Reading And Interpretation Of Body Language

Consciously or unconsciously, humans can send and receive messages through body language. It is a form of nonverbal communication, which mainly involves gestures using the different parts of the body. It would truly be an advantage if you know how to read and interpret another person's body language for the very reason that you can determine his or her mood, expressions, and desires.

There are several gestures that a person uses in different specific situations – at work, in a job interview, dinner date, or even in a casual conversation. The eyes, arms, and hands are the body parts frequently used to communicate, even unconsciously.

Eye Language

Eye contact is the most powerful language using the eyes. It have different meanings. It can indicate mistrust from another person when he cannot take his eyes off the speaker, or it may mean that the person has a positive outlook or interest on what the speaker is saying. In instances that a person would look from one eye to another then another area, there are different interpretations as well.

Movement from one eye to another then to the forehead indicates that the person is looking at authoritative figure. Another instance is when the person would look from one eye to the other then to the nose, this means that there are no level of superiority in either party. The last case indicates a sign of romance or attraction when the person would look from one eye to another then down to the lips.

However, the eyes can be misleading, especially if there are other gestures accompanying it. Despite direct eye contact, when the person you are speaking to is still fiddling something with his hands, it means that is mind is elsewhere but you. If he is looking at you but with the arms crossed, it indicates signs of bother or defense from you. Another case is when there is eye contact but the head is slightly tilted. This indicates boredom. Lies can be spotted as well when there is excessive blinking and no eye contact.

Crossed Arms

Arms crossed across the chest is one of the most powerful and basic gestures used by anyone. One can form a barrier between himself and another person by crossing his arms, or it may simply mean that he feels cold. It can also indicate as a protection or defense in nervous or anxious situations.

When you are talking to someone and he would cross his arms, it means that he opposes, suspects, or doubts what you are saying. But if he is talking with his arms crossed, it means that he may be nervous, lying, or hiding something from you.

Hand Movements

The pockets are never the right place to put your hands into. A person with his hands in the pocket may indicate that he is nervous, uncomfortable, bored, or uninterested. This gesture indicates also that he may be hiding something from you or he doesn't want to engage in a specific activity or task.

An open palm means sincerity or honesty. A clenched fist is a very clear indication of frustration, anger, resistance, and defense. But there are times wherein it indicates confidence in one's idea or opinion. Nervousness or anxiousness is seen in someone who is tapping or twitching his fingers. Rubbing of hands, meanwhile, may indicate extreme excitement or cold feeling.

Read another person by reading his body language. One's actions definitely have more honesty compared to the words coming out from his mouth.

Body Language From Head To Foot

It is very essential to have the ability to read and understand another person's body language. Listening only to the words the other person is saying is not always enough. His or her body language can always tell if that person is being honest in what she is saying and what she really feels deep inside.

Body language entails the gestures and movements involving the body, from head to foot. Each signal of body language may have different meanings, depending on the situation in which it was delivered.

Head

You can signal yes or no by the movement of the head. Nodding usually means “yes” or “I agree”. But in other countries such as Yugoslavia and Turkey, it sometimes means “no”.

Tilting the head backwards or to the side indicates that the person is thinking deeply or considering a though or idea.

Face (Eyes, Nose, Lips)

Facial expressions are obvious visible signs of how someone truly feels, however there are some people who have practiced to take control of their facial expressions by making them somewhat expressionless or passive.

Even with an inexpressive face, nobody could miss what is being expressed through the eyes. The eyes can speak volumes given any circumstance. Eye contact is a strong indication of focus of attention, interest, attraction, and honesty. You can spot somebody lying to you if he or she cannot hold an eye contact for a period of time. When the eyes would look away, it signifies lack of interest, dishonesty, and boredom. But there are times when looking away signifies attraction or simply an occurrence of a slight distraction, for as long as the person will look back to the person he is talking to.

Touching or rubbing the nose is one of the most common self-touching gestures, which is usually done by people who are lying or trying to hide something. Blowing of the nose is a gesture seen as rude by most countries, but it is considered as healthy in some countries in Asia.

Licking or biting the lips is one of the typical signals of flirting done by women. Kissing is a gesture to show one's affection, and also used as a form of greeting. But there are conservative countries, particularly in Asia, which do not allow public display of affection such as kissing. And in some cultures like in the Philippines and Puerto Rico, the lips are used for pointing instead of the finger.

