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MODULE 15 : IMPORTANCE OF NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Understand the importance of nonverbal communication

 To know the essential nonverbal communication skills
 Understand the functions of nonverbal communication in day-to-day interactions.
 To know how to improve nonverbal communication

OVERVIEW

Nonverbal communication is the process of conveying meaning through actions and
body language rather than words.

Nonverbal communication operates on the following principles: nonverbal
communication conveys more meaning than verbal communication, nonverbal communication is
more involuntary than verbal communication, nonverbal communication is frequently more

ambiguous than verbal communication, but is more credible when compared with the latter.

Nonverbal communication expresses our identities by conveying who we are through how we

arrange our living and working spaces, the clothes we wear, our personal presentation, and the
tones in our voices.

3.7. IMPORTANCE OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

We comprehend something nonverbal whenever we perceive information that is not

written or spoken. Humans can receive information in addition to what is written or spoken. The
primary sources of nonverbal messages that we receive are our senses of touch, taste, seeing,

hearing, smells, signs, symbols, colours, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and intuition. It is
a silent language that was not formally taught and existed before language was invented. For

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