Introduction

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial
expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously.
Borg attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues,
while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves; however, Albert Mehrabian, the
researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding
of the findings (see Misinterpretation of Mehrabian's rule). Others assert that "Research has suggested
that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior."
Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may
indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication,
among many other cues.

Understanding body language

The technique of "reading" people is used frequently. For example, the idea of mirroring body language to
put people at ease is commonly used in interviews. Mirroring the body language of someone else
indicates that they are understood.
Body language signals may have a goal other than communication. Both people would keep this in mind.
Observers limit the weight they place on non-verbal cues. Signalers clarify their signals to indicate the
biological origin of their actions. One example would be yawning, showing lack of interest, desire to
change the topic.

Physical expression
Physical expressions like waving, pointing, touching and slouching are all forms of nonverbal
communication. The study of body movement and expression is known as kinesics. Humans move their
bodies when communicating because, as research has shown, it helps "ease the mental effort when
communication is difficult." Physical expressions reveal many things about the person using them. For
example, gestures can emphasize a point or relay a message, posture can reveal boredom or great
interest, and touch can convey encouragement or caution. [4]
One of the most basic and powerful body-language signals is when a person crosses his or her arms
across the chest. This can indicate that a person is putting up an unconscious barrier between
themselves and others. It can also indicate that the person's arms are cold which would be clarified by
rubbing the arms or huddling. When the overall situation is amicable, it can mean that a person is thinking
deeply about what is being discussed. But in a serious or confrontational situation, it can mean that a
person is expressing opposition. This is especially so if the person is leaning away from the speaker. A
harsh or blank facial expression often indicates outright hostility.
Consistent eye contact can indicate that a person is thinking positively of what the speaker is saying. It
can also mean that the other person doesn't trust the speaker enough to "take his eyes off" the speaker.
Lack of eye contact can indicate negativity. On the other hand, individuals with anxiety disorders are often
unable to make eye contact without discomfort. Eye contact can also be a secondary and misleading
gesture because cultural norms about it vary widely. If a person is looking at you but is making the arms-
across-chest signal, the eye contact could be indicative that something is bothering the person, and that
he wants to talk about it. Or if while making direct eye contact a person is fiddling with something, even
while directly looking at you, it could indicate the attention is elsewhere. Also there are three standard
areas that a person will look which represent different states of being. If the person looks from one eye to
the other then to the forehead it is a sign that they are taking an authoritative position. If they move from
one eye to the other then to the nose, that signals that they are engaging in what they consider to be a
"level conversation" with neither party holding superiority. The last case is from one eye to the other and
then down to the lips. This is a strong indication of romantic feelings.
Disbelief is often indicated by averted gaze, or by touching the ear or scratching the chin. When a person
is not being convinced by what someone is saying, the attention invariably wanders, and the eyes will
stare away for an extended period.
Boredom is indicated by the head tilting to one side, or by the eyes looking straight at the speaker but
becoming slightly unfocused. A head tilt may also indicate a sore neck or Amblyopia, and unfocused eyes
may indicate ocular problems in the listener.
Interest can be indicated through posture or extended eye contact, such as standing and listening
properly.
Deceit or the act of withholding information can sometimes be indicated by touching the face during
conversation. Excessive blinking is a well-known indicator of someone who is lying. Recently, evidence
has surfaced that the absence of blinking can also represent lying as a more reliable factor than
excessive blinking.
Some people use and understand body language differently, or not at all. Interpreting their gestures and
facial expressions (or lack thereof) in the context of normal body language usually leads to
misunderstandings and misinterpretations (especially if body language is given priority over spoken
language). It should also be stated that people from different cultures can interpret body language in
different ways.

How prevalent is non-verbal communication in humans?

Some researchers put the level of nonverbal communication as high as 80 percent of all communication
when it could be at around 50-65 percent. Different studies have found differing amounts, with some
studies showing that facial communication is believed 4.3 times more often than verbal meaning, and
another finding that verbal communication in a flat tone is 4 times more likely to be understood than a
pure facial expression. Albert Mehrabian is noted for finding a 7%-38%-55% rule, supposedly denoting
how much communication was conferred by words, tone, and body language. However he was only
referring to cases of expressing feelings or attitudes.