Arms And Hands

There are plenty different hand gestures, and each one has different meanings. The most common hand gestures are hands-in-the-pocket, arms crossed over the chest, hands on the waist, and handshakes. The first one may indicate nervousness or lack of interest. Crossing the arms signifies a defensive posture, and it may also mean doubt or suspicion of what the other person is saying. The hands on the waist may indicate anger or fury, but men also do this to show their masculinity. A handshake, meanwhile, is a form of greeting in most countries.

Legs And Feet

Crossing the legs are done by most people, especially women. Most of the time, it is done as a comfortable position. However, there are countries that regard this action as rude.

The Misuse Of The Ability

The ability of reading someone's body gestures sometimes is not reliable. The gestures performed by a person that are regarded as rude by other people maybe just habits of that person without the intention of being rude.

How To Spot Lies In Body Language

It is possible that you can detect lies even by merely looking at the body language. There are many signs delivered by the body, head to toe, wherein you could determine the person is lying. Catch your husband cheating, your friend hiding a secret from you, or a person being dishonest by knowing the signals of lying and dishonesty.

The Typical Signs of Lying

The signs that obviously shows that a person is lying are sings of nervousness, tension, and anxiousness. You could observe these emotions by the way his eyes are moving, how he moves around, and how he reacts to your verbal attacks.

Eyes: The Clearest Indicator

The eyes are very strong indicators of every emotion, including dishonesty. When the person cannot look straight at you or he is unable to prolong the eye contact, there is a big possibility that he is lying. Notice also the rate of his blinking. Do not literally count how many times he blinks, you can easily spot it. Frequent movements of the eyes, like looking at other objects other that you, and pupil dilatation are also indicators of lying.

Observe The Hands

Some people have practiced prolonging eye contact when lying, so the next best sign you should be observing are the hand gestures. A person lying would usually have trembling hands during anxious moments. He also would tend to show excessive use of hand gestures while talking. When defensive from a verbal attack or when hiding something, the person would usually put his hands into his pockets or cross his arms over his chest. He will also tend to fidget with something with his hands or tap them.

Note How He Speaks

Observing a person's way of delivering his speech is somewhat tricky. You may have to know first how he normally speaks before judging his sincerity or honesty. But if you already know the speech habits of the person, then it would be less difficult to detect lying. The volume of the voice would be softer than usual, but during a defensive state of mind, he would usually raise his voice. Then there would be some speech errors, such as mispronunciation, stuttering, or stammering. The pacing of the way he talks would also be faster.

Other Signs Of Lying

Another sign of lying is when the person would tend to touch himself when he delivers his lies. Self touching gestures include rubbing the nose, scratching the forehead, and touching the nape, elbow, or other parts of the body. Self touching is a strong indication of discomfort and guilt.

Observe also the rest of the body. Note if the person is trembling, fidgeting, or shaking. But these actions are usually found during extreme nervousness. A stiff posture with the elbows pulled to the sides and tightened muscles is a posture which reflects lying as well.

The meanings and interpretations of the different acts and signals of body posture are not always true and definitive. This is one of the risks in reading other people's body language. You may be too quick to judge their honesty and even their whole personality. Thus, be careful in interpreting other's gestures and body movements.

The last thing you would want to happen is a conflict due to miscommunication and misinterpretation.

The Power Of Eye Body Language

Cliché as it is, the eyes are indeed the windows of the soul. The eye body language is one of the most powerful mediums of nonverbal communication. It can either support or betray whatever you are saying. Even the slightest movement of the eye can indicate the biggest meaning.

Eye Contact

During a conversation, it is normal to have eye contact. It means differently in specific situations. Looking at a person directly to the eye means that you are interested in what he is saying. But the inability to take the eyes of another person when he or she is talking may also indicate doubt, suspicion, or lack of trust.

Appropriate use of eye contact also includes when to break eye contact. A long eye contact has many interpretations. It may mean a focused attention or sign of attraction. But this can sometimes be uncomfortable, thus the trick is to just look at the bridge of the nose. Long eye contact may also indicate a sign of authority or domination if one can do it without much blinking. However, prolonged eye contact may also pose as a threat, so breaking it from now and then is essential. But breaking it may indicate other meanings as well, such as situations wherein one wants to end the conversation, has been insulted or found out, or is being threatened.

Eye Movements

The eyes looking at different directions also have different meanings. When one looks up to the right, it means that he is imagining visual images. Meanwhile, when he looks up to the left direction, it means that he is trying to recall a memory. However, there are still instances where it is in a reversed order, depending on the person. Try to test him first by asking him to recall a known memory and to picture out an event.

