Also known as meta-communication or nonverbal communication; body language is arguably the most important form of communication! Some even claims its superiority over written and verbal communications.
Here are a few quotes I compiled:
"Body language is essential for an actress, even if you don't use your body in an athletic way. Just to be free, to use it like your voice. A body can be small and have incredible violence. A body talks."
- Anne Parillaud –
"A significant amount of communication occurs through body language. Though we can't see our own, everyone else does. If you're saying one thing and thinking another, your body language may well give you away." - Gerri King
So how important is it anyway?
Body language is the level 1 testimony to your words. It either supports your claims or negates them.
The way people interpret your body language determines their 1st impression on you. And that can mean everything from securing yourself to land on a job prospects to nailing any deals or negotiations in life, to getting yourself a date.
Body language is the ultimate self-expression people look for when written and verbal communication barriers are on.
Do we not notice how prominent music and dancing have progressed lately?
Does a bunch of kids jumping high and low in complete joy convey their excitement more than staying reserved and say, “Yes we are extremely excited!”?
What do people resort to when speaking to people from a different culture? Especially when verbal and written communication is a problem?
Can you tell how to speak the body language of animals can keep you safe? If you give the right gestures, you can signal to an animal that you are friendly and will not harm them. This can save you from being bitten. If you project dominance too soon with your body language, you may be repaid with an attack.
And body language interpretation is what gives us an intuition and feeling about something.
And before you decide to say that we can still opt for verbal and written communications and neglect body language altogether, do take notice of this fact, “People can not live without each other, we are social beings. As soon as we are in contact with others we are communicating.” So does that not tell you that 90% of the time you are out there in the public, even if just passing through the busy crowds, you are dealing with strangers with nonverbal communications?
So, pay attention to the involuntary movements during any interaction. Study and practice and you too can acquire this skill of body language. And never generalize any individual or culture, differences are bound to occur. And that’s what made life interesting!
Sources with some key words i compiled for your further studies:-
http://www.about-personal-growth.com/body-language.html
movements and gestures.
express your thoughts and emotions even without speaking a word.
body movements have become an unconscious pattern
clues and cues that people communicate through their body movements to show their thoughts.
Learning how to interpret the meanings associated with the behaviors of the body parts would definitely affect your influence on others and improve your social skills.
The eyes move when he tries to recall, imagine or making up something inside his head.
people lean their head to one side, they are actually listening to their self-talks. When they moves their heads down, they are feeling something inside.
Women typically show their interests by either running their fingers through their hair or running their tongues along their lips. These are the obvious ones. Watch out for the subtle movements where their eyes are watching and where their shoulders are leaning.
When you speak to a man, look at how he stands, where he put his hands and of course the eyes are "the windows to the soul".
Positioning yourself in a way that he can't have a face to face conversation will make him pay more attention to your body and its gestures. You can then use this to your advantage.
Pay attention to the involuntary movements during any interaction. Study and practice and you too can acquire this skill.
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Van_Marwijk.html
This kind of communication tells us something about the relationship between people. Often this is more important than getting the content of the message across.
Meta-Communication. Communicating about communication!
non verbal communication
Words are inadequate
When we connect with a person, we also have to make it clear to each other how the content of a spoken message needs to be interpreted.
we do not tell each other that easily how we feel about each other, or how the words of a message need to be interpreted.
Subconsciously
Usually body language occurs unconsciously. Yet the body language we use decides to a large extent the quality of our communication. It follows that therefore it would be good to become conscious of our own and others' body language. We can learn to use our body language for a purpose. As well as learn to understand and interpret body language of others. It is important to note that body language has different meanings in different cultures. How we can interpret body language depends on the situation, the culture, the relationship we have with the person as well as the gender of the other.
there is not one signal that has the same meaning all over the world.
Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person.
Complement, make meaning crystal clear or strengthen the meaning of what we communicate.
Some groups have developed a whole specific body language which can be very explicit in its meaning and is used to communicate where the use of words may otherwise be difficult or dangerous. Examples of this are mostly groups, such as gay people, people in slavery, prisoners, etc. who have a history of prejudice against them from the dominant culture.
express feelings
giving out double messages
Research has shown that most people pay more attention to, and believe more readily, their impression of how a person acts through body language than what is said through words. As a consequence we tend to doubt, or put a question mark behind, the spoken words if they do not correspond with the language of the body .
it is important that we know, and to a certain extent can control, our body language.
The person on the receiving end of our body language will have a feeling or impression that is often difficult to describe - difficult to put into words or difficult to prove what actually was communicated.
'I have a feeling he/she likes me', or something like: 'I doubt if what he/she is saying is really the truth'. This type of feeling is called intuition. Body language plays a big role in intuition as it gives us messages about the other person that we can interpret at an intuitive level.
http://positivearticles.com/blog/2104/why-knowing-body-language-is-important/
At other times, the lie poses some sort of threat to you. When this happens, you need to sort out fact from fiction so you will know how to protect yourself. Body language will help you to do this.
In any kind of business, it is necessary to size up the competition. It is also essential to know the attitude of your customer. Usually these people won’t tell you what’s on their minds. The rival will hide this to dominate you, while the customer might not really know his/her own mind.
Knowing how to speak the body language of animals can keep you safe. If you give the right gestures, you can signal to an animal that you are friendly and will not harm them. This can save you from being bitten. If you project dominance too soon with your body language, you may be repaid with an attack.
Creating a good first impression
If you are placed in a position of responsibility for other people, knowing body language can again come to your aid. You can try methods of converting body language into a posture of authority and confidence. Projecting these attributes is important in leading people.
Every aspect of life is filled with expressions of body language by you and those around you. It’s important to understand both the world and the feelings you are displaying towards it.
Keep your nose to the grindstone, shoulder the responsibility, be all ears when the customer speaks and you will have the boss wrapped around your little finger.
To native-born Americans, the spoken word is by far the most important communication tool. In other cultures, however, the way words are spoken -- along with the gestures, posture and facial expressions that accompany those words -- is of greater significance.
Fatigue and stress cause us to depend still more on physical cues. This is because fatigue and confusion interfere with the ability to understand a new language. As a result, the listener relies more and more on how something is said, and on the movements that accompany the message.
body is more articulate than words in communicating emotion
In mainstream American culture, the folded arms of resolve, the grimace of pain or anger, the hand wringing of anxiety, are powerful communicators of emotions.
a group of children are excited when they jump up and down than if they simply state, "We are very excited."
Finally -- and this is the fun part -- body language gives us clues to cultural style. Picture a southern European who is gesturing enthusiastically next to a more restrained Asian American, and you will see a clear contrast between an outgoing expressive culture and one which values physical understatement.
Of course we can't generalize about any individual or culture, but differences do exist -- differences that at once make life more confusing, more challenging and more interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment