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2023 Author: Katelyn Chandter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:08
Understanding body language will improve your communication skills, help you influence people, make them feel good about you, and make it a little easier to communicate with people you are talking to.
If you want to understand how important body language is in our everyday communication, imagine that you lost your hearing for one day. Understanding what others are saying and successfully communicating with them depends a lot on our visual interpretations and the ability to distinguish between gestures, facial expressions and eye movements.
Every person, including you, uses body language to reinforce verbal communication. Without even saying a word, you can express your thoughts and emotions. Body movements and posture have their own pattern, they can be performed unconsciously.
There are many theories about how people use facial expressions, gestures, and body posture on a daily basis to express their thoughts and emotions. Some people know how to recognize and understand them, some people misinterpret them, while others do not take them into account at all.
Learning to understand body position, gestures, hand or eye signals will definitely have an impact on other people and improve your communication skills.
“Much of the communication is through body language. Although you cannot see yours, the people around you can see it. If you think one thing and say another, your body can give you away.”- Jerry King
How to understand body language
Study people
Observe people when they are talking to someone. Study spontaneous changes in the position of body parts. Each movement is a signal indicating what the person is thinking about.
What posture is a person in, or what movements does he perform when he focuses on certain words? Where is his gaze directed? Watch your eyes, because as the old saying goes: "The eyes are the mirror of the human soul." Watch him as he listens.
NLP research has shown that when people tilt their heads to the side, they are actually immersed in internal dialogue. When they tilt their head down, they listen to their feelings.
Analyze your body movements and gestures
You may need the help of an outside observer to understand your most commonly used eye signals, facial expressions, and postures. Find someone to follow and comment on your non-verbal behavior.
Observe and be aware of every movement of your body while talking or thinking about something. You can also practice in front of a mirror.
Learn to adapt to other people
Practice adjusting to the other person's posture, repeating their body movements and gestures. Then try doing it the other way around.
This exercise gives you the opportunity to create rapport, the term means "to be in sync" or to be on the same wavelength with the person. As soon as you create a rapport, you can lead a person and he will unconsciously adjust to you.
Benefits of understanding non-verbal signs
Learn to flirt
Often couples who meet are confused and cannot understand their partner. This is because verbal and non-verbal communication do not match. Another reason is ignoring the signs that the partner is trying to convey through gestures. By paying more attention to the signs, you can avoid misunderstandings and dispel doubts.
For example, women usually start touching their hair or licking their lips when they are interested in a partner. These are obvious signs. Watch for subtle eye movements.
You can present yourself
Knowing that other people are watching your movements and gestures, you have a huge advantage, you can prepare yourself in advance, especially for an important meeting, interview or meeting new clients. This way you will make a good first impression.
Know what others think
When you come to an interview or meet new people, you have to guess whether these people are interested in your proposal or not. By understanding body language, you can tell if the person is listening to you or if they are lost in thought. This gives you another advantage and strategy for influencing other people.
Achieving Success
Your ability to adjust to people will make them feel good about you, even though you barely know you.