Body language and space

Interpersonal space refers to the psychological "bubble" that we can imagine exists when someone is
standing too close to us. Research has revealed that there are four different zones of interpersonal space.
The first zone is called intimate distance and ranges from touching to about eighteen inches (46 cm)
apart. Intimate distance is the space around us that we reserve for lovers, children, as well as close family
members and friends. The second zone is called personal distance and begins about an arm's length
away; starting around eighteen inches (46 cm) from our person and ending about four feet (122 cm)
away. We use personal distance in conversations with friends, to chat with associates, and in group
discussions. The third zone of interpersonal space is called social distance and is the area that ranges
from four to eight feet (1.2 m - 2.4 m) away from you. Social distance is reserved for strangers, newly
formed groups, and new acquaintances. The fourth identified zone of space is public distance and
includes anything more than eight feet (2.4 m) away from you. This zone is used for speeches, lectures,
and theater; essentially, public distance is that range reserved for larger audiences.

Unintentional gestures
Recently, there has been huge interest in studying human behavioral clues that could be useful for
developing an interactive and adaptive human-machine system. Unintentional human gestures such as
making an eye rub, a chin rest, a lip touch, a nose itch, a head scratch, an ear scratch, crossing arms,
and a finger lock have been found conveying some useful information in specific context. Some
researchers have tried to extract such gestures in a specific context of educational
applications In poker games, such gestures are referred to as "tells" and are useful to players for
detecting deception or behavioral patterns in an opponent.
 Reasons to improve body language
When we’re in school or at work, we’re taught to improve our words. We learn to improve our
language and words to impress. We learn to construct clever chains of words to gain an upper
hand and to communicate more clearly. But when we grow up we learn very little beyond
improving our words. A bit strange since…
1. …words are only 7 percent of your communication.
The rest is your voice tonality (38 percent) and your body language at 55 percent. That’s
according to research done by Albert Mehrabian, currently Professor Emeritus in psychology at
UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). These numbers may vary depending upon the
situation and what is communicated (for instance, talking over the phone is obviously different
from talking face to face) but body language is a very important part of communication.

2. Increase your attractiveness

it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. A better posture, a more open body language, a more
controlled and focused body language will make everyone more attractive. And not just in a
sexual way but when talking to new friends or in job interviews and business meetings.
3. Emotions are linked to your body language
Emotions work backwards too. If you feel good you’ll smile. If you force yourself to smile you’ll
feel good too. If you feel tired or down you might sit slumped down. If you sit slumped down
you’ll feel more tired and negative. Just try to sit straight up for 5 minutes and feel the difference
in energy from half-lying in your chair.

4. Reduce mixed messages

If you’re in a job interview and you talk with a steady voice and say all the confident things you
should but your body language tells your maybe-employers that you are very nervous or guarded
then you are incongruent (and perhaps without that job). What you want is be congruent, that is
for your words, your voice and your body language to say the same thing.
5. Improve your communication skills
If you improve your body language you can get your thoughts across in a more effective way.
You can create a connection to another person more easily. When using more powerful and
appropriately balanced body language your communication skills become more focused and
better.

