I. Nonverbal communication is the study of communication systems that do not involve words. It is not easy to define nonverbal communication.
Experts disagree about whether to count unintended actions as nonverbal communication .
In this book, nonverbal communication is regarded as occurring whenever stimuli other than words create meaning in either a sender's or a receiver's mind. Given such a broad definition, we must keep in mind that nonverbal stimuli are often outside a sender's awareness. It is important to take care in interpreting nonverbal messages. To increase interpretive accuracy, we should check the communication context cues to meaning. Comparing nonverbal acts to baseline behaviors will increase interpretive accuracy.