The Steps to Reading Body Language 33
Once you know what to look and listen for, you can detect changes
that accompany stress of varying degrees. That ability gives you a
high degree of control in your interaction with someone.
Starting later in the book, I will emphasize the importance of
observing the body language of an individual in a relaxed state,
that is, seeing what happens naturally, without affectation or stress.
I will highlight what gestures and physical responses are invol-
untary and universal, because these are notwhat you focus on in
baselining. You will take every other kind of gesture and physical
response into consideration, however.
Body parts
In beginning the scan of body movements, I start with the face.
To steal the words of Desmond Morris, the face is the organ of
expression. Our agreement ends there. Morris conjectured that it is
the easiest to control because it is the closest to the brain, but I
strongly disagree. When it comes to the face, I think we’re dealing
with a paradox: The face is both the easiest and the hardest area of
the body to control. There are many things we do with our faces
that we aren’t even aware of because they are second nature.
A lot of emotion comes out through the brow in both voluntary
and involuntary expressions. We use the forehead muscles when
we normally interact with people, even on the phone, and we
develop wrinkles as a result. If Morris were right and we can con-
trol the muscles in the face more easily than others, then we wouldn’t
be using so much Botox. We could voluntarily stop using the muscles