Complementary nonverbal behaviours signal the attitudes interactants have for one another. 

Eg If you saw a person talking to a policeman, and their head was bowed slightly, voice low and hesitant, they were shuffling slowly from foot to foot, you might conclude that the person felt inferior and were being reprimanded. The nonverbal behaviours provided the context for the verbal behaviours. 

A lot of complementing behaviour consists of illustrators – nonverbal behaviours that accompany and support spoken words. 

Eg scratching your head when searching for an idea.

Illustrators are often when emotionally aroused, when trying to explain ideas that are difficult to put into words, when furious are furious, horrified, very agitated, distressed, or excited.

We use italics to highlight a written idea. We use nonverbal accents to emphasize spoken messages. Pointing an accusing finger adds emphasis to criticism. Accenting certain words with the vocal intonation (“It was your idea!”) is another way to add nonverbal emphasis.

Nonverbal communication (NVC) is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages.

We can communicate through gesture; body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact.

Object communication occurs through clothing, hairstyles or even architecture and symbols.

Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage which includes voice quality, emotion, speaking style and prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress.

Written text has nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emoticons.

Much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal areas:

Environmental conditions where communication takes place

Physical characteristics of the communicators

Behavior of communicators during interaction.

Non Verbal Communications

Accenting 

Complementing 

Contradicting 

Deception 

Emblems 

Regulating 

Repeating 

Substituting

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

                                    Japanese Proverb

Definition:

Messages expressed by means other than either spoken or written language.

Nonverbal communication (NVC) is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Non verbal communication contributes heavily to conveying meanings (Between 65-90%). Therefore the ability to understand non verbal communication is very important to developing competence in communication.

Non verbal communication has a depth and richness that most of us are unaware of on a daily basis. Try the following to begin to consciously become aware of how non verbal communication works.

1. Choose a partner and find some space to yourselves.
2. Sit back to back so that no body parts are touching. You should be able to talk easily without being able to see each other.
3. For the next 2 minutes hold a conversation about anything you like. Communicate only by using words. Do not look at  each other.
4. Now turn around and face each other. You should be at a comfortable distance. Now you can both see and hear each other.                                                                             Carry on the conversation for a further two minutes.

Types of Non verbal Communication

• Body Orientation

• Posture

• Gestures

• Face and Eyes

• Voice

• Touch

• Physical Attractiveness

• Clothing

• Proxemics

• Territoriality

• Physical Environment

• Time