Steve Chambers - Body Language: How to Develop Effective Nonverbal Communication Skills to Empower your Personal and Professional Life

Body Language:

How to Develop Effective

Nonverbal Communication Skills

to Empower your

Personal and Professional Life

Steve Chambers

Copyright 2016 by Steve Chambers - All rights reserved.

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Introduction

Congratulations on owning Body Language: How to Develop Effective Nonverbal Communication Skills to Empower your Personal and Professional Life and thank you for doing so. Humans are social creatures by nature which means that understanding the body language that those around you are using is a great way to get inside the minds of those you cant seem to connect with otherwise.

The following chapters will discuss everything you need to know in order to learn the hidden language that those around you are speaking at all times. You will also learn how to control your own nonverbal cues as well as what many of the common cues that most people use on a regular basis really mean. Finally, you will learn about the specific nonverbal cues that most people will face in their everyday lives. While tracking what everyone is saying at all times may seem difficult, it will become easier with practice, and you will certainly have plenty of opportunities to practice.

There are plenty of books on this subject on the market, thanks again for choosing this one! Every effort was made to ensure it is full of as much useful information as possible, please enjoy!

Chapter 1: All About Body Language

If you have ever had a conversation with another person and ended up not feeling as though you were on the same page, then body language was likely the culprit. Nonverbal communication makes up a full 50 percent of every conversation and can often offer up real clues as to the mental or emotional state of the person you are speaking with even if their words indicate that everything is fine. As such, if you find yourself routinely confused by those around you then taking their body language into account is a great place to start.

The proper utilization of body language is an invaluable tool to have at hand in countless situations and aspects of life including work and play. Nonverbal communication includes everything from rate of breathing, perspiration, facial expressions, eye movements, physical movements, gestures and even the tone and pitch of what is being said. The sheer number of signals can make it difficult to read them all, especially if you arent sure what to look for in some cases. After you know what to look for, however, you will find that everyone around you is giving off a steady stream of important information at all times.

This is especially useful if you can tap into it properly as communication is the basis of every type of relationship regardless if it is in the personal or professional arena. This means it is as important to keep track of your own facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact and tone as it is to keep track of what your conversational partner is doing. If you are communicating with nothing but mixed signals, by saying one thing and doing another, then those you speak with are going to innately distrust what you are saying, even if they cant quite put a finger on why it is they feel the way they do. The end result will always be tension, mistrust and confusion in this scenario which is why it should be avoided whenever possible.

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind how you react when other people speak to you which means retaining eye contact and responding appropriately to given social cues. When the words you say match up with the way you act the overall effectiveness of what you are saying increases dramatically. This means that the other party is more likely to agree with what you are saying and approve of how you said it.

All told, nonverbal communication is commonly thought to affect interpersonal interactions in a number of ways. The first is what is known as reinforcement wherein the nonverbal cues you are putting off align with your verbal cues and together they emphasize a specific message that you are striving to convey. Along the same lines, nonverbal cues can enhance the verbal cues making what is said seem even more important. They can also emphasize specific elements of what is being said when used at specific points in tandem with certain information.

Alternately, your nonverbal communication can undermine what you are saying if it is not aligned with your verbal communication to the point that even completely factual information seems false. If your nonverbal and verbal cues are not aligned you will find that, in general, it is more likely that the nonverbal cues will replace the verbal cues. This is because most people innately assume that the nonverbal cues are more accurate because most people cant control them as easily.

Body Language Types

Facial expressions: Despite differences in language and culture, human faces around the world all make the same type of general expressions when it comes to displaying certain emotions. While not everybody has a face that is naturally expressive, many people can express complex sentiments with just their facial movements.

Movement or posture: The first impression someone is going to have of you is typically formed by just the way walk, sit, stand or hold your head, which means that by the time you actually say anything you are already being categorized. This is because these types of movements can say a lot about a person as do their posture, bearing and stance. This means it is important to both watch how other people are moving and keep your own posture in mind at all times.

Gestures: Gestures are typically done with emphatic intent or as a subconscious reaction to something that is being said. This means that roughly half of all gestures have the potential to convey information that the other party isnt even aware they provided which can be used to your advantage in several types of situations. It is important to note, however, that many common gestures do not translate between cultures. This means that what might be seen as friendly, even complimentary, in your region might mean the complete opposite when talking to someone from the other side of the globe. As a general rule, take the signals you receive from gestures with a grain of salt if they dont match the verbal cues.