Body Language photo source dramaticsolutions
Your body is talking long before you even decide what words you are going to impress anyone with.
No matter which culture we come from we all “speak” or experience body language fluently. We have all ‘read’ or interpreted movements and gestures of the face and body into messages that carry meaning for us. To be effective communicators we must also be aware of our own body language.
Why is body language literacy important?
• Body language completes the meaning of what is being said.
• Body language helps us understand other people better.
• Understanding body language adds to creating successful relations with people in our social or business circles.
• Body language can indicate what a person will do next.
Imagine how useful knowing body language is in sales strategy, in controlling our own impressions and messages to others and in helping us fit in, through non verbal communication, successfully.
Peter Drucker, a well known management consultant, once said: “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
Keep in mind that when you can control your own body language, while also being aware of others’ messages, your advantage in any situation is at its greatest.
How much can you read into any gesture?
Each gesture tells us a lot. The body doesn’t lie and people, well, we just aren’t wired to NOT communicate. We transmit, and pick up messages all the time. Some are more tuned in and some are more in control of the messages they send out into the world.
A single body signal, however, may mislead as to its meaning. It might be ‘off’ its true meaning due to an individual’s state of mind at that moment, their physical situation or even their culture.
Read a person more accurately by relying on “clusters” of body language information.
Clusters are different gestures, movements and behaviours, when taken together, reveal the truth.
For example:
We’ve all experienced someone not looking us in the eyes. We may have felt they are withholding not only respectful attention but perhaps also truth.
How can body language clusters help us determine whether our conversation partner is distracted by something or someone more interesting, or whether they are avoiding our eyes because they are lying?
Experts would encourage you to notice other body movements that taken together point to the truth of someone’s intentions.
Check if they exhibit 3 or 4 of these additional behaviours?
– Blink more – Clinch their eyebrows – Cough dryly
– Move their body suddenly – Move hands to mouth -Change pitch and volume of voice
– Smile far more often
Reading clusters is more accurate and can even over rule our cultural differences such as smiling, and eye contact which may be different from our own expectations.
VIP: Take note this week of the people around you. See if the clusters of movement, ticks, body postures and facial expressions they beam out match the message they are saying or representing. You’ll sharpen your observation powers and gain awareness of your own body language.
Next time, we’ll look at some specifics of posture and personal space and how it affects our success in both social and business settings.
