It is virtually impossible to lie with body language, which is one
of the reasons it is important to be aware of what thoughts are
being communicated through this medium. Body language is
everything in our behavior with which we communicate other
than words. However, the way we say those words, e.g., the
tone, the volume, the pitch of our voice, is our body language.
So in detecting whether we are thinking in a visual,
auditory, or feelings way, not only can we use eye movements
as clues, we can also detect clues in body language.
For example, someone thinking in a visualway will typically:❏ Speak quickly in a high voice (they are trying to use words
to get across the images they can see, so need to speak
quickly to do this).
❏ Breathe high in the chest—rapid, shallow breathing.
❏ Gesture high in the air, often trying to depict the images
they can see internally.
❏ Often show tension in their body.Someone thinking in an auditoryway will typically:❏ Speak in a rhythmic way, almost tunefully.
❏ Talk mid tone.
❏ Breathe mid chest.
❏ Gesture lower than someone who is thinking in a visual way.
❏ Often have their head tilted to one side as if to accentuate
the amount they take in through their ears.
❏ Frequently touch their ears and mouth and often have their
hand against their face as if on the telephone.And someone thinking in a feelingsway will typically:❏ Speak in a resonant way, slowly with frequent silences.
❏ Breathe low in the chest—deep, slow breaths, as if sighing.
❏ Gesture down and to their right (you have heard the
expression downright angry—down and right is usually
where people go when accessing feelings).
❏ Have “laid back” body posture, relaxed and free moving.64 NLP AT WORK