Chapter 1
Defining Body Language
In This Chapter
Finding out how body language speaks for you
Gesturing for a purpose
Understanding what you’re communicating
The science of body language is a fairly recent study, dating primarily from around 60 years ago, although body language itself is, of course, as old as humans. Psychologists, zoologists and social anthropologists have conducted detailed research into the components of body language – part of the larger family known as non-verbal behaviour.
If you’re quiet for a moment and take the time to pay attention to body language movements and expressions that silently communicate messages of their own, you can cue in on gestures that convey a feeling and transmit a thought. If you pay close attention, you can identify gestures that you automatically associate with another person, which tell you who she is. In addition, you may notice other types of gestures that reveal a person’s inner state at that moment.
In this chapter, you discover how to interpret non-verbal language, exploring the gestures and actions that reveal thoughts, attitudes and emotions. Also, you have a quick glance at some of the research into this unspoken language ...
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