Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures

Alyssa Hoag, Mellissa Narine, Amanpreet Singh, Kristen Patterson

June 14, 2020

BUSI 1073 Business Writing and Communications 11/11(20S-O-D)

Karen Ervin
Agenda 2
Introduction to Nonverbal Communication
What is Nonverbal Communication?

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

     Nonverbal Cues & Kinesics
Classifications of Nonverbal Cues
     Symbolic & Spontaneous
The Cultural Presence of Nonverbal Communication
     Facial Expressions
     Body Language & Proximity
Effect of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures
The Use Nonverbal Communication to Form Communities
How Nonverbal Communication Has Allowed Humans to Develop Interpersonal Skills
Importance of Nonverbal Communication
Users of Nonverbal Communication
Uses of Nonverbal Communication
Recommendations 
Conclusion
 3

The following presentation dives into the high-level

Introduction to cultural differences found within nonverbal
communication, and how a lack of understanding
Nonverbal these differences may negatively impact human
interaction. 
Communication

  

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 Nonverbal Communication Defined
4
Any form of communication with the absence of words,
accounting for 65% of all human interactions (Pan,
2014).
What is Nonverbal Cues

Nonverbal  Most widely used and most difficult to pinpoint and

understand
Communication?  Can enhance or contradict verbal communication 
Kinesics [Body Language]
 Singular or combined use or gestures,
postures, facial expressions, clothing, and even
scent (Preston, 2005)
Cultural Example - Winking
In North America, winking portrays flirtation, or
sarcasm in a statement
InNigeria, winking tells a person to exit the room
immediately and without question

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

Subtop ic One: Nonverbal Communication Defined

Spontaneous

Classifications of  Unintentional signs driven by the emotional state of

Nonverbal Cues the user (Buck, 1988)
 Occur as part of the sender’s subconscious, often
leaving the sender unaware
Symbolic

 Cues, patterns, and gestures that are culturally

learned over a lifetime of experiences (Miller, 1988)
 Intentionally used to support a predetermines
output, decided by the sender (Buck, 1988)
 Users are aware of their message being portrayed

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 Facial Expressions
 Momentary expressions that signal the emotions of6
the user
 The only facial expressions that are easily interpreted
by most cultures are known as the basic six
 The Cultural emotions: (a) disgust, (b) fear, (c) joy, (d) surprise, (e)
sadness, and (f) anger (Sanchez, 2018)
Presence of
Use of Eye Contact
Nonverbal
 The eyes are the window to the soul, and are the
Communication in most dominant and reliable facial feature for
Humans and Their expressing human emotion (Akechi, 2013)
Surroundings  Depending on cultural background, eye contact
during a conversation can be perceived as a positive
or negative nonverbal cue (Sanchez, 2018)
Cultural Example
 North Americans maintain eye contact with people
they trust and respect
 Japanese cultures avoid eye contact as this is a sign
of respect or deference (Akechi, 2013)

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 7

 The use of body language and physical proximity is

Body Language and important when communicating with different
cultures.
Proximity  Tactical Sensitivity
 Refers to the use of touch within communication
 Cultural Example
• North American cultures are considered
'contactless' or 'fingertip' culture and stand an arm's
length (Sanchez, 2018)
Latin and Arabia cultures are considered 'contact
cultures' and use the sense of touch to enhance
a messages meaning (Gonzalez, 2018)
South American cultures are called 'elbow cultures'
and prefer to stand at an elbows length when
talking to one another (Sanchez, 2018)

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 8

Using Nonverbal  Human beings have an innate need for

interacting with others, which has led to the
Communication to formations of communities within today's
Form Communities society (Castillo, 2018).

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 9

 How Nonverbal
Communication has   When using an open method of communication it allows
for receivers to be more open to communicating. 
Allowed Humans to  When Doctors used an open method of communcation
Develop this allowed for patients to be more trusting” (Vogel,
2018).
Interpersonal Skills   Components such as empathy, respect and openness
is important in communication. (Kovtun, 2016).

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 10

The Importance of  Utilizing nonverbal communication correctly

elevates productivity without speaking (Salerno,
Nonverbal 2014).
Communication

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 11

There are different nonverbal modes used for conveying

messages will vary from country to country, and within a
single country depending on the cultural diversity. These
Users of Nonverbal modes will help in understanding the uses of this
Communication communication, and some of the examples from a
specific culture are given below: 
 Drum Language
 Puppet theater
 Gong language
 Masquerades

The above-mentioned modes are the examples of

primarily Nigerian cultures. These nonverbal modes
reflect tensions that exist between oral and literate
cultures (Ogbondah & Siddens, 1999). 

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 12

The influences of Nonverbal communication across can

be understood by taking its different characteristics into
account. There are several characteristics of nonverbal
Uses of Nonverbal communication, their meanings vary culture to culture. 
Communication  Influential Nonverbal Communication
 Ambiguous Nonverbal Communication
 Pervasive Characteristics
 Rooted in Culture
 Emotional Cues of Nonverbal Communication

Research has suggested that 93% of all human

interaction is communicated through nonverbal cues,
mainly through facial expressions and vocal qualities
(Anonymous, 2008). Slight misinterpretations of these
cues can have a ripple effect and cause issues later. 
Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​
 13

How Using  Reading others better in social situations

Nonverbal  Traveling into a country with different culture

Communication is  Understanding people with different social back

rounds
Beneficial 

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 14

In conclusion, nonverbal communication can create

connections on an interpersonal level. Increasing
awareness will result in a better understanding of cross
Conclusion culture nonverbal communication.

Influence of Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures​

 References
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