Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch (haptics), voice (prosody and paralanguage), physical environments/appearance, and use of objects. When communicating, nonverbal channels are utilized as means to convey different messages or signals, whereas others interpret these messages. The study of nonverbal communication started in 1872 with the publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. Darwin began to study nonverbal communication as he noticed the interactions between animals such as lions, tigers, dogs etc. and realized they also communicated by gestures and expressions.Darwin C (1972). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. AMS Pres. For the first time, nonverbal communication was studied and its relevance noted. Today, scholars argue that nonverbal communication can convey more meaning than verbal communication.McCornack S (2019). Choices & Connections: an Introduction to Communication (2nd ed.). Boston: Bedford Books St Martin's. p. 138.
In the same way that speech incorporates nonverbal components, collectively referred to as paralanguage and encompassing voice quality, rate, pitch, loudness, and speaking style, nonverbal communication also encompasses facets of one's voice. Elements such as tone, inflection, emphasis, and other vocal characteristics contribute significantly to nonverbal communication, adding layers of meaning and nuance to the conveyed message. However, much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on interaction between individuals,Craighead WE, Nemeroff CB (2004). "Nonverbal Communication". The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. where it can be classified into three principal areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during interaction.
Nonverbal communication involves the conscious and unconscious processes of encoding and decoding. Encoding is defined as our ability to express emotions in a way that can be accurately interpreted by the receiver(s). Decoding is called "nonverbal sensitivity", defined as the ability to take this encoded emotion and interpret its meanings accurately to what the sender intended. Encoding is the act of generating information such as facial expressions, gestures, and postures. Encoding information utilizes signals which we may think to be universal. Decoding is the interpretation of information from received sensations given by the encoder. Culture plays an important role in nonverbal communication, and it is one aspect that helps to influence how we interact with each other. In many Indigenous American communities, nonverbal cues and silence hold immense importance in deciphering the meaning of messages. In such cultures, the context, relationship dynamics, and subtle nonverbal cues play a pivotal role in communication and interpretation, impacting how learning activities are organized and understood.
Importance
According to some authors, nonverbal communication represents 2/3 of all communication, however this statement can be misleading due to research done by Albert Mehrabian in the 1960s, which led to the famous 7-38-55 rule: 7% words (verbal content), 38% tone of voice, & 55% facial expressions—which is close to the 2/3 claim. This rule only applies in very specific situations, such as when someone is expressing feelings or attitudes, especially when words contradict tone and facial expression. For most communication, like giving directions, teaching math, writing books etc.. verbal information carries most of the meaning. Nonverbal communication can portray a message both vocally and with the correct body signals or gestures. Body signals consist of physical features, conscious and unconscious gestures and signals, and the mediation of personal space. The wrong message can also be established if the body language conveyed does not match a verbal message. Paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal communication may leave the listener with a feeling of being lost, due to not being able to breakdown both at the same time. However, ignoring nonverbal communication altogether would cause the listener to miss up to 60% of their communication, according to experts.
Nonverbal communication strengthens a first impression in common situations like attracting a partner or in a business interview: impressions are on average formed within the first four seconds of contact. First encounters or interactions with another person strongly affect a person's perception. When the other person or group is absorbing the message, they are focused on the entire environment around them, meaning the other person uses all five senses in the interaction: 83% sight, 11% hearing, 3% smell, 2% touch and 1% taste.
Many indigenous cultures use nonverbal communication in the integration of children at a young age into their cultural practices. Children in these communities learn through observing and pitching in through which nonverbal communication is a key aspect of observation.
