Body Language

Signalling lack of knowledge .............................................................

You’re at your first meeting of the day, feeling confident that you can answer

any question your boss may throw your way. And then the unanticipated

comes and you freeze like a deer panicking in the headlights. You don’t want

to show your ignorance so you control your gestures. A well-trained

observer, however, would spot the nano-second, micro-movement of your

shoulders as your head momentarily drops into your rising shoulders like a

turtle sucking its head into its shell.

An elderly couple approached Guy in London to ask him directions to

Buckingham Palace. English was not their mother tongue and they struggled

to understand Guy as he gave them detailed directions. Looking at them as

he spoke, Guy was able to tell that they didn’t understand what he was

saying. They raised their shoulders and hands in bewilderment as they tilted

Chapter 7: Take It From the Torso 121

What makes a shrug?

According to English zoologist Desmond Morris

the shrug is made up of five elements, four of

which are key to understanding the gesture. He

labels these four elements key elements

because they can, on their own, convey the

message. The key elements for a shrug are:

1. Hunched shoulders.The shoulders are raised
   and lowered. Both shoulders are not
   required to convey the shrug. One shoulder
   hunching up on its own while the other
   remains still is an equally valid shrug.


2. Hands twisted into the palms up position.The
   palms of the hands face upward in an open
   position. A shrug can be successfully trans-
   mitted through the upward turning of one or
   both hands.


3. Lowered mouth corners.The head and body
   remain still as the corners of the mouth turn
   down.


4. Raised eyebrows.Like the full bodied shrug,
   an upward jerk of the eyebrows can

convey astonishment, indifference, and

bewilderment.

Any of these four individual gestures, taken on

their own and in context, can be perceived as a

shrug.

The one other element that goes into a full shrug

is an amplifier, or supporting element. The

amplifier in a full shrug is tilting the head to one

side. This type of element taken on its own can’t

accurately transmit the message. It has to work

in combination with one or more key elements

to convey the point.

A number of different shrugging styles depend

on the attitude being conveyed and the individ-

ual performing the gesture. People from

Mediterranean and Latin countries use their

gestures freely whereas Anglo-Saxons and

Asians are more restricted in their use of physi-

cal movement.