Free Cultural Effects On Nonverbal Communication Essay Example

Communication is a decisive action of exchanging information, ideas, feelings, and news by using a certain medium. We use various channels and media to pass or convey and receive messages. In order for communication to take place, there must be a sender and a receiver. Communication is deemed to have served its purpose when the receiver understands the message that has been sent from the sender. It connects people from all spheres and disciplines by this sharing of information and ideas. The process of communication involves systematic and distinct steps. The first step involves the sender harboring some ideas, concepts or information that they want to pass across. In such a case, they are the ones who generate the ideas and concepts and, therefore, are the origin of the message. The second step involves the encoding process which is the channels through which the message is sent to the receiver. The message can be sent in many forms including in words, graphics or pictures and signs. The third step includes receiving and decoding or understanding and deciphering of the information by the receiver. Finally, feedback or reaction of the receiver to the message they have received is an important component in effective communication.
Communication can be either verbal or non-verbal. Verbal communication entails sending information through a spoken medium. It can involve passing information that can be spoken by the sender and heard by the receiver. It mostly occurs among people who speak or understand the same language or dialect. On the other hand, non-verbal communication involves passing and receiving ideas and information that does not involve words. It commonly encompasses graphic cues amongst people. Non-verbal communication involves encoding and decoding as well. In non-verbal communication, encoding involves the generation of information such as facial expressions, postures and gestures by the sender of the information. Decoding involves how the receiver interprets and understands the information that they have received. Some of the types of non-verbal communication include facial expressions, presentation, body language, postures, eye contact, and gestures.
Culture is an aspect that has a significant influence on non-verbal communication. Many indigenous communities tend to put more emphasis on non-verbal communication because it is the most effective and valued way through which children learns. It serves as a principal technique of not only establishing personal interfaces, but also conveying cultural values; in so doing it helps children to study how to play a part in this arrangement from an early age. Non-verbal communication in different cultures portrays highly precise and symbolic meaning. It is interpreted differently in different cultures depending on the meaning and interpretation of gestures, body language and other forms of non-verbal communication. Cultural variations greatly affect the way people communicate non-verbally. Some gestures that may be deemed offensive in some communities may not necessarily be perceived as so in some other communities. For example in some cultures maintaining an eye contact with the person you are communicating with represents honesty while avoiding eye contacts denotes dishonesty, while in some cultures constant eye contact may mean being interested or attracted to the other person or the message. Nodding also in some communities denotes agreeing to something while in other communities it means disagreeing.
Therefore, our cultural backgrounds define our style of non-verbal communication through the meaning and interpretation that each sign or cue means and how it is applied in a particular community. These communication styles are cultivated in each and every distinct community from an early age depending on the meaning of every particular interpretation of these non-verbal communication symbols. The meaning, therefore, differs from one culture to another, and it is important to understand fully what each gesture means before using them because some are considered offensive in some communities. For effective communication to take place, all these non-verbal aspects have to be used and applied correctly and timely so that the message that is being sent can be decoded correctly and accurately. In conclusion, culture plays a significant role in our non-verbal behaviors because we often learn them from an early age, and we subsequently practice them in our daily lives when communicating.