Interpreting Body Language

“Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream”. This fantastic quote by W.S Gilbert sums it all up. We have often tried to masquerade our feelings through our wordplay, tried to keep our real emotions at bay; but the mask we wore was stripped off our face because the language spoken by our body didn’t quite back up our attempts to mask it all up. And many a times, it happened that we ended up bringing out our subconscious state right to the surface. It happens so naturally that most of time we’re not even aware of what we did because we were too busy contemplating how to weigh our words that would help to not give us away. And if you’re on the receiving end of all the facades, you can try to understand and help that person to take off the mask himself/herself, rather than you ripping it off and exposing it to the world. Not every observation or meeting has to go the lie detector way. It’s believed that more than 50% of our feelings are reciprocated through body language and to interpret the same, you don’t have to be in touch with the supernatural, but by simply being observant. Read this article about how to interpret body language.

 

A strong handshake with firm grip generally indicates that the person is extra confident and has a dominant personality. A loose handshake on the other hand, which slides away as if you or the person had buttery fingers, indicates a weaker personality and often, is assumed as disinterest. A not too firm and not too gentle handshake is the one that indicates a calm, composed, and confident personality.

 

Another good way of interpreting body language is to observe a person’s gait, when he stands, or when he sits. A face that is tilted downwards gives away a feeling of shyness and negativity. An upward gaze while standing upright denotes positivity and confidence. If someone is leaning towards you while talking, it shows positive interest. And if the person sitting in front of you keeps shifting in his/her chair, it means that he/she is nervous or the chair is totally uncomfortable.

 

Sitting with arms folded on the chest indicates closeness and being on the defensive, whereas unfolded arms indicate openness and positivity about the situation. Rubbing hands together denotes excitement and anticipation of something good or just cold weather. Touching face and nose, scratching beard, setting hair straight after every 2 minutes, and itching behind ears indicate nervousness and that the person is outright uncomfortable being in the situation. Making gestures with arms and hands while focusing on certain point during the conversation is often taken in a positive way. It emphasizes something important and urgent.

 

The most powerful and expressive way of non-verbal communication is our eyes. Scientifically it is said that when people are interested, their pupils grow larger. And they grow smaller, they are simply disinterested. Now it’s not actually good manners if in the middle of the conversation you’re trying to observe someone’s pupils while standing 5 centimeter apart. What you can observe is how many times in the conversation and for how long the person maintains eye contact with you. Frequent avoidance to maintain an eye contact is sign of discomfort or feelings of being guilty or being afraid. A steady eye contact throughout the conversation on the other hand is taken as comfortable and confident body language.

 

Facial expression is one thing that connects each of the things mentioned above. Facial expressions act as a projection of our mirror self and always confirm our feelings for what they are. Observing facial expressions is the best way to decide if people’s words coordinate with the expressions used. Too much facial expressions denote being uncomfortable or too much excitement.

 

Observance is all you need for interpreting body language. Keep these ways in mind and learn to recognize the duplicity of words and a language of the body that cannot keep itself hidden.