Body Language, 2nd Edition

Lesson 7

Likeability

‘You can tell a lot about a fella by the way he eats his jelly beans.’

Ronald Reagan

Studies of a scientific nature, as well as ones carried out by the plethora of men’s and women’s lifestyle magazines, show that there are a number of common denominators that denote likeability. These cover the whole spectrum of interactions from dealing with strangers and acquaintances, to making friends with work colleagues, customers and clients, to ‘affairs of the heart’ (flirting and dating situations).

We’ve all come across those people who seem to be able to ‘click’ with others the first time they meet. They manage to forge relationships through an ‘effortless’ way of interacting successfully with people. They come across as likeable ...