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The Importance of Nonverbal Communication in Sports

Verbal and nonverbal communication in different situations.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Nonverbal Communication — Nonverbal Communication: The Importance And Main Aspects

Nonverbal Communication: The Importance and Main Aspects

• Categories: Body Language Interpersonal Communication Nonverbal Communication

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Published: Nov 20, 2018

Words: 183 | Pages: 0 | 1 min read

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Why Communication Matters

We communicate to create, maintain, and change relationships and selves..

Posted July 15, 2021 | Reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster

• Why Relationships Matter
• Take our Relationship Satisfaction Test
• Find a therapist to strengthen relationships
• How we communicate helps relationships get off on the right foot, navigate problems, and change over time.
• In communication, we develop, create, maintain, and alter our relationships.
• We communicate to work our way through family changes and challenges in verbal and non-verbal ways.

I remember seeing a poster on my junior high classroom wall: “Communication is the Beginning of Understanding.” This spoke to me at the time. Yet, like so many people, I had never really thought much about communication. I would have described communication as sending and receiving messages.

Communication Is More Than Sending and Receiving Messages

In reality, communication is often about transmitting information. We send and receive messages with people in our lives. Daily, much of our communication consists of coordinating schedules, “What time are you getting home for dinner?” and negotiating whose turn it is to do the dishes, pay the bills, or take dinner to a friend who is ill. We send messages like, “It is your turn to let the dog out” and receive messages like, “Don’t forget to get dog food at the store” (if you have not guessed, a lot of the messages in my house are about the dog).

We might also blame problems on communication, talking about “communication breakdowns” or on a “lack of communication.” If we think about communication in these ways, we have missed so much that is important about communication. We have neglected how and why communication matters.

Communication Matters to Creating and Changing Relationships

We become aware of how Communication Matters when

• We confront issues with work-life balance.
• We experience positive events like the birth of a baby or winning an award.
• We have a friend does who does not do or say what we expect.
• We have disagreements over religious beliefs or political values.

Both positive and challenging events affect, reflect, and change our identity and the identity of our personal and family relationships. What do I mean by this? How did these relationships come into being? Well, think about the last time you started a new friendship or had a new member join your family. Through what you and the other person said and did, what we’d call verbal and nonverbal communication , these relationships took shape.

Sometimes relationships develop easily and clearly. They are healthy and pleasant. Other times, relationships develop in stress and storm and may be healthy or not. How we communicate helps relationships get off on the right foot, navigate problems, and change over time.

What is important to understand is that relationships are talked into (and out of) being. In communication, we develop, create, maintain, and alter our relationships. As we communicate, we become and change who we are. Think about how you have grown and changed as you communicate at home, at work, with friends, and in your community.

Communication Matters to Relationship and Family Identity

As we communicate, we co-create relationships and our own identity. As you think about your close relationships and your family, you can likely recall important events, both positive and negative, that impacted how you understand your relationship and yourself as a person.

Consider this example: one of my college students described a childhood family ritual of going out on the front lawn on Christmas Eve. The family sang Christmas carols and threw carrots on the roof for Santa’s reindeers. The family still does this annual carrot-throwing ritual in adulthood. You can picture them bringing their sometimes confused new partners and spouses out in the snow to throw carrots onto the roof and sing.

Why does this family still throw carrots and sing? Through this seemingly silly ritual, the family celebrates who they are as a family and the togetherness that is important to them. The family creates space for new people to join the family. Through their words and actions, members of the family teach their new partners how to be family members through carrot throwing and other vital experiences.

I am sure you can point to experiences that have been central to creating your relationships and your identity.

Communication Matters as We Face Change and Challenges

We also communicate to work our way through family changes and challenges. Family members or others may have different expectations of what our family and personal identity or should be. This is especially true when a family does not fit dominant cultural models, such as single-parent families, multi-ethnic families, stepfamilies, LGBTQ families, or adoptive families.

