Ch. 6 Channels of Nonverbal Communication

One of the ten channels of nonverbal communication is movement and gestures. From this picture you can see that just from the way these celebrities are standing and their gestures they are feeling confident. Everyone uses body movements to communicate messages, even people who are born blind. When you feel happy and confident, you walk with perfect posture and your head held high. When you feel scared and nervous, you are kinda slouched over and stare down at the ground. On my first day of school I was very nervous in my new surroundings and was walking timidly, but now I feel a lot more confident and walk with consistent strides. We also use harm and hand gestures when we communicate to get our message across. My mom does this a lot! Almost everything she says she has to use her hands to illustrate her words. I actually don't mind it though because it makes me pay attention to what she's saying and understand it better. Our gestures are divided into five different types. The first type of gesture is an emblem. Emblems are gestures that translate what you are actually trying to say. By lifting your hand to signal a stop or waving your hand to say hello or goodbye, you are showing an example of an emblem. A second type of gesture is an illustrator. An illustator is a gesture used to clarify the message. When you use your hands to describe your words you help clarify the message you are trying to send to your reciever. Another type of gesture is an affect display. These gestures communicate emotion such as covering your mouth to show you are surprised. Regulators are another type of gesture that allow for a conversation to flow. When raising your hand to speak you are displaying an example of a regulator. The final type of gesture is an adaptor that is used to satisfy a need. When we do behaviors such as picking a hair off of someones shirt or scratching an itch we are fulfilling needs. Movements and gestures are very important in our communication because they help send the message to our reciever and help them better understand what we are trying to say. If we didn't use gestures or movements the message could be misleading and it may be difficult for them to comprehend what we are saying.