How to Understand People Through Non-verbal Communication

In a Communication there are two things that you will receive, they are verbal and non-verbal. A research finds that non-verbal has a big role in your daily communication. Well, According to thought.com “Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages without using words, either spoken or written.” So, communication has two ways verbal and non-verbal. In verbal communication we use words to deliver meanings, it is usual for us and misunderstandings will less happen. In the other hand, non-verbal communication will have more misunderstandings because in non-verbal communication cultures are very important. For instance, in the U.S if you listen to a person without looking at him/her it will be considered as rude, Indonesian people are very different if we gaze too long at a person while he/she is talking it will make him/her feel awkward. There are kinds of nonverbal communication, they are: (1) Artifacts/objects, (2) Haptics/touching, (3) Chronemics/time, (4) Kinesics/Body Language, and (5) Proxemics/Spatial distance. Let’s know more about those kinds of non-verbal communication.

1. Artifacts/Objects

According to chinateachingnet.com, Artifacts are objects often used to communicate information about oneself. It includes clothes, jewelry, trinkets, accessories, colors, etc.
There are many signs of artifacts, for instance, my English teacher used to wear red clothes to show anger, or bad mood so the student would not do stupid things.

2. Haptics/touching

It consists of Handshakes, Pats, hugs, and Kisses. For example, people in America often hug another people to show that he cares about the person he hugs while in Indonesia, they don’t hug people except for some situations. Another example found by universalclass.com is that Arabic men often hold hands while most U.S. men wouldn’t dare.

3. Chronemics/time

It is about how people use their own time. For example, your routines are different from the others. In Japan time is very important so they always live in hectic life but in Indonesia, time is just time, they often procrastinate till the last minute of their deadline.


4. Kinesics/Body Language

It is the most powerful ways in nonverbal communicating. If you go to another country and do not know about the language they use, the only thing you can do is using body language. However, body language is very cultural. For instance, the ring gesture or when the tip of your thumb and your finger meet to create a ring will be differently understood by people, in America that means OK, so is in Indonesia, but if you go to Tunisia and do that gesture they probably will be scared of you because that means you will kill them


5. Proxemics/Spatial distance

It is about the distance that people have to their privacy. Like it or not privacy exists. Proxemics studies how close people stand to another people. According to chinateachingnet.com, there are four categories of distance.

(1) Intimate distance is about 45 cm. Applies to the closest relationships such as husband and wife
(2) Personal Distance, 45 – 80 cm, between friends and relatives
(3) Social distance, 1.30 – 2 meters, which covers people working together or meeting at social gatherings
(4) Public distance, beyond social distance, such as students and lectures

There are so many things that you have to do to understand people. By knowing non-verbal communication, you probably will know more about how to understand people. 

The basic rule in understanding people is that you shouldn't make your own judgment involved in your observation, because people's judgments sometime hurt other people.

Thank you.

Written by: Yanuar Luhur Kurniawan (16202241067)