Old scars. Class rings. Emphatic speeches to the masses! Insert rude gesture here!
Thumbs Up is a display of confidence. Image “/approve” by hobvias sudoneighm, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Before spoken language, our hands described the large monsters in the forest. Hands are used to protect the tribe, signalling for silence. They’re used to show gratitude and love.
As a result, we’ve learned to pay special attention to hands. They’re humanity’s primary form of communication. They’re extremely useful in persuasion.
Because our brain naturally is drawn to watching hands, (more…)
Imagine the last argument you had. You were convinced of your position. There’s no way the other person was right.
They thought the same about your argument, of course.
I’d be willing to bet at least one of you crossed your arms in front of yourself to block the very ideas being spoken.
Arms are one of our most expressive forms of communication. They’re used to build trust and rapport, as we’ll see. They’re used for defense. They’re used to communicate effectively at work.
Imagine the college professor, using her arms to focus our attention to different parts of her presentation. Lawyers use their arms to emphasize their points. Traffic cops use their arms to direct the flow around them.
We are naturally inclined to watch people’s arms — so much that illusionists and pickpockets take advantage of this to misdirect our attention.
In addition to emphasizing our speech, sudden changes in our arms also communicate our limbic reactions to our surroundings.
Image “Put your hands up in the air” by Thomas Leuthard, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Identity is a major influencer in our lives. People identify with their in-group and exclude the out-group.
You’ve probably heard of Jane Elliott’s experiment with school children. In the 1960s, she instructed her students to treat other kids differently based on their eye color. The moment the in-groups and out-groups was defined, the kids treated their friends completely different.
Sport teams define identity for many people. (more…)
You put down your spoon, absentmindedly. You’re absorbed into the conversation. You lean in, waiting for more details.
Our body language says so much. We’ve all seen someone’s shoulders drop at discouraging news. We’ve all leaned away from someone’s unpleasant tone of voice. (more…)
We must submit our advertisements to the court of public opinion. “Engineering Department employees, 1962, Item 74240” by Seattle Municipal Archives, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
We’ve trained our faces to lie, but not our feet. Our feet telegraph our intentions.
I see it every week. My kid says she likes dinner but her body is literally climbing out of her seat, feet pointed towards her toys. Her priorities are evident, regardless of her words.
Through most of human history, we’ve relied on our feet to keep us safe without conscious thought. They just react.
Legs crossed towards someone indicates comfort with that person. Image “our bench days” by phlubdr, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Surprisingly, the feet are the most honest part of our body. They can exhibit both positive and negative emotions… if you know what to look for. (more…)
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