Non-Verbal Communication Activities (7)

This blog mentions some non-verbal communication activities.

These activities help individuals learn how to adopt healthy non-verbal communication styles.

Non-verbal communication holds great significance but the way the non-verbal signs are communicated to others determines the effectiveness of nonverbal communication. 

What is Non-Verbal Communication?

Non-verbal communication is referred to as communicating with others without saying anything.

Non-verbal communication includes an individual’s gestures, facial expressions, tone and pitch of the sound, body movements, body posture, body language, kinesics and proximity between the communicators. 

Research has shown that about 70 to 80% of communication held between people is non-verbal communication.

Non-verbal communication is very significant. It helps in recognizing clues and additional information about a  certain thing.

Benefits of using Non-Verbal Communication 

Non-verbal communication is very helpful in conveying messages to others.

Non-verbal communication allows reinforcement and modification in the words communicated to people, such as by nodding and shrugging shoulders to convey that a certain point is right or wrong and the person is unaware of something respectively.

Non-verbal communication can give people a clue about the emotional states of people such as by noticing the facial expressions, tone of voice and body language of people.

Non-verbal communication can be used to define or reinforce the relationship between couples.

This is because the body language of the couples is often the same, such as they look at each other at the same time and smile together.

Non-verbal communication can be used as a way of providing feedback to people, smiling and nodding head means that you are understanding the other person is saying.

In addition to this, non-verbal communication regulate the flow of communication.

For example, maintaining eye contact with the teacher when she is done with giving the lecture may signal her that you want to ask something from her.

Non-Verbal Communication Activities

The following are some nonverbal communication activities that you can perform to practice how to adopt nonverbal communication skills, for communicating with others effectively.

Non-Verbal Communication Nonverbal Activity: We Have to Move Now!

For this activity, you have to cut several strips of paper.

Then you are supposed to write a mood or disposition on each of these paper strips, such as happy, sad, insulted and so on.

After this, food all the pieces of paper and put them in a bowl.

Next, each and every member of the group has to take one paper out of the bowl and considering the mood for this position mentioned in that paper strip, the individual has to speak the sentence “We all need to gather our possessions and move to another building as soon as possible!” after this, all the members of the group are supposed to guess the emotion, keeping in view the expressions body language and other non-verbal clues of the individual speaking the sentence.

Non-Verbal Communication Nonverbal Activity: Stack the Deck

This activity requires a pack of playing cards and plenty of room to roam around.

In this activity, the individuals are supposed to shuffle all the chords and distribute them among the members standing at different positions in the room.

The cards received by the players are supposed to be kept hidden from each other.

After this, the players are asked to divide themselves into four groups according to the signs on the cards (hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades), using non-verbal communication.

Note that the participants are not allowed to speak anything during the game. This game can also be performed with the blindfold but it will extend the time of the game.

Once the participants have arranged themselves in four groups, they are asked to a line in a sequence from ace to king.

The group who complete this task first will be the winner of the game.

Non-Verbal Communication Nonverbal Activity: Silent Movie

This activity requires two groups. One group will constitute screenwriters while the other one will be the actors.

The roles will be switched later on. In this game, the actors will perform without saying anything.

The story will continue when more actors enter the film.

There will be a conflict that arises in the story which needs to be resolved at the end of the film.

Actors will be performing while the rest of the class will enjoy it.

The audience is supposed to get the story of the film, conflict in the movie and conflict resolution at the end.

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Guess the Movie Name

In this game, the participants will be divided into two teams.

The members of one team are supposed to whisper the name of movies to the members of the other group, who then have to act in such a way that other people could guess the name of the movie.

It could be the name of a movie or a scene from a movie but in either case, speaking is not allowed.

When the team successfully guesses the name of the movie or the scene from the movie, it is their turn to give the name of the movie or a scene from the movie to a member of the other group. The game continues. 

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Opposite Expressions

For this activity, the script will be given to an individual.

The individual is directed to read out loud the script in such a way that his speech reveals opposite emotions to those expressed in the dialogues.

