Body Language

Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Reading the Signs ......................................................................................

In This Chapter

Showing that you’re interested

Paying attention to all the signals

Recognising different types of gestures

I

n order to interpret body language accurately you have to notice it first. If

you think this sounds pretty obvious, you’re right. And yet some people

just don’t pay enough attention to how someone else is behaving. Then

they’re surprised when the person tells them he’s unhappy, he’s angry, or

he’s packing up and leaving home. ‘But you never told me’, is the response. ‘If

you’d paid attention, you’d have realised’, comes the reply.

Noticing how people behave is the first step towards understanding. After

that you can begin to interpret what their behaviour means. Be careful at this

point. The experienced observer knows that it takes more than one gesture

to convey a message.

Think of body language in the same way as you do the spoken word. If you

want to communicate a concept you have to speak several words, or even a

few sentences, to express what you mean. Body language works the same

way. One gesture doesn’t tell the whole story. It takes several actions, work-

ing together, to signal a person’s feelings, thoughts, and attitudes.

In this chapter you explore and interpret gesture clusters and see where

there may be contradictions between what someone says and how he says it.

Taking an Interest in Other People ............................................................

When people are wrapped up in themselves, they often don’t notice how

someone else is behaving. Big mistake. By failing to spot the signs, you edit

out valuable information. The way a person behaves can complement, sup-

plement, and even supersede what he’s saying.