Page 3 - Door Supervision Training Booklet

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
When we communicate with others we not only give out verbal messages, but non-verbal messages as well, which gives others signals about our attitude and personality. These non- verbal signals are normally given out sub-consciously, without us even realising what we are doing.
Various academic sources estimate that only about a 10th or our information comes from the verbal or spoken word, the rest coming from non-verbal signals given off by us to the person we are communicating with.
It makes sense, then, that as door supervisors interact with people during the course of their duties they should take care to ensure that they only give off the non-verbal signs that they mean to, and that they can accurately interpret those signals given off by others.
Supervisors need to appreciate that the meaning and use of non-verbal communication varies between individuals, cultures, sexes and even circumstances, so they should not jump to hasty conclusions on the strength of one-off gestures or signals. They should also be aware of their own style of non-verbal behaviour to make sure that they do not unwittingly offend people or give the wrong impression of themselves or of the profession as a whole. The early recognition of anger, frustration or aggression during an encounter can also reduce violent incidents, thereby reducing the chances of supervisors being injured at work.
Non-verbal communication can be divided into two groups, namely supplementary verbal language and body language.
Supplementary Verbal Language
The phrase "It's not what you say, but how you say it explains precisely what supplementary verbal language means.
Door supervisors need to use a gentle tone in their voice, for example, when trying to reassure a victim or when trying to obtain information from someone they need help from. They may need to use an assertive tone, however, when trying to be authoritative to establish control during an incident. It is not so much the words themselves, but the way in which those words are said which would determine whether or not the supervisor is taken notice of.
Some people regularly use spaces or pauses between words and sentences. They also use totally meaningless words and phrases such as "you know what I mean" or "errs" and "ums". These are usually used to give the speaker time to think about what he or she is going to say next and their frequency often increases when they are nervous or under stress.
A person's voice, including the words, intonation, vocabulary, accent and even certain phrases can give a lot of information about their basic background, culture, class, age, sex, colour or attitude. Variations in volume, pitch and rhythm can also show how they feel in particular situations.
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