Definitions of Verbal Communication & Non-Verbal Communication (AQA GCSE Psychology)

• Verbal communication is communication in the form of words, examples of which are:
  • The spoken word/speech, song (singing a song and reading song lyrics)
  • Texts, email, SMS, RCS, social media messaging channels
  • News articles, poetry, plays, blogs, print and online advertising
  • Sign language (signing is classed as forming words and is therefore verbal)
• A example of verbal communication between two people may include:
  • Your friend sending you a text message to ask, ‘Have you done your Psychology homework?’ 
  • Asking you the same question face-to-face when they see you at school
  • Then writing you a note in class asking you to pretend not to have done your homework so that they are not the only one getting detention that day!

Communication can be verbal but doesn't just mean speech

• Non-verbal communication (NVC) is any form of communication that does not involve the use of words
• The saying, ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’ is largely based on the NVC that is projected upon meeting someone for the first time:
  • How someone walks, stands, sits, moves, and dresses, are all (possibly) more meaningful and important than what they say
• It is thought that 70-93% of all communication between humans is non-verbal (Mehrabian, 1981) and yet NVC is often overlooked and underestimated, with verbal communication being (generally) more highly regarded (Krauss, 2002)
• A cross-cultural study found that university students preferred professors who used high levels of nonverbal expressiveness and who moved in a relaxed way, both in and out of the classroom environment (Georgakopoulos & Guerrero, 2010)

Non-verbal communication is important when forming impressions on people