10 tips to improve your Non-Verbal Communication

Good communication skills can help you both in your personal and professional life. While verbal and written communication skills are important, research has shown that nonverbal behaviors make up a large percentage of our daily interpersonal communication..

Contents

• How can we improve our non-verbal communication skills?
  • 1. Pay close attention to gestures
  • 2. Focus on tone of voice when speaking
  • 3. Look for inconsistent behaviors
  • 4. Use signals to make communication more effective and meaningful.
  • 5. Beware of eye contact
  • 6. Don't be afraid to ask questions about non-verbal cues.
  • 7. Evaluate the signals you receive together
  • 8. Consider the context
  • 9. Caution! that signs can be misinterpreted
  • 10. Practice all you can

How can we improve our non-verbal communication skills?

The following tips will help you learn to read other people's non-verbal cues and improve your own ability to communicate effectively..

1. Pay close attention to gestures

People can communicate information in many ways, so pay attention to things like eye contact, gestures, posture, body movements, and tone of voice. All of these signals can convey important information that is not stated in words..

By getting used to paying more attention to other people's unconscious behaviors, you can improve your own ability to communicate non-verbally..

2. Focus on the tone of voice when speaking

Tone of voice can convey a great deal of information, ranging from enthusiasm to disinterest or even anger. Realize how your tone of voice affects the responses of others, if you notice that these are not what you expected, try to use the best tone, for example to emphasize the ideas you want to communicate. If you want to show real interest in something, express your enthusiasm by using a livelier tone of voice, etc..

3. Look for inconsistent behaviors

If someone's words don't match their nonverbal behaviors, more attention should be paid to the cues. For example, a person could say that they are happy with a frown or looking at the ground, which alerts us that they are not telling the truth.

Research has shown that when words do not match nonverbal cues, people tend to ignore what has been said and focus on involuntary expressions of moods, thoughts and emotions.

4. Use signals to make communication more effective and meaningful.

Remember that both verbal and non-verbal language together are valuable when transmitting a message. That is why you should improve your oral communication through the use of body language, so that it reinforces and supports what you are saying. This can be especially useful when giving presentations or speaking to a large group of people..

5. Be careful with eye contact

When people look each other directly in the eye, it can appear that they are evading or trying to hide something. On the other hand, excessive eye contact may appear to be looking for a confrontation or trying to intimidate the other. Eye contact is an important part of communication, but we must also remember that healthy contact does not mean staring into someone's eyes nonstop. Some experts recommend that this type of communication be done with intervals of eye contact lasting between four and five seconds on an intermittent basis..

6. Don't be afraid to ask questions about non-verbal cues.

If you are confused about someone else's non-verbal cues, don't be afraid to ask questions. A good idea is to repeat your interpretation of what has been said again and ask for clarification. An example of could be: "So what you are saying is that ..."

7. Evaluate the signals you receive together

A single gesture by itself can mean several things, or even nothing at all. The key to correctly reading nonverbal behavior is looking for clusters of signals that reinforce something concrete. If too much emphasis is placed on a single signal among many, it is possible to draw the wrong conclusion about what a person is trying to communicate.

8. Consider the context

When communicating with others, always keep in mind the situation and context in which the communication occurs. Some situations require more formal behaviors that could be interpreted very differently in any other setting.

Take into consideration non-verbal behaviors that are not appropriate for the context in which you find yourself. On the other hand, if you are trying to improve your own non-verbal communication, focus on matching your signals to the level of formality that is required in each situation..

9. Caution! that signs can be misinterpreted

It is popularly believed that a firm handshake indicates a strong personality, while a weak handshake seems to us a lack of strength of character. This example illustrates an important point about the potential for misinterpretation of nonverbal cues. A soft handshake in some cases could indicate something else entirely. So remember that you must look for the whole of the behavior. The general behavior of a person is more representative than a single isolated gesture.

10. Practice all you can

Some people seem to have a knack for using effective non-verbal communication and correctly interpreting the signals of others. But you can actually enhance this skill by paying close attention to non-verbal behavior and by practicing in interpreting different types of non-verbal communication with others. By forcing yourself to perceive the non-verbal behavior of others, in addition to practicing your own skills, you can substantially improve your communication skills.