When nonverbal communication can go wrong

Nonverbals do not always mean a good thing. They could throw some people off and even send a different message than the one you intended to send. For example, think about yawning in a class. This could make others believe that you are bored with the subject but in reality you could just be really tired from the night before or it could even be both situations! Another example that I get to see a lot during classes is when people keep looking at the clock in the back of the class every five minutes. This could give someone the impression that you are impatient and waiting to get out of class as soon as possible, or that you are just simply trying to keep track of time to get your work done. Looking at other situations outside of a classroom, we could look into when people do not make eye contact during a one-on-one conversation. It might be because of nervousness, trying to avoid the conversation, or simply not wanting to take part of staring contest as some cultures find too much eye contact to be an intimidating tactic. These are just a few examples of how nonverbals could be sending the wrong message. Like this there are many more, therefore we should always think about the small body movements that we make daily.