Effective non-verbal communication

Abstract

Communication is something that is often taken for granted, and people don’t really give enough importance to improving their communication skills. Effective communication can help in improving the interpersonal relationships at the workplace. It has a big influence in determining how successful we are at our workplace. Especially, in the field of healthcare the result of miscommunication can be very costly and physicians need to give importance to enhancing their communication skills. Good communication can improve the outcome for patients, and doctors. Though the major emphasis in clinical settings is on verbal communication, a major proportion of interpersonal communication is through non-verbal behavior. Non-verbal communication is one of the vital aspects of communication, and has multiple functions. During doctor-patient interactions many messages are conveyed without the use of words, through non-verbal means. Verbal communication is complete and effective only when it’s accompanied by suitable non-verbal cues. In this chapter, we have discussed the various facets of non-verbal communication, and their importance with respect to the clinical setting. We have also discussed the obstacles to effective non-verbal communication, and the ways to improve it. Enhancing the non-verbal skills could definitely improve the doctor-patient interactions, and also the outcome.