For me, becoming a stepfamily was highly challenging. We became a stepfamily when I was 12 years old. My mother had recently died, and my Dad surprised us, kids, introducing us to the woman he wanted to marry. We no longer matched the other families in the neighborhood where we’d lived most of our lives. We certainly did not feel like a family overnight.

It took my stepfamily several years to create an understanding of what it meant to be a family. As we interacted, and with many mistakes and some successes, we slowly came to understand what we needed and expected from each other to be a family.

For all of us, relationship and family identity is constantly developing and changing. In my case, I remember my stepmom reminding me to wear a jacket when going out in the evening, even into my 40s, and giving me advice about my health. At some point, our roles changed, and now, as she moves toward her 80s, more often than not, I am in the role of asking about her health and helping her with significant decisions. What it means to be a mother or daughter and what we expect of each other and ourselves change as we interact.

Communication Matters . Whether we are negotiating whose turn it is to feed the dog, how to become a parent, how to interact with a difficult co-worker, or how to celebrate with a friend who won a major award, it is in communication that we learn what to do and say. This is what I will write about in this blog as I reflect on what I have learned as a professor and researcher of interpersonal and family communication. I invite you to go on this journey with me. I hope to give you insights into your communication.

Communication Matters. Communication is the Beginning of Understanding . It is an exciting and ever-changing journey.

Baxter, L. A. (2004). Relationships as dialogues. Personal Relationships, 11 , 1-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00068.x

Braithwaite, D. O., Foster, E. A., & Bergen, K. M. (2018). Social construction theory: Communication co-creating families. In D. O. Braithwaite, E. A. Suter, & K. Floyd. (Eds.). Engaging theories in family communication: Multiple perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 267-278). Routledge.

Braithwaite, D. O., Waldron, V. R., Allen, J., Bergquist, G., Marsh, J., Oliver, B., Storck, K., Swords, N., & Tschampl-Diesing, C. (2018). “Feeling warmth and close to her”: Communication and resilience reflected in turning points in positive adult stepchild-stepparent relationships. Journal of Family Communication, 18 , 92-109. doi: 10.1080/15267431.2017.1415902

Dawn O. Braithwaite, Ph.D., a professor of communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, studies families and close relationships, especially step- and chosen families.

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Verbal and Nonverbal Communication: Principles and Cues Essay

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Verbal Communication

Principles of verbal communication, nonverbal communication, principles of nonverbal communication, nonverbal cues, positive influence of words and symbols.

An act of verbal communication occurs when one of the participants uses words to convey a message. Words serve to represent ideas that the speaker wants to communicate, and they do not have inherent meaning by themselves (Simon et al., 2018). Humans give meaning to words, and the lack of clarity and subsequent misunderstanding in verbal communication might lead to severe consequences. For example, an inaccurate verbal communication between the NASCAR driver and their spotter on the stands might result in hitting another car and causing a serious accident. Therefore, verbal communication should be clear, concise, and correct to be effective.

An act of verbal communication occurs when one of the participants uses words to convey a message. Words serve to represent ideas that the speaker wants to communicate, and they do not have inherent meaning by themselves (Simon et al., 2018). Humans give sense to words, and the lack of clarity and subsequent misunderstanding in verbal communication might lead to severe consequences. For example, an inaccurate verbal communication between the NASCAR driver and their spotter on the stands might result in hitting another car and causing a serious crash. Therefore, verbal communication should be clear, concise, and correct to be effective.

When it comes to principles, verbal communication mostly revolves around the meaning of words given to them. For instance, there are two possible word meanings: denotative and connotative (Simon et al., 2018). A denotative meaning meets the dictionary article, while the connotative one can involve an emotional association. Words in denotative meaning can be used in verbal communication relatively safely. For example, using the word “pig” to define an animal would be perfectly acceptable. However, the same word also has a negative connotative meaning towards police officers. Therefore, one should exercise caution in using the connotative meaning of the words in order to avoid possible controversy.