On the other hand, looking down may mean that one is talking to himself, but this is more evident if there is also movement of the lips. It is also a signal of guilt or submission. Looking down on another person means that he is control of the situation or is talking to someone who is under his superiority.

Lateral eye movements can also indicate signs of dishonesty, distraction, or simply checking out the surroundings. When looking from one eye to the other then going up to the forehead, it means that you are looking at somebody with superiority. When going down to the nose, you are talking to someone within the level of your status. And when looking from one eye to the other and down to the lips, it indicates a sign of attraction or romance.

Eyes Expressions

Different emotions and mood can be expressed through gazing, glancing, winking, squinting, closing, and staring. Gazing indicates interest or concentration. Glancing indicates desire. For example, one glances at food. It means that has a desire to eat. Winking indicates an agreement, and it could also be a means of flirtation. A person would squint his eyes if he is uncertain or trying to evaluate or verify truthfulness. Closing the eyes means that the person wants a moment to be away from the world, or simply trying to remember. And lastly, staring indicates a state of shock, surprise or disbelief.

Eyes of Romance and Flirtation

You can use your eyes to show affection to another person. Winking is one way to flirt. The process of looking at someone, quickly looking away, and then staring back is an obvious indication of attraction. A lingering, warm gaze is also an indicator of romance or desire.

If you know how to read and understand the eye body language, you will know what the person you are conversing with would want to tell you. And, if you know how to properly use it, you can take control of any situation or know when is the proper timing to use different eye movements or expressions.

Know How To Speak Through Body Language

Body language is a form of nonverbal communication wherein one can send or receive messages through body movements, gestures, facial expression, and the like. There are general acts of body language that almost everyone does in his or her daily life. However, do you know how to speak this language? Can you understand other people by just reading their body language? The importance of knowing how to speak through body language is that you can have the ability to control any situation with anybody in any place and time.

Personal Space

Everyone of us has his own personal space. It is somewhat like a comfort zone. It is an invisible region that surrounds you, and if someone tries to invade it, you will feel uncomfortable or threatened. But one's personal space is dependent on certain situations. A person who grew up in the city with crowded streets has a smaller personal space compared to one who lives in the rural area. Learning how to respect one's personal space is one method to make communication through body language more effective between two or more people. There are body movements and gestures better appreciated and understood when there is an appropriate distance.

Body Gestures And Movements

Various body parts are used in the body language – the hands, arms, legs, head, and body posture. Hands can make several gestures, each with a difference in meaning; and you can express well through them. If you want to let another person know you are interested in him or in the conversation, the hands can emphasize it for you. Do not try to hide your hands from him, like putting them into your pockets. This gesture means that you are hiding something from him or you are already getting bored. Showing your palm upward or outward shows that you are comfortable and interested in your situation. Leaning your body or directing it towards that person is also a signal that you are indeed listening to him.

You can still give a good impression even in the most tense situations, like in a job interview. You simply have to avoid gestures that are giving signals that you are nervous, uncomfortable, or anxious. Never slouch, fidget, drum your fingers, shuffle your feet, or tremble. These actions takes the word “confidence” away from you.

You can also speak through handshakes. A firm one with the palm pointing downwards and arm slightly extended indicates confidence or power. Meanwhile, a weak handshake pointing upward is an indication of tension or shyness.

You must also be aware of the message you are trying to convey whenever you cross your arms. This is one of the actions that you must avoid. This will tell another person that you might be hiding something, lying, or being impatient.

Make Your Eyes Talk

Your eyes can clearly express what you feel or desire. Eye contact is the most important eye body language since it could mean interest, confidence, eagerness to listen, and sincerity. The inability to hold long eye contact indicates dishonesty or discomfort.

Culture: A Very Important Consideration

In conversing with another person, it is a great advantage that you know their culture. Prolonged eye contact, act of raising voice volume, and touching may be rude to other countries, especially in Asia. Also, there are a number of gestures that mean differently in other cultures.

Learn how to speak using your body. Body language is indeed much more convincing than words and is very useful in giving impressions in certain situations. But the only trick in learning how to speak and understand body language is that what books or research say may not necessarily be the intentions or real message of one person.

Art And Meaning Of Body Language

Body language involves many gestures and movements, and each one with different meanings. It is a complex method of communicating. But the art of body language is that when you learn the interpretations and indications of different body signals, you are able to determine one's inner feelings and emotions. Thus you can control the situation by knowing how to react in advance.

