Communication Through Gestures and Facial Expressions We use this body communication and expressions whenever we communicate face to face. We use nonverbal cues to speak to others through our facial expressions, body movements, posture, eye contact, hand gestures, tone and volume of voice, and micro-expressions that hold meaning for us as well as for our audience. It's a nonverbal vocabulary using expressions that emphasizes or alters the meaning of the direct vernacular we use. Learning to read body language, and learning to express ourselves through our own body language, can help improve communication .
Nonverbal communication is a two-way street. When you feel comfortable communicating with your own body, it’s possible to become skilled with the nonverbal signals that you’re sending to others. In fact, communicating through body language and other nonverbal signals might even be quite fun. As you work on your skills for communicating with nonverbal signals, you’ll naturally gain better skills on how to interpret body language that others portray, and that has its benefits as well. If you're working on your communication skills, a therapist can help you decide what you want to learn and how. Therapy can help you develop communication style and skills, in addition to offering support for other topics such as social anxiety or shyness.
The Types Of Body Language Communication Using positive body language can help you get what you want if you know how to use it. It can land you a job, help you sell your house, win an argument, or start a relationship.
Negative body language, on the other hand, can keep you from getting the things you want. What's more, it can cause you to lose friends, miss out on opportunities at work, or offend people you want to impress.
Harness Body Language To Make A Great Impression
How Reliable Is Communication Through Body Language? Body language is not only powerful, it's usually reliable for revealing your true feelings, too. However, body language isn't completely reliable if the person expressing it knows how to manipulate it well. Consider the poker player who has perfected their body language to the point that the other players don't see their "tells."
Some commonly asked questions about the topic are:
What are 5 examples of body language?
Body language comes through most of the time whether you intend to reveal it or not. However, you need to be careful when assessing someone else's nonverbal communication cues. You may interpret body language one way, but the gesture may mean something entirely different to someone else. When reading body language cues, it is particularly important to know when there are cultural differences between people.
Body Language Examples The following body language examples are common. It's usually easy to discern their meaning once you've learned them.
Body Language Gestures : Arms Crossed Across The Chest Your arms and legs are perhaps one of the first types of nonverbal communication that people notice when they see you. You can use them for positive body language or negative body language.
Sitting or standing with your arms crossed across your chest is nearly always seen as defensive body language. Universally, when a person crosses their arms, they are viewed as insecure, annoyed, or closed off. When you do it, you're closed off and disengaged. You may appear angry or stubborn.
If you see someone with their arms and legs crossed for a long period of time, remember that it could indicate that the temperature where you are is too cold. It could also mean they're tired or simply supporting their shoulders in an armless chair.
Smile Smiles can mean different things, depending on the exact facial expression. There are happy smiles, shy smiles, warm smiles, and ironic smiles. The Duchenne smile consists of pulling up the corners of your mouth while squeezing your eyes to make crow's feet. It's considered a genuine smile , as opposed to a fake smile where you just expose your teeth. Have you ever heard of the term, “smiling eyes?” Some people are really good at sending a smile through direct eye contact. When you display an authentic Duchenne smile, you let people know you're approachable and friendly.
Tapping Your Fingers When you tap your fingers, you appear impatient and possibly nervous about waiting. If you’re a finger tapper, be aware that it’s one of those nonverbal signals that can grate on others’ nerves.
Tilting Your Head to One Side When you tilt your head to the side, it usually means you're listening intently and deeply interested in finding out the information you're being told. It can also mean you're concentrating very hard.
Steepling Your Fingers Holding your fingertips together and your palms apart let people know you have authority and control. Bosses and politicians use this gesture often to show they're in charge.
Crossing Your Legs The way you cross your legs can tell others a lot about you and how you're feeling at any given moment. If you cross them at the ankle, it may show that you're trying to hide something. If you cross them at the knee but point your knees away from the other person, you show you're uncomfortable with them. In most cases, the best option is to plant your feet firmly on the floor.
A common term related to body language is the “figure four” position. To sit this way, stretch your arms and legs forward and then cross one ankle up over your knee, with your legs crossed high and your pelvic region open. With crossed legs in this position, your body makes the shape of the number four. The nonverbal communication message that the “figure four” pose represents is that you’re powerful and domineering. When your arms and legs are open and relaxed, you send a nonverbal communication that you’re confident and approachable.
Harness Body Language To Make A Great Impression
Pulling Your Ear When you tug on your ear, it shows that you're trying to make a decision but just haven't gotten there yet. You tend to look indecisive or noncommittal.
