broader field of human communication. These experts recognise that apply-
ing that knowledge of non-verbal behaviour in practical settings allows
people to communicate more successfully than if they rely purely on the
spoken word.Research into primate behaviour concludes that non-verbal behaviour,
including gestures and facial expressions, is a reliable source for conveying
messages.Aping our ancestors.............................................................................
Charles Darwin concluded that humans’ ability to express emotions, feelings,
and attitudes through posture and gesture, stems from prehistoric apes that
most resemble today’s chimpanzees. Like humans, chimpanzees are social
animals that live in groups. As with humans, chimpanzees’ needs are based
around successful communication and cooperation in order to survive. As
chimpanzees have yet to develop the ability to speak, they primarily rely on
non-vocal means such as stance, facial expressions, and touching gestures, to
show who’s in charge and where there’s danger.Darwin published his findings in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animalsin 1872. Regarded as the most influential pre-20th century work on
the subject of body language, this academic study continues to serve as the
foundation for modern investigations into facial expressions and non-verbal
behaviour. Close to 140 years after its original publication, Darwin’s findings
about posture, gesture, and expression are consistently validated by experts
in the field.Gestures first, language second .........................................................
Further research into the foundations of communication suggests that
spoken language evolved from gesture. In evolutionary terms, speech is a rel-
atively new means of communication, having only been a part of humans’
communication process for somewhere between 500,000 and 2 million years.According to Frans de Waal of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in
Atlanta, Georgia, gestures appeared first in human development, followed by
speech. Babies quickly discover which gestures to use, and how to use them
to get what they want.34 Part I: In the Beginning Was the Gesture