Communication through body language

Word to the wise, the correct use of body language is just as important as choosing your words. The small things you do consciously and unconsciously can still send a message to anyone you are talking to. They way you use your body language can influence your success from relationships to your career growth.

What is body language?

This is basically involving physical expressions, mannerisms and behaviour to communicate to others in a non-verbal way and are mostly done by instinct than intentionally doing it. By the way you react, move, listen or look tells a lot to the person who are talking to whether or not you care or even how well you are listening. When signals match what you are saying or doing, they can increase clarity, trust and understanding. If not, they only create confusion and misunderstanding.

It is important that you have to be cautious and sensitive about your own body language and nonverbal signals and others’.

Importance of body language

You might not realise it, but body language can play a huge role in how we interact with others. It can convey confidence, interest, excitement, or even discomfort and disinterest. Actually, some studies even have shown that up to 90% of our communication is nonverbal. That sounds about right.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and noticed that they were either avoiding eye contact or playing with their hands? It can be distracting but those are cues that give you a sense of how they are feeling even without actually saying it. This is not just about reading other people’s body language but also being aware of your own. This can show a big difference on how people view you as a person, an individual and as a colleague. Whether you are trying to make a good impression at meetings or just having a casual conversation with co-workers, minding body language can help you understand them better and express your emotions and intentions effectively.

By learning this to your advantage you can create better relationships with your team, understand how others truly feel and act like when engaging with you, create a more positive impact, and show a professional image within your team and company.

Here are ways to better communicate through body language

1. Your eyes say a lot

Eyes are sometimes considered or referred as “windows to the soul” because they can easily reveal what a person is feeling or thinking. When co-workers engage with each other, they usually mind eye contact and movements to know whether the person they are talking to is actually there with them during the moment or just spacing out.

Blinking is very natural but blinking too much or too little says a lot and can even make you suspicious. This is usually a sign that they are either stressed, burned out, feeling uncomfortable, afraid or worried about something. Pupil dilation also comes into play with this but sometimes this can be giving hints that a person is either happy or too excited. Then there’s gaze direction which in person can look weird because this is just looking directly into other people’s eyes and can be creepy but this just shows that a person is interested in the conversation and are paying attention. However, when the other person breaks eye contact this just means they are distracted. You do not have to think too much about that.

2. Decoding mouth movement

Smiling may be genuine but it is not always a good sign because a smile can mean different things. For some people, this is just showing they are really enjoying the conversation but to others this can be used to express sarcasm, they are being plastic, or just pretending. Smiling is usually a good thing but when your eyes do not align with your expression, people may think you are in discomfort. This is the same with how your lips are “acting”. People usually bite their lips when they are either anxious or worried. Any slight changes of how your mouth moves can show how you really feel.

3. Posture

Posture sends a message whether a person is confident, submissive or just generally open. When people try to read body language, they notice somethings based on how your posture is during the interaction. Some postures show friendliness, willingness and openness while others like hunching forward can show bitterness, cold and even anxiety.

4. Gestures

A very common and an obvious body language cue. Such as: pointing fingers, waving or just using fingers to specify things that are easy to understand.

However, Gesture can sometimes have different meaning in some cases due to culture differences. Here are a few common gestures:

• The “OK” gesture, in which the thumb and forefinger are touched in a circular motion while the other three fingers are stretched, can be used to mean “okay” or “alright”. However, in some parts of Europe the same signal is used to indicate that you are nothing. In some South American countries, the symbol is actually a vulgar gesture.
• The V-sign, means peace or victory in some other countries. However, In UK and Australia, the symbol takes on an offensive meaning when the back of the hand is facing outwards.
• A clenched fist may specify as anger in some cases and unity in others. Some people use it as a fist.
• A thumbs up and thumbs down are often used as gestures of approval and disapproval.

5. Breathing

Even though you cannot technically see someone breathing unless you really pay attention to them but this displays an important part in the confidence of body language. Taking deep breaths and being relaxed reveal that you are speaking in a pace and your voice can speaks volume. That itself makes you sound and feel poised. By maintaining slow and steady breaths, it can reduce stress and avoid bad posture.

Understanding how body language works can go a long way in better communication with others. This can also be a learning curve to improve nonverbal cues to say what you feel without the need of words.