Post #5
1. Communication Skills
1.2 Body Language and Physical Communication.
Part 2. Reading other people’s body language.

Learning to read body language can be useful when giving presentations, during interviews or negotiations, and in meetings. It will help you adapt your own body language and shift your communication methods, if necessary.

When reading body language take the following steps:
1. First pay attention to eye contact.
2. Assess facial expressions.
3. Evaluate gestures and posture.
4. Consider how the person manages the space around him/her.
5. Watch how the person his face or body.
6. Assess the tone and intonation.

However, your interpretation of the person’s body language can vary. Even though body language is an international language, there are only 6 universally accepted emotional expressions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise and anger. Other physical representations of emotion might differ depending on the country or culture. For example, in the Netherlands people touch the temple with the index finger to indicate someone (or an action) is smart or intelligent. Touching the forehead with the index finger means someone (or an action) is stupid or crazy. In Russia, these meanings are reversed. So if you’re working with foreigners, especially Asians, makes sure to study their body language customs.

Here are some sources which can help you study the different meanings of body language in greater detail:
• How to read body language. A few of the most common and simple body language examples by Business Insider.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmp_-JByPa…
• Secrets of body language documentary with great examples of politicians during negotiations or famous people in contradictory situations, where body language gave them away.
https://documentaryaddict.com/films/secrets-of-…

Also for consideration:
• Watch the TV show Lie to Me where characters solve investigations by decoding facial expressions and body language of witnesses. We suggest watching the series in English, too ;)
• Body language dictionary where you can find an explanation in terms of body language and visual representation of any emotion.
http://www.bodylanguageproject.com/dictionary/…

#softskills@flessibilita, #communication@flessibilita