When talking to someone, the first thing we use to dictate how someone is feeling is what they are saying, or, put more simply, their verbal communication. However, it’s proven that nonverbal communication provides greater insight on how someone is truly feeling.

Nonverbal communication is the way our body language, such as facial expressions, project instinctive cues which are unconsciously picked up by others. Both in silence and during conversation, we are all using body language, and it is a powerful force. Nonverbal communication has the power to build trust and ease, and on the contrary, it also has the power to cause discourse and confusion. The latter is especially the case when our verbal communication, or our dialogue, doesn’t align with what our body is nonverbally communicating.

There are also many subcategories for nonverbal communication, including facial expressions, posture, gestures, eye contact, proximity and tone. For example, countenance is a powerful indicator of how we are really feeling, especially because although words and dialect differ from region to region, facial expressions are universal.

Additionally, there are many purposes which body language, depending on the manner in which it was used, can enact. If nonverbal and verbal cues align completely or similarly, then this body language will further reinforce the message one is intending to project, almost like an extra repetition. On the other hand, if nonverbal and verbal cues are in disarray, then this body language is heavily contradicting the message one is attempting to project, which will inevitably cause confusion and distrust.

With this in mind, though, it must be noted that it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to gain full and complete control over one’s own body language. Oftentimes when body language is consciously performed, it comes off as artificial and ingenuine.