Understanding the 10 Types of Nonverbal Communication

What Is Nonverbal Communication?

In a face-to-face conversation, nonverbal communication entails how people express information without words. Everything from speaking loudly to making eye contact, standing tall, and blushing falls under the umbrella of nonverbal communication. It’s estimated that upwards of 70-80% of all communication is nonverbal, meaning that just 20-30% of the impact of conversation comes from words alone.²

Roles of Nonverbal Communication

It’s theorized that nonverbal communication has five distinct functions in conveying a message. These roles help the listener better interpret the situation and understand what is being verbally expressed and what might be being experienced at that moment. This can help people attune to one another and strengthen their relationships.³ Nonverbal communication is an important piece to developing healthy communication with your partner and friends.

The roles of nonverbal communication are:

• Repetition: Nonverbal communication that repeats the undertone of verbal communication reinforces the words themselves. For example, someone might shake their head while saying “no.”
• Contradiction: Contradiction happens when nonverbal communication doesn’t match the words. For example, someone might say they had a great time at dinner, but their voice is flat and disinterested.
• Substitution: Substituting happens when nonverbal communication replaces words. For example, someone might ask your opinion about the movie, and you give them a thumbs-up instead of saying any words.
• Complementing: Complementing refers to nonverbal communication that supports and highlights what’s being said. For example, a child might exclaim, “This makes me so sad,” while they begin sobbing.
• Accenting: Accenting refers to highlighting one word or part of a message. For example, someone might draw out the not when saying, “You’re not being dramatic here.”

Why Is Nonverbal Communication Important?

Nonverbal communication provides insight into a person’s opinions, feelings, needs, and mind. Even though we often focus on saying the right thing, how we say those words is often even more important. Nonverbal communication becomes even more important in stressful situations or when trying to attune to someone in a relationship.

The 10 Types of Nonverbal Communication

Improving communication involves improving all forms of communication, including understanding body language. Nonverbal communication describes all the ways we communicate with people without using words. You can be conscious of how you communicate nonverbally, such as recognizing that your voice sounds shaky. But, other times, it’s more covert. For example, you might not realize that you instinctively turn your body away when you feel uncomfortable around someone. It’s estimated that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% verbal, and just 7% words.¹

1. Facial Expressions

Facial expressions often reveal a person’s emotional state. Someone might widen their eyes when they feel scared, smile when they feel scared, or wince when they feel disgusted. These expressions are universal, global, and consistent across the lifespan. Children can often tell if someone is angry or surprised just by looking at their faces.

2. Gestures

Gestures refer to hand motions like waving, pointing, shaking, or crossing fingers. Gestures are one of the earliest forms of communication, with babies typically waving and pointing before they are even a year old.⁴ Gestures can support or substitute speech, such as gesturing to be quiet instead of telling someone to be quiet.

3. Paralinguistics/Voice

The tone, inflection, pitch, and loudness of voice convey messages that may or may not coincide with the spoken language. Paralinguistics can help better understand what underlies what’s been said. For example, someone passionate about a topic may be loud and speak quickly. Someone who feels more nervous might be quieter or stumble over their words.

4. Eye Contact

Eye contact is another important component of nonverbal communication. That said, culture matters when it comes to understanding its role. In Western cultures, eye contact is a sign of respect and confidence. A lack of eye contact may indicate insecurity or anxiety. However, in Eastern cultures, direct eye contact may signify aggression or disrespect.⁵

5. Proxemics

Proxemics refers to the physical distance between people. Being too physically close to someone can make them feel uncomfortable. At the same time, being far apart can create a sense of both physical and emotional distance. In Western culture, intimate closeness is up to 18 inches, personal is between 18-48 inches, social is 48 inches to 12 feet, and public is greater than 12 feet.⁶

6. Physical Touch

Also known as haptics, touch can be communicative, and it can signal a sense of comfort, familiarity, warmth, empathy, and closeness. Women use touch to nurture and care for others (hugs, touching someone’s arm gently). Men use touch to establish bonding (hard pats on the back) or to cement a sealed connection (handshakes or fist bumps).

7. Appearance

Clothing, hairstyles, makeup, and other appearance variables represent another communication medium. We’re all prone to making first impressions and snap judgments- for example, people associate certain clothing brands with specific personality traits. Or, they might assume they understand the values of someone wearing a full face of makeup instead of someone wearing no makeup at all.

