Nonverbal Communication in Politics
Nonverbal Communication in Politics
The 2012 presidential election finally reached its conclusion late Tuesday night on November 6th, as the incumbent Barack Obama won a second term in the White House over the challenger Mitt Romney. The election, with its reputation as the most expensive presidential race in history, attracted wide attentions not only from the United States but also from many other countries around the globe (Confessore & McGinty, 2012). The election was also noted with a numerous number of debates and discussions in both online and offline about the two candidates’ policies and pledges on every level. However, while a lot of attention was paid to the candidates’ verbally expressed speeches and pledges, the candidates’ nonverbal communication drew a relatively insignificant amount of attention from both the media and voters. Despite the fact that people pay more attention to candidates’ verbal communication, nonverbal communication, such as physical appearance, facial expressions and eye contact, plays a decisive role in elections and politics in general.
Nonverbal communication
To begin with, nonverbal communication is by its definition “the intentional or unintentional transmission of meaning through non-spoken physical and behavioral cues” (Toma, 2012, p. 19), and it has different means for transmitting information nonverbally, such as facial expressions, eye contact, gestures and body postures. Moreover, according to Rashotte (2002), nonverbal communication conveys additional information about the behavior being performed, and it can be performed with other behaviors to reinforce the meanings of those behaviors or contradict them. For instance, nonverbal communication can inform others whether a person is performing a behavior earnestly with a smile or unwillingly with a grim face. In contrast, verbal communication is far from being a perfect method of communication. When a person is communicating verbally, there are many possible ways for
The 2012 presidential election finally reached its conclusion late Tuesday night on November 6th, as the incumbent Barack Obama won a second term in the White House over the challenger Mitt Romney. The election, with its reputation as the most expensive presidential race in history, attracted wide attentions not only from the United States but also from many other countries around the globe (Confessore & McGinty, 2012). The election was also noted with a numerous number of debates and discussions in both online and offline about the two candidates’ policies and pledges on every level. However, while a lot of attention was paid to the candidates’ verbally expressed speeches and pledges, the candidates’ nonverbal communication drew a relatively insignificant amount of attention from both the media and voters. Despite the fact that people pay more attention to candidates’ verbal communication, nonverbal communication, such as physical appearance, facial expressions and eye contact, plays a decisive role in elections and politics in general.
Nonverbal communication
To begin with, nonverbal communication is by its definition “the intentional or unintentional transmission of meaning through non-spoken physical and behavioral cues” (Toma, 2012, p. 19), and it has different means for transmitting information nonverbally, such as facial expressions, eye contact, gestures and body postures. Moreover, according to Rashotte (2002), nonverbal communication conveys additional information about the behavior being performed, and it can be performed with other behaviors to reinforce the meanings of those behaviors or contradict them. For instance, nonverbal communication can inform others whether a person is performing a behavior earnestly with a smile or unwillingly with a grim face. In contrast, verbal communication is far from being a perfect method of communication. When a person is communicating verbally, there are many possible ways for