Man in a white t-shirt pumping his fist to celebrate,representing non-verbal communication

Why non-verbal communication is so important in business

What does your body language say about you? Here's why non-verbal communication is so important in business.
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John Sherman
2018-05-17

Did you know around 75 percent of communication happens through non-verbal signals?

This means your body language is saying a lot more than you think and even more than you’re consciously speaking about. Through facial expressions, gestures, movements and even your posture, you’re telling a story to your audience.

At the end of the day, you’ll find there are basically three ways to communicate in business –  using verbal, written and non-verbal signals. Each one of these methods is an important way to talk to others and share your views and opinions.

Of course, you have complete control over what you say to another person, as well as what you write down. But, non-verbal signals are very different. This is something we aren’t always aware we’re doing.

Yet we use non-verbal signals all the time - whether it’s something we agree with or don’t agree with, our bodies are telling the story for us. This happens even when don’t realize it, which means we can be sending signals we don’t want to reveal to another person.

In addition, there’s a lot we can read from other people’s non-verbal signals, which can help you understand more about them and even what they aren’t saying directly to you.

Any emotion can be identified through non-verbal communication. From happiness and enthusiasm to stress and lack of confidence. In other words, it’s not always what we say but how we say it and what our body is doing.

But the good news is that we can control our non-verbal cues. It’s just a matter of being aware of them and the message they will send to other people. Plus, when you recognize certain signals, you can read them from other people to give you an advantage.

In the business world, non-verbal communication is important. For example, you want to have lots of eye contact for conducting an engaging presentation and a confident demeanor for effectively leading other people if you are a manager or supervisor.

Controlling your body language is crucial for creating a good impression, and also for showing the brand or company that you work for in a good light.

Think of it as managing your business brand. You want to make sure you are sending the right messages to your customers and not the bad ones that will drive them away. Instead, we’re talking about your personal brand and that you want to leave a good and lasting impression.

Understand body language with online learning

Of course, in order to understand body language and what our gestures and movements mean, you’ve got to learn all about them. With the help of online learning, you can know the message you’re portraying to people, as well as how you can read other people’s actions.

Online learning uses a variety of media to help employees learn about body language. From animated videos to engaging quizzes, learning is effective and made to be fun again. The e-learning courses are designed by professionals too!

Online learning is now preferred by most companies for employee training since it’s more cost-effective to run and it’s available 24/7 on personal tablets and devices. No longer do you have to travel to conferences or plan training weeks that derail your business plan!

Now, you can let your employees learn at their own pace and use fun and information e-learning courses to learn more about body language and how you can use it to their advantage.

Become a non-verbal communication pro

Online learning is the best way to improve communication with other employees in your team, as well as with customers. Since non-verbal cues aren’t spoken, it can be difficult to understand them without proper demonstration.

That’s where e-learning courses can help. You can see certain gestures and facial expressions in action and the message that they demonstrate. This means you can learn to control your own physicality in different situations, as well as be able to identify expressions in other people.

To make sure that all employees understand training and are getting better at recognizing non-verbal communication cues, you can track online learning. You can see how people are performing on quizzes and monitor who is completing courses.

This means that if anybody needs extra help understanding non-verbal forms of communication, you’ll be able to provide them with the additional support that they need in order to improve.

Since there are loads of non-verbal communication courses available, you can provide ongoing training to your employees all year round. After all, it’s best to keep working on skills in order to keep on improving and getting better!

While a lot of people think that understanding non-verbal communication is a talent, it’s actually a skill that everybody can learn and it’s one that is worth it in the business world.

Whether you’re a manager or part of a big team, being able to recognize and control non-verbal communication is crucial for interactions with other people.

You can improve how you’re perceived in discussions and negotiations, as well as read how other people are responding to you in important scenarios. It’ll transform your communications.

Online learning is the easiest and most effective way to see how body language works in action and find out how you can take control of unconscious actions that are speaking louder than your voice.

At Go1, we have a collection of amazing non-verbal communication courses to get your employees started today and improve communications tomorrow. Sign up for a free trial to access courses on non-verbal language, making an impact with non-verbal communication, and more.

For more insights, be sure to subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

Go1 helps millions of people in thousands of organizations engage in learning that is relevant, effective and inspiring.
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