Understanding Non-Verbal Communication

• The term 'non—verbal' is commonly used to describe communicative resources such as gesture, facial movement and tone of voice.
• The term has long been useful in challenging the misconception that words constitute the whole of communication.
• However, a further assumption has sometimes seemed to follow: that 'non—verbal' expression is something unitary, independent of verbal communicating, or classifiable under some single term like 'body language'.
• This is to drastically simplify our actual practice.
• As pointed out by Writers on language and social interaction, gestural and vocal actions are often integrated rather than autonomous, and verbal and non—verbal communication is usually produced in a highly coordinated fashion.
• Proposing a concept of 'non—verbal expression' has led to an unfounded generalisation about this supposedly distinct subject: that it is the medium for expressing emotions and relations rather than conscious thought or ideas.
• Even if this were true, the fact remains that the resources covered by the term 'non—verbal' are diverse and complex in the extreme.

Explore the complexities of non-verbal communication and its integration with verbal communication. Challenge common misconceptions about non-verbal expression and its relationship to conscious thought and ideas.