6. Better first impressions

Everyone stereotypes everyone on first impression, even if we are reluctant to do it. We all get a
first impression of a new person that creates a mental image of his or her personality in our
minds. That image of you often lasts. Having a better body language will consistently give
people a more positive mental snapshot of you.
 Ways to improve body language
There is no specific advice on how to use your body language. What you do might be interpreted
in several ways, depending on the setting and who you are talking to. You’ll probably want to
use your body language differently when talking to your boss compared to when you talk to a
girl/guy you’re interested in. These are some common interpretations of body language and often
more effective ways to communicate with your body.
First, to change your body language you must be aware of your body language. Notice how you
sit, how you stand, how you use your hands and legs, what you do while talking to someone.
You might want to practice in front of a mirror. Yeah, it might seem silly but no one is watching
you. This will give you good feedback on how you look to other people and give you an
opportunity to practise a bit before going out into the world.
Another tip is to close your eyes and visualize how you would stand and sit to feel confident,
open and relaxed or whatever you want to communicate. See yourself move like that version of
yourself. Then try it out.
You might also want observe friends, role models, movie stars or other people you think has
good body language. Observe what they do and you don’t. Take bits and pieces you like from
different people. Try using what you can learn from them.
Some of these tips might seem like you are faking something. But fake it till you makes it is a
useful way to learn something new. And remember, feelings work backwards too. If you smile a
bit more you will feel happier. If you sit up straight you will feel more energetic and in control.
If you slow down your movements you’ll feel calmer. Your feelings will actually reinforce your
new behaviours and feelings of weirdness will dissipate.
In the beginning easy it’s to exaggerate your body language. You might sit with your legs almost
ridiculously far apart or sit up straight in a tense pose all the time. That’s ok. And people aren’t
looking as much as you think; they are worrying about their own problems. Just play around a
bit, practice and monitor yourself to find a comfortable balance.

1. Don’t cross your arms or legs – You have probably already heard you shouldn’t cross
your arms as it might make you seem defensive or guarded. This goes for your legs too.
Keep your arms and legs open.

2. Have eye contact, but don’t stare – If there are several people you are talking to, give
them all some eye contact to create a better connection and see if they are listening.
Keeping too much eye-contact might creep people out. Giving no eye-contact might
make you seem insecure. If you are not used to keeping eye-contact it might feel a little
hard or scary in the beginning but keep working on it and you’ll get used to it.

3. Don’t be afraid to take up some space – Taking up space by for example sitting or
standing with your legs apart a bit signals self-confidence and that you are
comfortable in your own skin.

4. Relax your shoulders – When you feel tense it’s easily winds up as tension in your
shoulders. They might move up and forward a bit. Try to relax. Try to loosen up by
shaking the shoulders a bit and move them back slightly.
5. Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are listening. But
don’t overdo it and peck like Woody Woodpecker.

6. Don’t slouch; sit up straight – but in a relaxed way, not in a too tense manner.

7. Lean, but not too much – If you want to show that you are interested in what someone is
saying, lean toward the person talking. If you want to show that you’re confident in
yourself and relaxed lean back a bit. But don’t lean in too much or you might seem needy
and desperate for some approval. Or lean back too much or you might seem arrogant and
distant.

8. Smile and laugh – lighten up, don’t take yourself too seriously. Relax a bit, smile and
laugh when someone says something funny. People will be a lot more inclined to listen to
you if you seem to be a positive person. But don’t be the first to laugh at your own jokes,
it makes you seem nervous and needy. Smile when you are introduced to someone but
don’t keep a smile plastered on your face, you’ll seem insincere.

9. Don’t touch your face – it might make you seem nervous and can be distracting for the
listeners or the people in the conversation.

10. Keep your head up – Don’t keep your eyes on the ground, it might make you seem
insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your eyes towards the horizon.

11. Slow down a bit – this goes for many things. Walking slower not only makes you seem
more calm and confident, it will also make you feel less stressed. If someone addresses
you, don’t snap you’re neck in their direction, turn it a bit more slowly instead.

12. Don’t fidget – try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety movement and nervous ticks
such as shaking your leg or tapping your fingers against the table rapidly. You’ll see
nervous and fidgeting can be a distracting when you try to get something across. Diluter
your movements if you are all over the place. Try to relax, slow down and focus your
movements.

13. Use your hands more confidently – instead of fidgeting with your hands and scratching
your face use them to communicate what you are trying to say. Use your hands to
describe something or to add weight to a point you are trying to make. But don’t use them
to much or it might become distracting. And don’t let your hands flail around, use them
with some control.
14. Lower your drink – don’t hold your drink in front of your chest. In fact, don’t hold
anything in front of your heart as it will make you seem guarded and distant. Lower it and
hold it beside your leg instead.

15. Realise where you spine ends – many people (including me until recently) might sit or
stand with a straight back in a good posture. However, they might think that the spine
ends where the neck begins and therefore crane the neck forward in a
Montgomery Burns-pose. Your spine ends in the back of your head. Keep your whole
spine straight and aligned for better posture.

