Body posture can convey a wealth of information about how a person feels. It can also say more about personality traits, such as whether a person is self-confident, open or submissive.
Body posture reflects:
• emotions
• attitudes and
• intentions
We are subconsciously “read” by the people around us. We convey our attitudes much more strongly through our non-verbal signals than we do through speech.
The way we sit, stand and walk says something about our attitude towards life. It also communicates, among other things, about our self-esteem, courage and respect for others.
Body language is a range of nonverbal signals that you can use to communicate your feelings and intentions. These include your posture, facial expressions, and hand gestures.
Your ability to understand and interpret other people’s body language can help you to pick up on unspoken issues or feelings.
You can also use body language in a positive way to add strength to your own verbal messages – both in person and on screen. This is particularly important when you’re meeting people for the first time, speaking in public, or taking part in interviews or negotiations.
You’ve probably heard the statistic that only seven percent of a message is conveyed through words, and that the other 93 percent comes from nonverbal communication. This is often quoted out of context and is therefore misleading.
It’s taken from Mehrabian’s Communication Model , which states that body language is more important than tone of voice and choice of words when communicating true feelings. But Mehrabian makes clear that his study dealt only with communications involving emotions and attitudes. So, it’s not applicable in all cases.
However, it does help to explain why it’s so tough to gauge sentiment when we can’t see people – on email or messaging apps, for example. It’s also part of the reason for the rise in use of emojis, even in business communication.
