---
title: "Nonverbal communication"
course: "COMM 180 · Communicate at work"
unit: "Foundations of human communication"
lesson: 8 of 44
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/nonverbal-communication
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Nonverbal communication

Lesson 8 of 44 in **Communicate at work** (COMM 180), unit "Foundations of human communication". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Identify common forms of nonverbal communication, including facial expression, posture, eye contact, tone, space, and silence.
- Explain how nonverbal communication can reinforce or contradict verbal messages.
- Evaluate how nonverbal cues may affect meaning in a workplace or everyday interaction.

## Teaching notes
Focus on the Situation, Behavior, Impact (SBI) Feedback Model. Focus on how receivers interpret verbal and nonverbal messages together.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 8 complete: Nonverbal communication."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Challenge: giving and receiving feedback" (lesson 9 of 44), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/challenge-giving-and-receiving-feedback.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Verbal clarity and word choice
Next lesson: Challenge: giving and receiving feedback