Interestingly, too much space tends to be taken as an indication of negative feelings or discomfort. There are cultural, gender and ethnic differences in the way personal space is perceived. Typically, intimate distance is 18 inches or less, personal distance is 18 inches to 4 feet and social distance is 4 feet to 12 feet. We give emphasis to our words and attempt to clarify our meaning through the use of gestures. Gestures include movements of the head, shoulders, arms, hands, and legs.
Some cultures use a lot of gesturing.
Gestures do not meet the same thing to all people. How we accent words when we speak may imply a different meaning other than the words themselves. We give out signals about our meaning to other people through the symbols we use. They are a real part of our communication. The symbolic communication mode is essentially passive and messages transmitted in this way are easily misinterpreted.