Page 41 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Be aware of the person’s nonverbal behaviors.
Source: Springhouse. Lippincott’s Visual Encyclopedia of Clinical Skills. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health; 2009.

Nonverbal messages communicate our feelings toward others and are critical to relationships. However, it is
important to develop awareness in using nonverbals in interactions as well as to recognize them in others.4
Our nonverbal messages are more believable than our verbal ones.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” What is your picture like? Even before we speak, we may be judged
by our clothing and appearance.11,12 Dress and appearance are consciously selected and are nonverbal
communication vehicles. Makeup, hairstyle, clothing, and accessories represent who you are and your self-
image. Professional image is difficult to define, but it is an impression one creates at the first meeting and
most people recognize it. Personal appearance, including clothing, hairstyle, and accessories, are among the
most important elements of the image.

Simple well-tailored clothes in neutral colors, such as a skirt or slacks with a blouse or sweater are examples
for women. A shirt, tie, slacks, and dress shoes are examples for men as the goal is to look professional and
conservative.4 One should avoid clothes that are too tight, short, or trendy, piercings, flip flops, sweats,
excessive jewelry, chipped nail polish, and uncovered body art. Clients who are unable to relate to your
appearance may have trouble relating to your message and question your competence.4,11

In meeting new people, we begin making judgments immediately, based on nonverbals, such as noticing eye
contact, appearance, and whether or not the handshake is strong or limp.4 Chief nonverbal vehicles inherent
in speakers are facial expression, tone of voice, eye contact, gestures, posture, and touch, with meanings
varying among cultures.4 The receivers of communication notice nonverbal behavior in clusters.

If the professional is listening to a client, for example, but shifting papers and looking at a computer screen
with a bored look, the client will not believe the person is interested. Ordinarily, people do not notice posture,
eye contact, or facial expression isolated from the other nonverbal channels. For this reason, professionals need
to monitor all nonverbal communication vehicles so that together the clusters are congruent with one another
as well as with the verbal messages.

Nonverbal behaviors vary widely among different groups with each having its own body language.
Although similarities exist, the meanings of behaviors differ among groups, as the way people behave is
learned early in life. Our own history influences our ideas of what a person “is” or “should be.” These

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