Improving Nonverbal Communication Skills as a Leader within Groups

Working in small groups is heavily prevalent across Purdue University’s different majors and courses. This is due to the heavy use of small groups in industry and the work place. As a Purdue student there will situations where you, the reader, has to take the role of leader due to a lack of other leaders within the group or the professor could select you as the leader. As a leader communication skills are vital to motivate group members and control the work flow. An important aspect of communication is nonverbal, and it’s a simple change. Studies have been conducted using peer groups view leaders using different kinds and amount of nonverbal communication. After the groups watched the leaders they were asked questions and asked to rate the leaders. Examples of bad nonverbal communication, as the leader, are a lack of facial expression, monotone voice, and too much or too little eye contact. It was found that good, charismatic leaders used eye contact, vocal fluency and various facial expressions (ie smiles) and dynamic hand and body gestures. Leaning forward when speaking to your group members, as the leader, is also important because it conveys that you’re being attentive and are interested in what ideas they are pitching. So in your next group meetings, try introducing eye contact, vocal fluency and various facial expressions into your communication!