Body Language

About This Book...............................................................................................

For a subject that’s relatively new to the study of evolution and social behav-

iour, a tremendous amount of research has been done on body language. The

impact of culture, gender, and religious differences on body language could

each have a book devoted to them! I’ve written this book from a mostly English-

speaking western perspective – much more could be written about body lan-

guage in a cross-cultural communication context. However, I’ve been selective

in what I’ve chosen to include and focused on using body language to improve

your non-verbal communication for your personal and business relationships.

In this book I explain ways of recognising and identifying specific gestures,

actions, and expressions that convey and support both the spoken and non-

spoken message. By improving your reading of body language, understanding

how your body conveys messages, and recognising how mood and attitude

are reflected in your gestures and expressions, you have the upper hand in

your interpersonal communications. By recognising and responding to body

signals you can direct the flow of the conversation and facilitate meetings

easily and effectively. I show you how your thoughts and feelings impact your

gestures and expressions and how the same is true for others.

The point of the book is for you to become conscious of body language, both

your own and other people’s. It’s also intended to aid you in correctly inter-

preting gestures, movements, and expressions. Finally, this book augments and

develops the signs and signals you send out to enhance your communication.

Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................

This book is a jargon-free zone. When I introduce a new term, I italiciseit and

then define it. The only other conventions in this book are that Web and

e-mail addresses are in monofont, and the action part of numbered steps

and the key concepts in a list are in bold. I alternate between using female

and male pronouns in odd- and even-numbered chapters to be fair to both!

Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................

I assume, perhaps wrongly, that you:

Are interested in body language and know a little bit about it

Want to improve your interpersonal communications


Are willing to reflect and respond

Expect the best

2 Body Language For Dummies

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