Dancers, mimes, and people with speech impairments face a similar chal-
lenge of conveying emotion without relying on the spoken word. They rely
solely on position, movement, and expression to reveal their inner thoughts,
feelings, and attitudes.
You don’t have to be a professional performer for your body to reveal, both
consciously and subconsciously, your emotions, attitudes, and beliefs. Nor
do you have to be a mind-reader to understand the people you interact with.
You simply need to be aware of and understand gestures – those you make
and those you see. Some are subtle, some are obvious. Some seek to share;
others seek to hide. But all are revealing – if you know what to look for.
The remaining parts of this book look at the various types of signals and
gestures (researchers have observed and documented almost one million
of them!) that the body sends and offer advice on how you can use the power
of body language to improve your own communications.
Chapter 2: Looking Closer at Non-verbal Gestures 41