Importance of Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

The dispute that always catches fire among the scholars all over the world; ‘Is verbal communication more important or non-verbal in effective cross-cultural communication?’ various studies and hypothesis has been conductive to discover their comparative importance. Terms are used to communicate whatever individual wants to speak but they can have dissimilar implications and suggestions across different languages, cultures and countries so therefore it can be confusing. While hand body actions, gestures and expressions have normally the same implications across cultures but can also have contrasting importance.

                Verbal communication is usage of spoken words to express a message while non-verbal communication is the movement and usage of body parts to convey a message.

                Commonly verbal communication leads to confusion and misapprehension. Typically each culture has an unusual language, vernacular, pronunciation and terminology. For that reason cultures conflicting in language will be likely to make diverse sounds whilst talking and sequencing of terminology will also contrast (Reisinger, 2009). For instance, Australians articulate the word ‘chips’ as chĭp i.e. accurately how it is spelt from an Australian perspective, though in contrast , natives of New Zealand articulate chips as heard by an Australian as ‘chaps’.  The term ‘chaps’ has an unusual meaning to an Australian compared to a New Zealander and therefore will lead to unfortunate communication. Moreover one idea or creation may be illustrated by different words across different cultures. For instance what Britishers call chips; the Americans would call French fries.

                A study says that only seven percent of communicated meaning is through verbal communication and the rest is through non verbal communication. Following factor signifies the importance of using non-verbal signals in flourishing communication. Gestures and facial expressions such as rage, panic, contentment etc. are universal. Consequently numerous people believe that non-verbal signals are outstanding source of communicating globally. The facial expressions must be similar but the grounds of these expressions may differ from one culture to another. Other gestures and body movements have different meanings across diverse cultures. For instance firm handshakes in France are considered to be rude whereas in Brazil handshakes are usually firm and cheerful. To give more emphasis, Israelis and Italians use hand gestures a lot while Chinese do not use gestures at all.

                Both Verbal and non verbal both have their pros and cons. The positive of one can translate into the negative of the other. Consequently, brilliance in both verbal and non verbal communication is necessary for effective cross cultural communication. In this period of globalization, no business can give up on unsuitable communication. Even if one general language is used all through cultures then even language and accents would contrast which will lead to misunderstanding.