Body Language: Louder than Words

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Language has always been of great importance among humans, but often times we communicate without using words, Nonverbal cues, such as body language, have long been recognized as an important part of communication. There has been a long running debate about whether verbal or nonverbal language has a higher importance in communication, but nonverbal communication seems to have even greater importance than spoken language. More than voice or even words, body language indications to you what is on another person’s mind. The single most powerful form of communication is body language.
One must first understand what body language is. Studies revealed that words represent only 7% of the message you convey while the remaining 93% is non-verbal cues. Of that ninety-three percent, 55% of communication is visual and the other 38% is transmitted through tone of voice (Ramsey). This is known as the 7% - 38% - 55% Rule and was developed by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian to describe the verbal/non-verbal forms of communication ratio ("Non Verbal Communication ").Dictionary.com defines body language as: nonverbal, usually unconscious, communication through the use of postures, gestures, facial expressions, and the like. When human speak to one another, we use more than just words. Hand gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and other movements of the body communicate to another person. "Body language is motivated by the unconscious more than the conscious," said Dr Raymond Hamden, a clinical and forensic psychologist at Dubai's Human Relations Institute (Haddad). A lot can be learned by just watching a person. If a person is lying their eyes may move or they won’t make direct eye contact, if someone is nervous the may fidget. The polygraph...

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Kirk, Mimi. "A Hip Tradition The age-old art of hula is still moving and shaking." smithsonianmag.com. 01 08 2007: n. page. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
"Non Verbal Communication ." Accuconfrence. AccuConference© TalkPath LLC, n.d. Web. 6 Feb 2014.
Ramsey, Lydia. "Body Language Speaks Louder Than Words." busines-know-how. Attard Communications, Inc., n.d. Web. 6 Feb 2014. .
Rowe, Bruce M., and Diane P. Levine. A Concise Introduction to Linguistics. 3rd. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 209. Print.
Schultz, Emily A., and Robert H. Lavenda. Cultural Anthropology, A perspective into the human condition. 9th. Oxford University Press, 2013. 400. Print.

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