Nonverbal communication may supplement verbal communication or may be used separately. Regardless of how nonverbal communication is used, it always utilizes body language to convey a message. Those nonverbal elements have a major impact on the interpretation of information (Hollinden, 2017). For example, a soccer referee might try to control the game by showing yellow and red cards to aggressive players. However, if the referee fails to supplement their decisions with confident body language, they might provoke violence on the pitch instead of calming the players’ temper.

Nonverbal communication has several key principles; however, fluidity and irreversibility seem to be the most important among them. The fluid nature of nonverbal communication means that it constantly occurs and makes nonverbal cues challenging to single out (Simon et al., 2018). That seamless transition from one cue to another requires extra attention during the communication process. For instance, when a politician gives a public speech, it is essential to look at their body language throughout its duration and consider the context. Otherwise, the sense of nonverbal message conveyed through the body language might be distorted.

Irreversibility of nonverbal communication means that unlike the words spoken in verbal communication, the messages sent through nonverbal cues cannot be retracted. This notion is crucial for people employed in any sphere of sales that requires interpersonal communication. A salesperson can be decent with words; however, if they cannot control their body language, they might scare the customer from making a deal.

There are multiple types of nonverbal cues used in body language. Most commonly, humans send nonverbal signals through facial expressions, gestures, and paralinguistics. Facial expressions include the universal portrayal of such emotions as happiness, sadness, anger, and fear (Cherry, 2021). A polite and welcoming smile is one of the most proven ways of making a positive impression in interpersonal communication.

Gestures commonly include but are not limited to waving, pointing, and indicating numeric amounts with fingers (Cherry, 2021). Gestures such as thumbs-up might become exceptionally useful for building trust and confidence. Finally, paralinguistics includes factors of vocal communication separate from the actual words, such as tone, loudness, and pitch (Cherry, 2021). For example, a teacher might speak in a louder voice to attract the attention of the students who are not listening carefully enough.

Both verbal and nonverbal communication can bear a positive influence in case of success. For example, a coach can adjust a team’s tactics and improve performance by explaining the changes through effective verbal communication. In addition to that, a careful selection of words might motivate the team to play above its skill level. In regard to nonverbal communication, the cues such as a smile and a confident tone of voice can also transmit a positive influence. A smiling and welcoming doctor can keep the patient in a good mood, which is important for the positive outcomes of treatment. Overall, effectiveness in verbal and nonverbal communication represents a significant share of professional competence.

Cherry, K. (2021). Types of nonverbal communication . Verywell Mind. Web.

Hollinden, C. (2017). The 5 key principles of nonverbal communication . Association for Financial Professionals. Web.

Simon, D., Grimes, M., and Roch, S. (2018). Communication for Business Professionals . eCampusOntario.

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Communicating Successfully: The Importance of Nonverbal Messages in the Communication Process

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The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication

The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. IX, No. 4, December 2015, pp. 43-49

Posted: 15 Jan 2016

Deepika Phutela

Tantia University

Date Written: January 14, 2016

Non-verbal communication regulates relationships and can support or even replace verbal communications in many situations. Different genders and cultures use non-verbal communication differently and these differences can impact the nature of interpersonal communication. Nonverbal communication can become a barrier or tear down barriers to effective communication. According to researchers, non-verbal rules may differ as per the situation, and each situation determines its set of rules. Different types of people have very different yet distinct sets of non-verbal communication behaviors. This paper is an overview of different types of non-verbal communication such as body language, hand movement, facial expressions, and eye contact. Non-verbal communication involves multiple channels, is continuous and more ambiguous in nature, and often contradicts the spoken word. When non-verbal and verbal communications conflict, individuals tend to rely on non-verbal clues as a means to interpret the true meaning of a communication.

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Deepika Phutela (Contact Author)

Tantia university ( email ).

Sri Ganganagar Rajasthan 335002 India

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