meaning caused by the stress
variation.
I have checked the bills. (I myself)
I have checked the bills. (only checked)
I have checked the bills. (nothing except the bills.)

16. Speech Breakers
• Utterances like ‘oh’, ‘err’, ‘you know’, also known as non-
fluencies, either express the state of a person’s mind
while speaking or the speaker’s inability to get the right
words for a particular idea.
• So they would either suggest confusion, distress,
frustration, anger, etc, or they would be used as fillers.
• Non-fluencies have a definite purpose. They allow the
speaker a little breathing space in which he can find the
right words and the listener an opportunity to assess the
speaker’s state of mind better.
• They should be used sparingly, for they interrupt the
smooth flow of the message and show the speaker poor
in light.