Eye Contact

When one can maintain the eye contact and even prolong it, it is indicative that his focus of attention is in listening to the other person. The inability to maintain it has many meanings, depending on the situation. When there is sudden breakage of eye contact and the eye wanders off to another direction, it may mean that he is distracted by a certain object, like another person entering the room. It may also mean that he is losing interest, getting bored, and would like to get out of the conversation.

The eyes are also used in flirting, especially in knowing if the person is attracted to you or not. When your eyes meet across the room, and then one of you looks aways but looks back, it is a signal of attraction. It is also reflected when the eyes would go down to the lips and then back to the eyes again.

If the eyes would look up to the forehead of another person, it means he is talking to someone with superiority. When the eye would go down to the nose, it means that there are no figure of authority in both parties.

Handshakes

There are two meanings of handshakes. It can show confidence, or the exact opposite, shyness. Confidence is evident in a firm handshake with the hand pointing downward. The palms should also come in contact with each other. On the other hand, a weak handshake with the hand pointing upward indicates shyness or nervousness.

Hand And Arm Gestures

The two most common hand and arm gestures that are advised to be avoided are putting the hands in the pocket and arm crossing. The first gesture, hands in the pocket, may indicate four things: he may be hiding something, bored and uninterested, refusing to perform a task, or nervous and anxious.

The latter gesture, crossing the arms across the chest may mean three things. The person may be protecting from a verbal attack, simply feeling cold, or even probably lying. But it may also indicate that he is disagreeing with you if you are the one talking.

Another common hand gesture is the clenched fist. This indicates anger, frustration, defensiveness, resistance, or confidence.

When Sitting Down And Standing Up

Your emotions can also be reflected by the way you stand or sit. Proper posture is with the shoulders squared and pulled back, but without too much tightening of the back muscles. With the back muscle rigid and stiff, you will appear very tense and nervous. Do not slouch as well. Slouching signifies laziness or boredom.

It is indeed beneficial if you know how to decipher the meanings of another person's body language. However, the indications are not true at all times. Not all impressions from reading body language last. This will only be supportive if you already have an idea on the personality of the person.

Avoid These Acts of Body Language

Body language is one of the strongest means of communicating one's feelings, moods, attitude, and personality. In fact more than 60% of the communication process comes from the nonverbal cues which includes the body movements and speech volume, pitch, and pacing.
However, there are body gestures and movements generally considered as inappropriate and rude. A proper body language has a right place and a right time. Most of us are usually unaware of our actions. Thus, it is time to practice learning the acts of body language that must be observed and avoiding the actions which may be offensive to other people.

During A Job Interview

A job interview is a very important step to be accomplished by any applicant. They key to success to be hired for the vacant job does not only depend on the documents you passed. Your employer would also give high regards for the way you move and act. Thus, it is essential for any applicant to observe his body language when being interviewed.
One must avoid slouching, which indicates laziness and boredom. Do not tighten your body muscle as well, for this will make you look stiff thus making you look nervous and lacking confidence. Do not place your hands into your pockets as well; this reflects your anxiety and discomfort. Lack of confidence is very well reflected in tapping of the foot, drumming of the fingers, and fidgeting.

If You Want To Show Interest

Signs of interest includes eye contact, and one must be able to maintain it. It signifies that the focus of your attention is on that person. Frequent nodding and leaning your body towards that person also indicates that you are listening to him or her.

Generally Rude Body Language

There are many gestures that are regarded as rude by most people, or that you are avoiding to interact with them. This includes crossing the arms across the chest, holding objects such as books and a bag in front of you, inspecting the time on your watch or the clock, stroking your chin, standing too close, staring or narrowing your eyes, forcing smiles, placing the hand on the waist, slouching, touching your face frequently, blinking more than usual, foot tapping, and many more. Most of these gestures are done unconsciously, but nonetheless, the people who you are talking to may be offended by the said actions.

Posture And Body Movements

One who maintains a good posture is one who relaxes into the chair provided for him, yet his back remains straight with his chin slightly held up and shoulder pulled back. Confidence is also shown in eye contact and in a firm handshake. A poor posture is shown by slouching; it usually means laziness or lack of interest.
If you have a posture that shows confidence, people will treat you differently. They will treat you with more respect.

Be Conscious Of Your Actions

Be aware of how your body move or act. You might be already sending signals of rudeness even during the moments you do not intend to do so. Make sure you maintain a good posture and perform the proper gestures appropriate for the place and time. You might also as well consider the cultural background of the person you are talking to, and adjust to their acceptable behavior and body language.