This document discusses body language and how much of communication is nonverbal. It provides examples of different body language signals and what they convey, such as attentiveness, upset, boredom, defensiveness, honesty, dominance, submission or equality during handshakes. Mirroring another's body language signals agreement. Understanding body language helps interpret true meaning beyond words.

1. BODY LANGUAGE
• 7% of what we communicate is through
words.
• 38% is through our voice, which includes
the loudness, tone, and pitch of
communication, and speed of speaking

2.  55% of what we communicate is
conveyed through our body language.

3. BODY LANGUAGE

4. What is Body Language?
 Body language is the communication of
personal feelings, emotions, attitudes
and thoughts through body movements,
gestures, postures, facial expressions,
walking styles, positions and other
demeanors, either consciously or
involuntarily, whether accompanied by
or unaccompanied by verbalization.

5. Body Language Reflects
Emotions
 Body language is important because it
reflects a person’s emotions. It is
important to understand that more than
a particular part of our body signaling
certain emotions, it is a combination of
all our non-verbal actions (clusters) that
collectively reflect our response.

6. For Example. .
 Attentive Body
Language. This
includes
 Eye contact with the
speaker
 Mild nods of head at
periodic intervals
 A slightly tilted head
indicates interest.
 Body slightly bent
forward towards the
speaker.

7. UPSET
 Body language
signals to identify
‘upset’ signals are as
follows:
 Tightened jaws.
 Frown on the
forehead
 Avoiding eye contact
with others or having
a very cold stare.
 Walking impatiently,
with head down facing
the ground, and
annoyed face.

8. Bored
 Bored people usually
look everywhere other
than at the speaker.
 They frequently look
at their watch or check
sms/e-mails on their
mobiles.
 They give blank stares
when their eyes are
open, and have their
body significantly bent
back to a degree that
conveys lack of
interest.

9. Defensive
 A person under attack
immediately assumes
a defensive posture.
Typical body language
gestures associated
with a defensive
posture are:
 Tightly folded arms.
 Crossed legs
 Wandering eyes
 Showing nervousness
while giving excuses.

10. Open Palm Gesture
 One of the most valuable
ways of discovering whether
someone is being open and
honest or not is to look for
palm displays.
 For example, when people
wish to be totally open or
honest they will hold one or
both palms out to the other
person and say something
like, ‘Let me be completely
open with you’ (Figure). Like
most body language, this is
a completely unconscious
gesture, one that gives you
a feeling or hunch that the
other person is telling the
truth.

11. • Sales people are often taught to look for the customer’s exposed palms
when he gives reasons why he cannot buy the product, because only
valid reasons are given with exposed palms.

12. HANDSHAKE
 One of three basic
attitudes is transmitted
through the handshake.
These are:
1. dominance: ‘This
person is trying to
dominate me. I’d better
be cautious’.
2. submission: ‘I can
dominate this person.
He will do as I wish’.
3. Equality: ‘I like this
person. We will get on
well together’.

13. The Glove Handshake
 The glove handshake is
sometimes called the
politician’s
handshake. The
initiator tries to give the
receiver the impression
that he is trustworthy
and honest.
 When this technique is
used on a person you
have just met, the
receiver feels suspicious
and cautious about the
initiator’s intentions.

14. The Superiority Confidence
Gesture
 Several prominent male
members of the British
Royal Family are noted
for their habit of walking
with their head up, chin
out and one palm
gripping the other hand
behind the back.
 The headmaster of the
local school when he is
walking through the
school yard, senior
military personnel and
others in a position of
authority.

15. Pointers
 (1) The person’s head is
turned towards you and
facial signals such as
smiling and nodding are
evident.
 (2) The person’s body
and feet are pointing
away from you, either
towards another person
or towards an exit. The
direction in which a
person points his or her
torso or feet is a signal
of where he or she
would prefer to be
going.

16.  The higher the back
of the chair, the
greater the power
and status of the
person sitting in it.

17. Carbon Copies and Mirror
Images
 The next time you attend a
social function or go to a
place where people meet
and interact, take note of
the number of people who
have adopted the identical
gestures and posture of
the person with whom they
are talking.
 This ‘carbon copying’ is a
means by which one
person tells the other that
he is in agreement with his
ideas and attitudes.

18.  This copying also occurs among good friends or
people at the same status level and it is common
to see married couples walk, stand, sit and move
in identical ways.
 Significance: The significance of carbon copying
can be one of the most important non-verbal
lessons we can learn, for this is one way that
others tell us that they agree with us or like us. It is
also a way for us to tell others that we like them,
by simply copying their gestures.

19. Picking Up and Understanding Non-Verbal
Signals
-Case in Point
 Lauren sighed. She'd just received an email
from her boss, Gus, saying that the product
proposal she'd been working on wasn't going
to be signed off after all.
 It didn't make any sense. A week ago she'd
been in a meeting with Gus and he'd seemed
really positive about it all. Sure, he hadn't
made much eye contact, and he kept looking
out of the window at something. But she'd just
put that down to him being busy. And,
he'd said that "the project will probably get the
go-ahead."

20.  If Lauren had known a little bit more
about body language, she would have
realized that Gus was trying to tell her
that he wasn't "sold" on her idea. He just
wasn't using words to tell her that.