16. Don’t stand too close –one of the things we learned from Seinfeld is that everybody gets
weirded out by a close-talker. Let people have their personal space, don’t invade it.

17. Mirror – Often when you get along with a person, when the two of you get a good
connection, you will start to mirror each other unconsciously. That means that you mirror
the other person’s body language a bit. To make the connection better you can try a bit of
proactive mirroring. If he leans forward, you might lean forward. If she holds her hands
on her thighs, you might do the same. But don’t react instantly and don’t mirror every
change in body language. Then weirdness will ensue.

18. Keep a good attitude – last but not least, keep a positive, open and relaxed attitude. How
you feel will come through in your body language and can make a major difference. For
information on how make yourself feel better read 10 ways to change how you feel and
for relaxation try a very simple way to feel relaxed for 24 hours.
You can change your body language but as all new habits it takes a while. Especially
things like keeping you head up might take time to correct if you have spent thousands of
days looking at your feet. And if you try and change to many things at once it might
become confusing and feel overwhelming.
 Facial expression
A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the muscles of the face.
These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions
are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social
information among humans, but also occur in most other mammals and some other animal
species. Facial expressions and their significance in the perceiver can, to some extent, vary
between cultures. Humans can adopt a facial expression as a voluntary action. However, because
expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are more often involuntary. It can be nearly
impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be strongly desirable
to do so; a person who is trying to avoid insult to an individual he or she finds highly unattractive
might nevertheless show a brief expression of disgust before being able to reassume a neutral
expression. The close link between emotion and expression can also work in the other direction;
it has been observed that voluntarily assuming an expression can actually cause the associated
emotion.
Some expressions can be accurately interpreted even between members of different species-
anger and extreme contentment being the primary examples. Others, however, are difficult to
interpret even in familiar individuals. For instance, disgust and fear can be tough to tell apart.
Because faces have only a limited range of movement, expressions rely upon fairly minuscule
differences in the proportion and relative position of facial features, and reading them requires
considerable sensitivity to same. Some faces are often falsely read as expressing some emotion,
even when they are neutral, because their proportions naturally resemble those another face
would temporarily assume when emoting.

a) Face overall
The face as a whole indicates much about human moods as well. Specific emotional states, such
as happiness or sadness, are expressed through a smile or a frown, respectively. There are seven
universally recognized emotions shown through facial expressions: fear, anger, surprise,
contempt, disgust, happiness, and sadness. Regardless of culture, these expressions are the same.
However, the same emotion from a specific facial expression may be recognized by a culture,
but the same intensity of emotion may not be perceived. For example, studies have shown that
Asian cultures tend to rate images of facial emotions as less intense than non-Asian cultures
surveyed. This difference can be explained by display rules, which are culture-specific guidelines
for behavior appropriateness. In some countries, it may be ruder to display an emotion than in
another. Showing anger toward another member in a group may create problems and
disharmony, but if displayed towards a competitive rival, it could create in-group cohesion

