Gestures

Gestures are movements of the hands, arms, or other parts of the body and like other types of nonverbal communication, their meaning is most often unique to each culture.
One category is known as emblems, which are gestures that have a direct verbal meaning. These are very specific to different cultures and, if not careful, one can give a very bad unintentional message. For example, in North America, someone might signal that they are contemplating something by stroking their beard, but in Iran that is considered an obscenity.
Another category of gesture is called illustrators. These gestures do not function on their own, but serve instead to underscore the importance of what a person is saying. As with emblems, these vary from culture to culture. (Hamilton, 307-308)

Eye Contace and Facial Exppressiveness

Many cultures vary on their interpretation of eye contact. It is important to know the cultural differences concerning eye contact to avoid sending the wrong signals. In North America maintaining eye contact during a conversation signals honesty, interest, and sincerity. Whereas lack of eye contact can signal the the person has something to hide.
On the contrary, in Asian cultures it is disrespectful to look someone directly in the eye who is of greater status because it implies that you are of the same statues. Also in Central and South America, a women who makes eye contact as she passes by a man risks being considered brazen and the man may interpret her eye contact as sexual interests.
Another element of nonverbal communication is facial expressions. Many expressions can be formed from various combinations of facial movements, but the simplest movement slightly modified can display a variety of feelings. (Hamilton, 165, 306)

Personal Space

Another Important aspect to nonverbal communication is personal space. Personal space is defined as "the comfortable amount of distance between people in conversation." (Hamilton, 164). Not perceiving the correct amount of personal space can degrade the effectiveness of communication. If you are too close to someone they be uncomfortable and attempt to back up, but if you are too far away, certain conversations may seem unnatural. It is important to take into consideration some cultures traditionally differ on what is deemed acceptable for personal space. This can lead to an awkward situation: If the person you are speaking with has a closer space boundary than you, you may feel the need to back up to reestablish your personal space boundary. But the other person may then take a step closer to reestablish their space boundary, or worse they may feel you are being rude (Hamilton 164, 305)

Body Posture and Orientation

Body posture is a very important aspect of non verbal communication. In western culture standing up strait signals confidence and honesty, but slouching signals a lack of confidence or self esteem. Standing too rigidly, however, may convey tension. Body orientation is also an important part of nonverbal communication. Body orientation refers to the direction you body is facing when talking to someone. When you face someone with you whole body, not just you head, it conveys a genuine interest. If your head is facing someone but your body is not, that may convey disinterest or that you are distracted (Hamilton, 304)

Introduction To Nonverbal Communication

A large portion of the messages we send when communicating are transmitted non verbally. In this blog we will explore some of the most common types of nonverbal communication (Hamilton, 303). Nonverbal communication importance becomes apparent when your verbal channels of communications are full and nonverbal channels are used in feedback and signaling synchronization with those you are communicating with. Humans have developed a complex means of social signals indicating a variety of different feelings and emotions. There are many examples of nonverbal communications such as facial expression, personal distance body movement.(Herring, 1990)

Herring, R.D. (1990). Nonverbal Communication: A Necessary Compont of Cross-Cultural Counseling Journal fo Multicultural& Development, Vol. 18 Issue 4, 172-179.