NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION is communication behavior that does not rely on written or spoken words. In the context of a small group, this definition includes body posture and movement, eye contact, facial expression, seating arrangements, spatial relationships, personal appearances, use of time, and even tone of voice. 56% of a given communication comes from body language and facial expression, 37% comes from the tone of voice, and 7% comes from the actual word itself. While the words someone utters are not classified as nonverbal communication, the pitch, quality, rate, intonation, and use of silence can speak aloud; thus vocal tone is considered part of nonverbal communication. Every message contains both content and information about relationships. Nonverbal messages, particularly facial expression and vocal cues, are often the prime source of information about interpersonal relationships. Therefore they play important functions in metacommunication—which literally means communicate information about its verbal aspects. The purposes in this Unit are (1) To identify the importance of nonverbal communication to the study of small groups. (2) To discuss the application of research in nonverbal communication to small groups. (3) To identify how culture and gender differences influence nonverbal communication in groups, and (4) to identify guidelines for interpreting nonverbal communication in small groups. To fulfill the purposes in this unit, our class went to Textile Lanes in Belmont, NC to observe nonverbal communication patterns in small groups. It was really fun.