Perhaps the most obvious use of nonverbal communication occurs when young children make use of illustrators, such as when a small child tries to tell a story about a big dog he or she encountered. "It was this big," the child might say, spanning his arms as far as he or she can reach to indicate the animal's massive size. However, not only children use nonverbal communication. Recently, when the senior senator from Massachusetts Ted Kennedy was released from the hospital, he gave a thumbs-up sign to the assembled media outside of the hospital. Despite the fact he had been diagnosed with a likely inoperable brain tumor, the casual, seemingly careless and enthusiastic physical gesture was supposed to undercut the sobering nature of the information. A thumbs-up gesture, an 'a-okay' emblem recalls sports games, and other 'healthy' contexts, and can be used to undercut a depressing verbal message as well as reinforce a positive one (Hartman 2008, pp.1-2).
             Often, nonverbal communication is more subtle, like the use of affect displays, or physical gestures to convey a nonverbal emotional state. This may include the use of reinforcing facial gestures, leaning into a speaker to hear him more closely, indicating interest, or a speaker's use of a podium to pound her fist to reinforce a spoken point. Regulators are even more direct forms of nonverbal communication used by both adults and children in everyday interaction, and can be as simple as the use of a hand gesture to indicate 'you go first' when opening a door. Adapters, like checking one's watch to indicate 'it's time to go,' yawning to indicate boredom, or getting up to leave when a long-winded speaker says "in conclusion" are all forms of using nonverbal cues to alter the environment in a particular fashion to suit one's desires (Hartman 2008, pp.1-2).
             Many of these nonverbal communications we...