b) Eye contact
A person's face, especially their eyes, creates the most obvious and immediate cues that lead to the
formation of impressions.[4] This article discusses eyes and facial expressions and the effect they have
on interpersonal communication.
A person's eyes reveal much about how they are feeling, or what they are thinking. Blink rate can reveal
how nervous or at ease a person may be. Research by Boston College professor Joe Tecce suggests
that stress levels are revealed by blink rates. He supports his data with statistics on the relation between
the blink rates of presidential candidates and their success in their races. Tecce claims that the faster
blinker in the presidential debates has lost every election since 1980. [5] Though Tecce's data is
interesting, it is important to recognize that non-verbal communication is multi-channeled, and focusing on
only one aspect is reckless. Nervousness can also be measured by examining each candidate’s
perspiration, eye contact and stiffness.[6]
Eye contact is another major aspect of facial communication. Some have hypothesized that this is due to
infancy, as humans are one of the few mammals who maintain regular eye contact with their mother while
nursing.[7] Eye contact serves a variety of purposes. It regulates conversations, shows interest or
involvement, and establishes a connection with others.
Eye contact regulates conversational turn taking, communicates involvement and interest, manifests
warmth, and establishes connections with others…and it can command attention, be flirtatious, or seem
cold and intimidating… [It] invites conversation. Lack of eye contact is usually perceived to be rude or
inattentive.
But different cultures have different rules for eye contact. Certain Asian cultures can perceive direct eye
contact as a way to signal competitiveness, which in many situations may prove to be inappropriate.
Others lower their eyes to signal respect, and similarly eye contact is avoided in Nigeria and between
men and women in Islam however, in western cultures this could be misinterpreted as lacking self-
confidence.
Even beyond the idea of eye contact, eyes communicate more data than a person even consciously
expresses. Pupil dilation is a significant cue to a level of excitement, pleasure, or attraction. Dilated pupils
indicate greater affection or attraction, while constricted pupils send a colder signal
The importance of body language
People cannot live without each other, we are social beings. As soon as we are in contact with others we
are communicating. For this we can make use of spoken and written language. In these ways we make
the content of a message clear to each other. However we can also communicate without words. This
kind of communication tells us something about the relationship between people. Often this is more
important than getting the content of the message across. The communication about this non spoken
communication, which tells us something about the relationship between people, is called Meta-
Communication. Communicating about communication!
Words are inadequate
When we connect with a person, we also have to make it clear to each other how the content of a spoken
message needs to be interpreted. How we do this says something about the relationship we have with the
other person, or think we have anyway. Often words are inadequate for this purpose. For instance we do
not tell each other that easily how we feel about each other, or how the words of a message need to be
interpreted. To make the meaning of our words clear we use body language. Body language is a
language without spoken words and is therefore called non verbal communication. We use body
language all the time, for instance looking someone in the eyes means something different than not
looking someone in the eyes. In contact with others it is just not possible to be not communicating
something.
Subconsciously
Usually body language occurs unconsciously. Yet the body language we use decides to a large extent the
quality of our communication. It follows that therefore it would be good to become conscious of our own
and others' body language. We can learn to use our body language for a purpose. As well as learn to
understand and interpret body language of others. It is important to note that body language has different
meanings in different cultures. How we can interpret body language depends on the situation, the culture,
the relationship we have with the person as well as the gender of the other. This means that there is not
one signal that has the same meaning all over the world. If you do not take this into account you may get
yourself in some serious trouble! Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole
pattern of behavior from a person. As well as that, various body language signs can complement each
other to make a particular meaning crystal clear or strengthen the meaning of what we communicate.
Some groups have developed a whole specific body language which can be very explicit in its meaning
and is used to communicate where the use of words may otherwise be difficult or dangerous. Examples of
this are mostly groups, such as gay people, people in slavery, prisoners, etc. who have a history of
prejudice against them from the dominant culture. On.
Used to express feelings
Body language is used especially to express feelings. For instance if we do not like someone, it is often
difficult to say that directly to the person. However we can make it clear either intentionally or
unintentionally through body language. The opposite is also true. We may say that we ARE angry through
words yet our body language may be saying loud and clear that we are NOT. This can be very confusing
for the receiver. This is usually described as giving out double messages - one message in words and an
opposite message in body language. It is also difficult to lie or cover up our feelings through body
language. People may give their true feelings away by not being aware of their body language. Research
has shown that most people pay more attention to, and believe more readily, their impression of how a
person acts through body language than what is said through words. As a consequence we tend to doubt,
or put a question mark behind, the spoken words if they do not correspond with the language of the body.
The importance of knowing how we communicate
How we come across to someone is decided only for a small part by the words we speak. To leave a
good impression behind, say at a job interview, it is important that we know, and to a certain extent can
control, our body language. The person on the receiving end of our body language will have a feeling or
impression that is often difficult to describe - difficult to put into words or difficult to prove what actually
was communicated. Haven't we all said at times: 'I have a feeling he/she likes me', or something like: 'I
doubt if what he/she is saying is really the truth'. This type of feeling is called intuition. Body language
plays a big role in intuition as it gives us messages about the other person that we can interpret at an
intuitive level. It is therefore necessary to get to know our own body language first. We should learn about
it so that we can recognize it in others as well as in ourselves. For this purpose, all the different aspects of
body language that we can learn something from will be described next