Such as if the dialogue is funny, the person is supposed to speak it loud with sad or depressed emotions. 

Although this activity involves speaking, it is counted as a non-verbal communication activity as it includes the understanding of expressions and moods by individuals.

The person who understands non-verbal communication better will be able to perform this game efficiently. 

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Follow the Leader

For this activity, the participants are gathered and a leader is selected. In this activity, the leader commands the participants to perform specific actions, without saying anything verbally.

The leader will communicate the tasks to participants non-verbally and the participants are supposed to complete those tasks without using verbal communication styles. 

The participants who make mistakes will be disqualified. The leader can make another person the leader by signaling him non-verbally.

The game continues until only one participant is left and that one is the winner of this game.

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Draw and Explain

This is a very simple activity and interesting activity. The participants are supposed to assemble in groups.

Then each group is asked to make a drawing. The other group will be interpreting the meaning of that drawing.

Every group has to make a drawing and a different group is asked to interpret the drawing.

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Introduce your Friend

For this activity, the people are asked to make pairs with other persons.

Then the pairs will introduce themselves to each other, without letting other members hear them.

After this, the person has to introduce his pair partner to the other members, without speaking anything form mouth.

They can use non-verbal clues such as gestures, body language, facial expressions etcetera, but they are not allowed to speak anything.

The other members have to guess the name of the person’s partner.

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Catching a Chicken

Four participants are required for this game and the rest will be the audience.

The four people will be sent out of the room and one of them will be asked to enter the room act as if they are catching chickens.

The audience knows what is going to happen. The next participant will be asked to copy the first one.

Similarly, the third one will copy the previous two participants.

Then the last of the participants will be asked about his thoughts on what is happening. She will guess what the previous three participants were doing.

The opinion of second, third and fourth volunteers about what the first person was doing will be taken.

Finally, the first person will reveal what he was doing.

After this, the teachers will inform the students about the importance of nonverbal communication.

Non-Verbal Communication Activity: Copycat

For this activity, all the participants are asked to stand in a circle. One of those participants will be selected and sent out for some time.

Another person from the circle will be made the leader without letting the person who was sent out know this.

The person will be asked to come back in the circle.

The leader will command the people to perform certain actions without speaking anything and without letting the volunteer know that he is the leader.

All the members standing in the circle will obey the leader. The volunteer is asked to stand in the center of the circle and guess who the leader is.

If the volunteer guesses correctly, he will be the winner.

What are some communication activities?

Some communication activities include emotional awareness, fists, situations samples, eye contact circle, and role-playing.

What are some examples of non-verbal communication?

Some examples of non-verbal communication include eye contact, facial expressions, body language, the distance between communicators, tone and pitch of the sound, hand movements, and behavior.

What is non-verbal communication explain?

Non-verbal communication is referred to as communicating with the other person without speaking anything.

Nonverbal communication includes the use of gestures, body language, facial expressions, hand movements etcetera, for communicating with others. 

Why is non-verbal communication important?

Non-verbal communication is very important. It increases understanding of a message.

It helps the intended of message to understand the real meaning of the message and the sender of the message to identify that the other persons as got his message correctly. 

What are good non-verbal communication skills?

Some good non-verbal communication skills include maintained eye contact, use of the facial expression, consideration of personal space, correct body posture, use of proper tones and sounds etcetera.

What are the characteristics of nonverbal communication?

The basic characteristics of nonverbal communication include the use of gestures, body posture, facial expressions, eye contact, tone and pitch of the sound, artifacts and spatial messages.

This blog aimed to provide you with some of the most effective non-verbal communication activities.

These activities can be performed both by kids and adults.

These activities are a very interesting and effective source of learning and developing non-verbal communication skills.

If you have any queries or questions regarding this blog, let us know through your comments. We will be glad to assist you in this regard.

References 

Non-Verbal Communication | SkillsYouNeed

Activities for Non-Verbal Communication – ThoughtCo

Activities Related to Non-Verbal Communication – Businesstopia

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