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Secondary territory: unlike the previous type, there is no "right" to occupancy, but people may still feel some degree of ownership of a particular space. For example, someone may sit in the same seat on train every day and feel aggrieved if someone else sits there.
Public territory: this refers to an area that is available to all, but only for a set period, such as a parking space or a seat in a library. Although people have only a limited claim over that space, they often exceed that claim. For example, it was found that people take longer to leave a parking space when someone is waiting to take that space.
Interaction territory: this is space created by others when they are interacting. For example, when a group is talking to each other on a footpath, others will walk around the group rather than disturb it.
When we discuss space in a nonverbal context, we mean the space between objects and people. Space is often associated with social rank and is an important part of business communication. Who gets the corner office? Why is the head of the table important and who gets to sit there? As the context of a staircase has norms for nonverbal behavior, so does the public speaking context. In North America, eye contact with the audience is expected. Big movements and gestures are not generally expected and can be distracting. The speaker occupies a space on the "stage," even if it's in front of the class. When you occupy that space, the audience will expect to behave in certain ways. If you talk to the screen behind you while displaying a PowerPoint presentation, the audience may perceive that you are not paying attention to them. Speakers are expected to pay attention to, and interact with, the audience, even if in the feedback is primarily nonverbal. Your movements should coordinate with the tone, rhythm, and content of your speech. Pacing back and forth, keeping your hands in your pockets, or crossing your arms may communicate nervousness, or even defensiveness, and detract from your speech (Scott McLean, 2008).
Do you know what time it is? How aware you are of time varies by culture and normative expectations of adherence (or ignorance) of time. Some people, and the communities and cultures they represent, are very time-oriented. The Euro Railways trains in Germany are famous for departing and arriving according to the schedule. In contrast, if you take the train in Argentina, you'll find that the schedule is more of an approximation of when the train will leave or arrive.
When you give a presentation, does your audience have to wait for you? Time is a relevant factor of the communication process in your speech. The best way to show your audience respect is to honour the time expectation associated with your speech. Always try to stop speaking before the audience stops listening; if the audience perceives that you have "gone over time," they will be less willing to listen. This in turn will have a negative impact on your ability to communicate your message.
Chronemics is the study of how we refer to and perceive time. Tom Bruneau at Radford University has spent a lifetime investigating how time interacts in communication and culture. As he notes, across Western society, time is often considered the equivalent of money. The value of speed is highly prized in some societies. In others, there is a great respect for slowing down and taking a long-term view of time.
When you order a meal at a fast food restaurant, what are your expectations for how long you will have to wait? When you order a pizza online for delivery, when do you expect it will arrive? If you order cable service for your home, when do you expect it might be delivered? In the first case, you might measure the delivery of a hamburger in a matter of seconds or minutes, and perhaps thirty minutes for pizza delivery, but you may measure the time from your order to working cable in days or even weeks. You may even have to be at your home from 8 a.m. to noon, waiting for its installation. The expectations vary by context, and we often grow frustrated in a time-sensitive culture when the delivery does not match our expectations.
Across cultures the value of time may vary. Some Mexican American friends may invite you to a barbecue at 8 p.m., but when you arrive you are the first guest, because it is understood that the gathering actually doesn't start until after 9 p.m. Similarly in France, an 8 p.m. party invitation would be understood to indicate you should arrive around 8:30, but in Sweden 8 p.m. means 8 p.m., and latecomers may not be welcome. Some Native Americans, particularly elders, speak in well-measured phrases and take long pauses between phrases. They do not hurry their speech or compete for their turn, knowing no one will interrupt them. Some Orthodox Jews observe religious days when they do not work, cook, drive, or use electricity. People around the world have different ways of expressing value for time (Bruneau, 1976).
4. Improving Nonverbal Skills
The words that you say in a conversation are only a small part of what you communicate to another person. Your tone and body language play a much larger role in what you are communicating to another person. For example, the words "great job" can be taken as a sincere compliment or as a sarcastic barb, depending upon the nonverbal skills used. If you are saying the right words but not backing them up with your nonverbal skills, then you are not going to be a very effective communicator. Here is how to improve nonverbal skills.
-Recognize that nonverbal skills are a very important part of communication. The way that you position your body and the voice tone that you use during a conversation can speak even louder than the actual words coming out of your mouth. By improving your nonverbal skills, you can become a much more effective communicator in all areas of your life.
-Make eye contact. The fastest way to improve your nonverbal skills is to make eye contact with the other person during a conversation. By making eye contact, you are connecting with that person, which makes it much easier for both of you to understand each other. When your eyes are wandering during a conversation, you are sending the nonverbal message that you are not invested in the conversation.
-Pay attention to your tone. Most of us have had the misfortune of sitting through a speech in which powerful words were killed because the speaker was clearly bored, which made what could have been a dynamic speech unbearably boring. If you want to motivate another person, you need to put some energy into your speech. If you want to put another person in his place, use a deeper and more firm voice. Use your tone to energize your words.
-Watch your body language. The way you position your body during a conversation speaks volumes, and you can use the way you position yourself to improve your nonverbal skills. If you want to end a conversation sooner, make of point of looking at your watch, which says, "I have somewhere else that I need to be." If you want to be in a power position during a conversation, stand while the other person remains seated. If you want to communicate that you are open to the other person's ideas, then uncross your arms.
-Pay attention to other people's nonverbal cues. When you are in a meeting, observe two people talking with each other. Notice the tone of their voices and the positions of their bodies. You can often tell who is going to "win" a disagreement based upon the nonverbal body language used.
-Incorporate effective nonverbal skills into your own communication style. When you see another person use a nonverbal skill effectively, try to incorporate that nonverbal skill into your own communication style. For example, if you see a person effectively raise his eyebrows in a way that sends the message, "I really do not believe you," without having to say a word, then incorporate that nonverbal skill into your own way of communicating when you are in a similar situation.
-Practice improving your nonverbal skills. At first, you might feel self-conscious as you start focusing on your nonverbal skills. However, with a little practice, your nonverbal skills will become second nature, and other people will be learning from you (Marwijk, 2002).
5. Conclusion
Nonverbal communication variables play a major role in affecting the meaning of messages in business communication contexts. Consequently, business communicators need to have a general understanding of nonverbal communication and to recognize how such behaviors as body posture and movement, eye contact, facial expression, seating arrangement, vocal cues, spatial relationships, and personal appearance affect the ways their verbal messages are received by others. Quite often nonverbal communication provides "metacommunication," or communication about communication, serving to repeat, contradict, substitute, complement, accent, and regulate verbal communication. If business communicators want to ascribe meaning to others' nonverbal behaviors, they should take care to interpret the nonverbal message in its proper context, realizing that people respond differently to different stimuli and that some nonverbal behaviors vary in meaning across cultures. Businessmen can apply their understanding of nonverbal communication to personal interviews to show their true feelings of immediacy, potency, and responsiveness, to relax others, and to achieve maximum effect from the interview situation. They can also observe and adjust seating arrangement, room decor, and eye contact between group members to increase productivity at conferences and in small group discussions. |