Putting Your Head In Your Hands When you put your head in your hands, it might mean that you're bored, as if you're so weary of life that you just can't hold your head up anymore. Or, it can mean that you're upset or so ashamed you don't want to show your face.
Standing Up Straight Standing erect with good posture shows you feel confident.
Gesturing with Your Hands Open and Palms Up What you do with your hands makes a big difference in whether people trust you or not. Hold your hands open and gesture with your palms up to show that, no, you don't have anything hidden from them.
Eye Contact You need to make eye contact with the person you're talking to if you want them to feel comfortable with the conversation and accept what you have to say. Scientists suggest that most people are comfortable with eye contact of about 3.2 seconds at a time if you're a stranger. When you become a friend, they usually don't mind having eye contact with you for longer at a time.
Looking Down Looking at the floor or ground makes you appear weak and unconfident. Unless there's something you need to discuss down there, you need to keep your eyes on the level of the other person's face. When you break eye contact, as you should every few seconds, try looking to the side.
Rubbing Your Hands Together Want to show how excited you are about a new project? Just rub your hands together vigorously.
Twisting Your Hair Often, movies and TV shows use the gesture of twisting the hair to show flirting. That may be the meaning you get when someone twists their hair, especially if they look up at you through their lashes while they do it.
However, if you're in a job interview, you'll only look like your nervous and uncomfortable as you idly twist your hair.
Microexpressions Microexpressions are extremely brief facial expressions that happen in about 1/25th of a second. They happen when you're trying to hold back your emotions. When you see someone showing a microexpression, it usually means that they're trying to conceal something from you. However, if you learn to spot them, you can gain an advantage in any type of interaction.
Walking Briskly When you want to show your self-confidence, walk briskly and with purpose. Whether you're going somewhere specific or not, walk as if you're striding confidently toward an important destination.
Placing Your Hand On Your Cheek When you touch your cheek with your hand, you show that you're thinking and carefully evaluating the information you're receiving. When you see someone do this while you're talking to them, you can usually assume that they're taking you seriously enough to consider what you're saying.
Rubbing Your Eye When you rub your eye, it usually means you doubt or disbelieve what you're hearing. If someone is rubbing their eye as you speak, you might benefit from stopping and asking for their feedback so that you can address their doubts.
Rubbing Or Touching Your Nose When you rub or touch your nose with your index finger, you appear dishonest. If you do it in a conversation that requires openness and honesty, you'll have trouble accomplishing your goals. And, if you see someone else rubbing their nose, it's a good indication that you need to be careful not to believe everything they tell you automatically.
Standing With Your Hands Clasped Behind Your Back Take a position with your hands clasped behind your back, and others may read this as anger, apprehension, or frustration. It may feel like a nice, casual pose, but in reality, it can make others uncomfortable and wary of you.
Pinching The Bridge Of Your Nose When you close your eyes and pinch the bridge of your nose, you seem to be making a negative evaluation of what's happening in the conversation. If someone takes this pose with you, you may need to take a different approach in enlisting their support for your goal.
Standing With Your Hands On Your Hips This pose is tricky. In some cases, it can mean that you're feeling angry and may behave aggressively. In others, it may simply mean that you're enthusiastic and ready to get something done. How someone may interpret your meaning of this stance may have to do with your use of personal space. For most casual acquaintances, a good distance for personal space is about three feet or about an arm’s length distance between you if you’re standing shoulder to shoulder. You can stand a bit closer than that with good friends and family members and everyone should still be comfortable.
Body Language Communication Examples Learning body language examples is a great first step to sending the right body language messages. It also helps you read the unspoken messages and nonverbal signals that others are sending to you.
However, knowing the right movements, gestures, and facial expressions can only take you so far. If you want to have healthy, productive interactions with others, you may need to work toward a better understanding of yourself and the people in your life.
Couples who misread each other's body language can quickly become angry at, disappointed in, or out of touch with each other. If you need help learning to communicate with your significant other or anyone else, it may benefit you to talk to a therapist.
You can reach out to BetterHelp.com for private, online therapy at your convenience. There, you'll speak to a licensed counselor who can help you build your self-esteem, heal your relationship, improve your mental health or handle work situations better. Some people believe that therapy is only for people that have some sort of mental health disorder. The reality is that therapists treat much more than mental health disorders. They can help you to improve your personality and help you to use verbal and nonverbal communication to help you become the person that you really want to be.
You can become fluent in body language. Even better, you can develop your qualities so that your body language naturally shows others the wonderful person you really are!
Questions People Commonly Ask:
What are 5 examples of body language?