Chapter 8
Conveying Messages through Movements
In This Chapter
Communicating moods and feelings with your body
Engaging others with facial expressions
Understanding and using body positions to communicate
As the American dancer Martha Graham stated, ‘The body says what words cannot.’ The way you deliver your message – including gestures, expressions and posture – adds meaning to the words you speak. Between 50 and 80 per cent of all human communication is non-verbal, because your gestures, movements and expressions, combined with your vocal quality, reveal your attitudes, emotions and those sentiments you may want to leave unspoken. (Read more about using the voice in Chapter 7.)
Although some of your body language is conscious, many of your movements aren’t. The more mindful you are about how you manage your body language to convey your messages, the better you can communicate with clarity and precision. Equally, the more adept you are at interpreting the movements of other people, the more insight you have into their unspoken attitudes and feelings.
In this chapter I give you insight into using your stance, gestures and facial expressions to support your spoken message or to convey ...
