Nonverbal communication is a silent form of communication, which has a great influence over our social environment and the whole communication process. Nonverbal communication allows us to send messages to others conveying what we are feeling or thinking without verbal language. Nonverbal Communication has many different functions in the communication process. It regulates relationships and can support or even replace verbal communication in some situations.

Before we look at the specific types of nonverbal communication I would like to take a moment and look at

The ability to interpret and to use nonverbal communication is one that starts at a very young age and progresses as the child grows. At the age of two years old a child is already able to read nonverbal signals such as someone pointing at an object or looking in a certain direction. They are also able to follow these gestures and to figure out what the point is that the other person is trying to get across to them or what they are trying to show them. Nonverbal signals are very useful to children because they give them the ability to tell parents and other adults what they want or need even though they are unable to tell them vocally. Without this type of communication it would be impossible for a youngster to communicate with their parents and just as hard for their parents to understand them.

The fifth type of nonverbal communication is Kinesics better known as body language. Kinesics is articulation of the body this includes all actions physical or psychological, automatic reflexes, posture, facial expressions, gestures, and all other body movements. Kinesics may accompany or modify language or it might act as a substitute for it. Posture is one of the components of Kinesics. A persons posture can tell others what kind of a mood that person is in or what kind of a day they might be having. If you're having a bad day and your unhappy you are more than likely going to be hunched over a little when sitting.

Studies show that as we get older our nonverbal skills increase. At the age of twenty we could probably sit down with one of our close friends or family members and have a conversation with them without saying one word. Many studies have been preformed to find noticeable differences in nonverbal communication. Segerstrile (p124) found that as age increased that the decoding for posture and gestures increased but not the facial expressions. He also found that women are much more accurate at decoding nonverbal communication while men on the other hand were more accurate with vocal communication. He believed that this had to do with the fact nurturance is encouraged in girls and care giving is their expected gender role rather than boys.

Facial expressions may portray the actual emotion that is felt and accurately accompany the verbal part of communication. On the other hand facial expressions, as with other body language, can contradict the verbal expression sending the real message that the speaker wants to send. For instance you may tell your parents that you got an "F" on your final but by telling them this with a little smirk on your face they will know that you are only joking and they will get the real message that you are trying to send to them.

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Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)