Public Relations and Social Marketing

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MARKETING 4(1+3)

Lesson 5 : Body Language in Public Speaking

Importance

Body language

• Body language is an integral part of oral communication. It includes facial expressions, gestures and body movements, eye contact, distance, space, time, and mannerisms.
• As non-verbal communication expresses individual emotions, social attitudes and feelings, it can convey more meaning than spoken words.
• When we are not able to find an exact word for something we want to say, we may use some kind of facial or physical gestures to convey our meaning.
• We should take care of the non-verbal cues that we pass on to our listeners or receive from our speaker during any formal situation because a wrong gesture or facial expression can lead to miscommu­nication and confusion.
• Different non-verbal cues may suggest different meanings. We may annoy or displease a colleague, irritate a teacher or supervisor, or even lose a business deal. As culture, social class, age, occupation, ethnic background, and communication contexts influence non-verbal forms of communication, we must be very careful while using non-verbal messages.