8. Posture

Posture refers to the positioning of one’s body, which can include how tall someone stands, whether they cross their legs when they sit, or how they look at someone when walking. People often associate good posture (shoulders back and spine straight) with confidence. Poor posture, on the other hand, may be related to insecurity or anxiety.

9. Chronemics

Chronemics refers to the relationship between time and communication. It encompasses punctuality, checking time, and using time. For example, people may associate someone who’s chronically late as disorganized or disrespectful. At the same time, punctuality is often associated with goodness and competence. Time-based communication also affects the sequence and responsiveness of communication. In America, time is often perceived as a rare and pressing matter.

10. Physiological Responses

Physiological responses refer to bodily reactions that can’t be controlled. These include automatic responses, such as sweating, blushing, getting goosebumps, shaky voice, or tearing up. Whether or not the person acknowledges them explicitly, other people may be able to gauge the message based on these cues.

Reading & Evaluating Nonverbal Cues

Understanding the importance of nonverbal communication and how it affects your interactions in daily life can be beneficial. The first step is listening closely. Try to be as present as possible when speaking to others. If you are distracted, you are more apt to miss subtle details or sensory cues.

Tips for reading and evaluating nonverbal cues include:

• Become aware of your patterns: Consider how the pitch of your voice changes around certain people or which gestures you use during specific emotional states. This can help you understand patterns in others.
• Check for behavioral discrepancies: Nonverbal communication doesn’t always match what someone says. For example, a friend might tell you they’re happy with their boyfriend even though they look down or frown when they talk about him.
• Pay attention to how physical distance changes: Someone leaning closer may indicate a sense of closeness, and someone pulling away may signal discomfort or tension.
• Look for mirroring: Mirroring happens when someone unconsciously mimics another person’s behavior, often a sign of that person hoping to build a connection.
• Look at if the other person gets distracted: Distraction can look like glancing toward the door when wanting to leave or checking the phone when feeling anxious.
• Look at how open the body is: When someone is scrunched up (folded arms or crossed legs), they might be more anxious or nervous than when they are more open and relaxed.
• Consider genuine smiles: A genuine smile crinkles the corner of the eyes, whereas a more forced smile is only in the mouth.
• Evaluate the cues as a whole: A yawn alone may not mean that the person is bored, but a yawn coupled with a lack of eye contact and a tapping foot may signify boredom.
• Don’t assume you inherently can read someone: No matter how skilled you are in communication, it’s dangerous to assume that you know what someone is thinking or feeling. When in doubt, get clarification.

• Read up on various cultures: If you’re traveling somewhere new or interacting with someone from a different culture, spend some time learning about nonverbal communication within that demographic.

Improving Your Nonverbal Communication

Because nonverbal communication dictates so much of how you express yourself to others, it’s important that you feel your gestures, eye contact, and tone of voice are congruent with what you want to convey when you talk. People with solid nonverbal skills may feel more confident and have healthier relationships.

You can improve your nonverbal communication by:

• Note the nonverbal cues of those around you: Certain nonverbal cues like taking deep sighs, smiling, or putting hands up are universal. Being more aware of these nonverbal cues can help you be more mindful in your communication.
• Aim to be as present as possible: You are fully activated when you are present in a conversation. This can help you be more aware of your feelings and reactions to what arises.
• Practice confident eye contact: It’s important to strike a balance between looking at people without staring too much. Some people find it helpful to look right between the eyes to demonstrate their interest.
• Focus on speaking calmly: Even if you feel angry or anxious, the more you can practice speaking calmly, the more people will focus on what you want.
• Practice firm handshakes: Handshakes are important in business settings, and you want yours to be firm and confident without being painful.
• Convey your interest in others: Don’t hold back when others talk- nod in agreement, smile at their jokes or stories and open your posture to show that you’re listening.

When to Seek Help

Difficulties with nonverbal communication skills can affect self-esteem, relationships, and everyday functioning. People with certain conditions, including social anxiety disorder, may struggle with such communication. In addition, neurodivergent people often find it hard to interpret nonverbal behaviors in others. Therapy may be beneficial for improving nonverbal communication skills- most therapists offer in-person and online therapy options. You can get started using an online therapy directory.

In My Experience

It’s so important to understand the role of nonverbal communication. In an ideal world, we could all tell each other exactly how we feel at a given moment, but that isn’t always safe, feasible, or appropriate. Knowing how to “read between the lines” can deepen your relationships and help you better support the people you care most about.