"A man stands inside of a closed glass phone booth. You cannot hear a word he says, but you see his postures, gestures, and facial expressions. You see his kinesics."
Marjorie F. Vargas (Louder Than Words, p. 67)
Kinesics is the nonverbal code system of bodily activity; “body language.” Major theorists are R. Birdwhistell, and P. Ekman and W. Friesen
Kinesics - Birdwhistell 
Birdwhistell’s Six Key Assumptions 1. All body movements have meaning potential in communicative contexts. 2. Behaviour can be analysed because of patterns and repetitions. 3. Although body action has biological limits, the use of body motion in interaction is part of the social system. 4. People’s visual bodily activity can influence others. 5. Communicative functions of bodily activity can be studied. 6. A person’s use of bodily activity will have unique, idiocyncratic aspects while also being part of a larger social system shared with others. -- R. Birdwhistell, Kinesics and Context, 1970
Kinesics - Ekman and Friesen 
Ekman and Friesen’s work emphasizes face and hands. They propose three ways to analyse nonverbal behaviour: 1. Origin - source of the act (innate, species-constant, or variant). 2. Coding - the act-meaning relationship (arbitrary, iconic, intrinsic). 3. Usage - what does the behaviour do, how does it convey information (communicative act, interactive act).
Ekman and Friesen assert that all nonverbal behaviour is one of five types: 1. Emblems - precise meaning 2. Illustrators - depict verbal message 3. Adapters - facilitate release of bodily tension 4. Regulators - control or coordinate interaction 5. Affect displays - presentation of feelings and emotions -- Ekman & Friesen, Unmasking the Face, 1975
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