23. Paralinguistic features of non-verbal communication

• Paralinguistic and extralinguistic components of nonverbal communication
• Emotional and aesthetic characteristics of speech

The paralinguistic components of non-verbal communication include certain qualities of the voice, its range, tonality: volume, tempo, rhythm and pitch. Extralinguistic components are the individual features of pronunciation: speech pauses, laughter, coughing, sighing, crying, stuttering, etc.

Voice volume is an important acoustic means of encoding non-verbal information. So, for sorrow is characterized by low, and for anger - an increased volume of voice.

When studying people of different age groups, it turned out that the average statistical characteristics of the rate of speech differ significantly. You can talk about the rate of speech, as an individual personality traits, associated primarily with the characteristics of human temperament.

Rhythm or flow of speech. Confused, intermittent speech, as a rule, indicates anxiety, neuropsychic tension. Rhythmic speaking is associated with balance, good mood, rich feelings.

The height of the voice and its changes over time is the carrier of information on the age, sex, individual and personal characteristics of a person. This parameter can change the emotional content of the message.

Pause. The reasons for the pauses in a conversation are different:

• Allowing the partner to speak
• Win time to think
• Strengthen the words following a pause.
• Overt Partner Distraction
• Express the reaction to non-verbal cues of a partner.

Laughter is considered as a universal remedy for stress relief. Open, natural laughter demonstrates joy, approval, pleasure. True, there is a forced, artificial laugh as an expression of a certain game.

Emotional and aesthetic characteristics of speech are especially necessary for persons of speech professions. The psychological “lie detector” of the perceiving subject is based on the fact that non-verbal components have the strongest influence on the meaning of the spoken words, in particular, on the persuasiveness, sincerity and thoughtfulness of the statements.

• How can information be transmitted by paralinguistic means?
• What does the use of extra-linguistic means in speech contribute to?