NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION
All communication that conveys a message need not be verbal. We can convey our feelings through a smile, a frown, or silence. Non-verbal communication is communication that is not conveyed through words.
Albert Mehrabian, a professor of psychology, estimates that 55% of the impact of a message is through the non- verbal mode. Non-verbal communication may be visual or auditory. Symbols, signs, sounds, eye contact and facial expression, body postures, gestures, and physical appearance too falls under this category.
In olden days, when communication media were not well-developed, drums and fire were used as a mode of communication.
People would communicate through a relay in the beating of drums. There were different lengths and notes of the drumbeat for different purposes. all these constitute non-verbal communication. Silence Symbols and signs are used where one-way communication is adequate and effective.
For example, it is enough to give a picture of a petrol pump or a telephone on a sign post for a driver on a highway to know what is available nearby. Similarly a school bell gives information to the children to assemble or disperse.
The language barrier can easily be overcome with non-verbal signs, which is why signs are used instead of words like Exit, Stairs, or Toilet at all major national or international public places such as airports, railway stations or tourist centres.
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