according to the 55/38/7 formula our communication is 55% non verbal 38% vocal and 7% words only conveying the idea that vast majority of communication is non verbal,body language is a major contributor of non verbal communication,there are 3 c’s of non verbal communication
context
clusters and
congurence
context referes to the situational factors, understanding the enviornment and circumstances makes it easier for a person to identify non verbal cues for example a person might fidget due to anxiety and avoid eye contact while meeting a new person until the ice breaks. context helps avoid misrepresentations.
clusters refers to interpreting several body language signals together, this helps us in understanding the overall message being conveyed as relying on a single cue might be misleading for example if someone is avoiding eye contact fidgeting and touching their face again and again denotes they might be feeling anxious or nervous while fidgeting alone cant claim that the sole reason for this behavior is anxiety
next is congruence referring to the alignment between spoken words, tone and body language for example a person saying I’m fine with a shaky voice denotes discrepancy in their words and body language