Nonverbal communication has five characteristics which are ambiguous, continuous,

unplanned and unconscious, learned and intentional, and has value. I will further discuss each
characteristic in the order given. It is beneficial to understand that “no dictionary exists for the
meaning of nonverbal communication” (Hynes, 2011). This means that there is no real
relationship between the nonverbal cues and its meanings. This leaves a wide opening for
multiple interpretations. The meanings that you ascribe to the cues are profoundly dependent on
the bond between you the employees that you are intermingling with, the type of occasion, the
meaning behind the spoken words that are used with it, and the culture and gender of the
individuals. The United States is a melting pot that consists of different cultures, personalities,
genders, ethnicities, and religions, so with that being said it is likely to find quite a few meanings
for identical nonverbal cues, and it is also likely to find numerous nonverbal cues that have the
same meaning. For example something as simple as the “thumbs up” gesture, it can mean ok,
good job, insult such as up yours, or hitchhiking a ride (Butland, 2012).

Having you ever noticed in meeting that when your boss stops speaking you know longer
have any idea to what he is attempting to convey? “Nonverbal communication, by contrast is so
pervasive and complex that others can continue to gather meaning, even if you are doing
absolutely nothing” (Butland, 2012). With nonverbal communication just the act of not saying
anything, but doing a simple act can convey a message your audience about what you are saying
or feeling. It could be simply taking a deep breath, stuttering, sweating, or smiling that causes
them to react to what you doing. More than likely, it was not your intention to hurl a message out
there, but that doesn’t stop others from interpreting your nonverbal behavior. Nonverbal
communication is continuous regardless if you are speaking verbally or not. Something as simple
as your posture or clearing your throat will be noticed by others as a way of communicating an
emotion or feeling that you don’t want to be spoken.

Nonverbal communication can be either unconscious or unintentional, but most of our

nonverbal behaviors are exhibited without much or any conscious thought. You rarely plan or think
carefully about your nonverbal behaviors. When you are angry, it is naturally expressed on your face as
well as elsewhere in your body. The same is true for how your voice changes when you’re nervous, how
your arms cross when youre feeling defensive, or how you scratch your head when you’re unsure of
something. These expressions and behaviors are rarely planned or structured; they happen suddenly and
without conscious thought.

Saying that some nonverbal behaviors are natural or occur without conscious thought doesn’t
mean that people are born with a complete inventory of instinctive nonverbal behaviors. Much of your
nonverbal behavior is learned reather than instinctive or innate. You learn the “proper” way to sit or
approach, how close to stand next to someone, how to look at others, how to use touch, all from your
experenices and your culture. You have been taught their meaning through your experience in
interactions with other people. As a result, you can strutue some nonverbal behaviors to send
intentional messages, such as disapproval when you shake your head from side to side or give a fist
bump to show excitement. However, unlike the formal training you received in reading, wrigint, and
speaking you learned nonverbal communication in a much less formal and unceremonious way and you
use it in a much less precise way than spoken language. But because many of these behaviors are
learned, you can actively work to improve your nonverbal skills. There is a debate as to whether
unintentional nonverbal behaviors really count as communication. Since other incorporate their
understanding of our nonverbal as part of shared meaning, we’re going to say that intentional and
unintentional nonverbal both are worth recognizing her. Our position is that it’s impossible not to
communicate nonverbally.

Communication textbooks have been saying for years that, when verbal and nonverbal
messages contradict each other, people typically believe the nonverbal message. Because nonverbal is
more spontaneous and less conscious we don’t or cant manipulate it as easily as we can control verbal
communication. When you were younger and your parents thought that you might be lying to them they
would say look me in the eye and say that again. Your face was more believable to them than what you
were saying verbally. Your nonverbal messages would tell them the truth. Research suggests that
between 65 percent and 93 percent of the meaning people attribute to messages comes from the
nonverbal channel. These is a small \ factor in those percentages, however, because the mehrbain and
ferris study assumed to 93 percent f meaning came from nonverbal messages in situations where no
other background information was available. The reality is that many factors affect the meaning given to
messages including how familiar the communications are with the language being spoken, cultural
knowledge, and even individual differences in personality characteristics.