According to Judee K. Burgoon et al., further reasons for the importance of non-verbal communication are: "Non-verbal communication is omnipresent."(Burgoon, J., Guerrero, L., Floyd, K., (2010). Nonverbal Communication, Taylor & Francis. p. 3 ) They are included in every single communication act. To have total communication, all non-verbal channels such as the body, face, voice, appearance, touch, distance, timing, and other environmental forces must be engaged during face-to-face interaction. Written communication can also have non-verbal attributes. E-mails, web chats, and the social media have options to change text font colours, stationery, add emoticons, capitalization, and pictures in order to capture non-verbal cues into a verbal medium. "Non-verbal behaviours are multifunctional."(Burgoon et al., p. 4) Many different non-verbal channels are engaged at the same time in communication acts and allow the chance for simultaneous messages to be sent and received. "Non-verbal behaviours may form a universal language system." Smiling, crying, pointing, caressing, and glaring are non-verbal behaviours that are used and understood by people regardless of nationality. Such non-verbal signals allow the most basic form of communication when verbal communication is not effective due to language barriers.
Practical applications Facial expressions are a well-studied nonverbal channel for conveying emotion, including through microexpressions: brief, involuntary facial movements, often lasting a fraction of a second, that can reveal a feeling the person is not consciously expressing. Interpreting such cues accurately can depend on cultural context, since norms around touch, tone, and pitch vary between cultures and can lead to misunderstanding if misread.
Verbal and nonverbal signals can either reinforce or contradict one another, and this affects how clearly a message is understood. In cultures that rely more heavily on nonverbal cues, incongruence between the two can create confusion, whereas cultures that emphasize explicit verbal communication depend more on alignment between them to avoid it.
Comparative research on nonverbal communication in animals has been used to inform how researchers study the exchange of emotional signals between a sender and a receiver in humans.
Physicians' nonverbal behaviour in consultations affects patient satisfaction, understanding, and malpractice risk, prompting concern that increased computer use during consultations (for example, to update electronic health records) can reduce eye contact and other nonverbal engagement with patients. Structured tools such as the E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. framework (eye contact, muscles of facial expression, posture, affect, tone of voice, hearing the whole patient, and your response) have been developed to help clinicians and trainees systematically attend to nonverbal cues; the framework was the basis of a randomized controlled trial in empathy training at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In medical education, nonverbal communication is taught and assessed as an explicit part of doctor–patient communication skills training, alongside interview technique and empathy. A 2026 scoping review of 121 studies found that digital technologies, including video-recording-based tools, are increasingly used for this training, with a small subset of studies using AI-supported analysis to give learners automated feedback specifically on nonverbal behavior. The review noted, however, that only a minority of studies used validated outcome measures and that evidence for translation into real-world clinical performance remained limited.
History of research
Scientific research on nonverbal communication and behavior was started in 1872 with the publication of Charles Darwin's book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In the book, Darwin argued that all mammals, both humans and animals, showed emotion through facial expressions. He posed questions such as: "Why do our facial expressions of emotions take the particular forms they do?" and "Why do we wrinkle our nose when we are disgusted and bare our teeth when we are enraged?" Darwin attributed these facial expressions to serviceable associated habits, which are behaviors that earlier in our evolutionary history had specific and direct functions. For example, a species that attacked by biting, baring the teeth was a necessary act before an assault and wrinkling the nose reduced the inhalation of foul odors. In response to the question asking why facial expressions persist even when they no longer serve their original purposes, Darwin's predecessors have developed a highly valued explanation. According to Darwin, humans continue to make facial expressions because they have acquired communicative value throughout evolutionary history. In other words, humans utilize facial expressions as external evidence of their internal state. Although The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was not one of Darwin's most successful books in terms of its quality and overall impact in the field, his initial ideas started the abundance of research on the types, effects, and expressions of nonverbal communication and behavior. Charles Darwin was also a renowned British naturalist and biologist best known for developing the theory of evolution through natural selection.
Despite the introduction of nonverbal communication in the 1800s, the emergence of behaviorism in the 1920s paused further research on nonverbal communication. Behaviorism is defined as the theory of learning that describes people's behavior as acquired through conditioning. Behaviorists such as B.F. Skinner trained pigeons to engage in various behaviors to demonstrate how animals engage in behaviors with rewards.