How to Read Body Language

Secrets to Analyzing &

Speed Reading People Like a Book –

How to Understand & Talk to Any Person

(Nonverbal Communication Training Mastery to

Improve Your Social Skills)

Harvey Augustus

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

Section 1: The Fundamentals of Body Language

Chapter 1: Body Language and the Science Behind It

Chapter 2: The History of Reading Body Language

Chapter 3: Gaining A Deeper Understanding

Chapter 4: Being Aware of Your Own Body Language

Chapter 5: Learned Body Language Versus Genetic Body Language

Chapter 6: Main Guidelines for Reading People

Section 2: Specifics of Reading People Through the Various Types of Body Language, Facial Expressions, Mannerisms and Gestures

Chapter 7: Facial Expressions - Face and Forehead

Chapter 8: Eyes

Chapter 9: Ears, Nose, Cheeks, Jaw, and Chin

Chapter 10: Mouth, Lips, Smiles, and Laughter

Chapter 11: Head, Neck, and Shoulders

Chapter 12: Hands, Including the Palms, Fingers, and Thumbs

Chapter 13: Arms and Touch

Chapter 14: Chest, Torso, and Belly

Chapter 15: The Position of the Body and Its Role in Body Language

Chapter 16: Mirroring, Micro-Expressions, and Height

Chapter 17: Body Language and Lying

Chapter 18: Signals — Emotional, Attractional, Relational, and Power

Chapter 19: What Body Language Can Add To Your Life

Chapter 20: How To Use Body Language To Your Own Benefit

Chapter 21: Body Language Differences in Other Cultures

Chapter 22: Reading the Body Language of A Child

Chapter 23: Body Language and People with Special Needs

Chapter 24: Contradictory Body Language Readings and What To Do About Them

Chapter 25: Using Body Language in Your Daily Life

One Last Reminder Before Conclusion

Conclusion

Notes

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Introduction

Welcome to How to Read Body Language . In this book, we are going to look at how we can use body language as a means of communication in order to convey the meaning that we truly want to transmit to others.

Reading and utilizing body language are two of the most important skills anyone can learn in order to function in the real world. In fact, body language is so important that it plays a significant role in our lives without us even realizing it. The reason for this is that much of our body language is subconscious.

By the same token, many of the interactions that we have with others around us also happen at a subconscious and even instinctive level. There are times when we don’t stop to pay attention to what is happening during a social interaction, yet the message is loud and clear. Many times, that message is sent without a word being said.

This book is ideal for anyone who is looking to improve their communication skills at a non-verbal level. It isn’t some book intended to show you “cheats” or “hacks” for communicating with other people. Rather, it is about building genuine interaction with other individuals in such a way that you can truly get your message across and thereby achieve your personal goals and objectives. As you hone these skills, you will find that you will also be able to build meaningful relationships that will help you feel more confident and fulfilled.

So, come on in. Let’s find out how you can make the most of the skills you already possess by putting them into perspective non-verbal communication. You will find that becoming a master communicator is a lot easier than you might have thought.

See you on the inside.

Section 1: The Fundamentals of Body Language

Chapter 1: Body Language and the Science Behind It

Communication is one of the most fundamental forms of meaningful human interaction. Communication occurs at all times and in various manners. It can happen through spoken language or through gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. The phenomenon by which humans communicate using their body’s movements is called “body language”.

Body language can take many forms. It might be evidenced through the movement of a person’s eyes or the direction they are looking. It might also be seen through a person’s mannerisms such as being restless or jittery. It could even be revealed in a person’s posture or how they conduct themselves.

Body language can even manifest in what a person decides to wear. Their clothes send out a message based on what color or design they are. A person can also change their body language by how they interact with their clothing and accessories, such as if they are spinning their wedding ring around their finger.

We can all think of instances in our lives that have been affected by body language, whether it was ours or another person’s. We know that body language is a part of our daily lives and that it carries meaning. One of the most interesting things about it, however, is that it is backed by science.

Of course, there are times when body language doesn’t seem very scientific at all. Personally, I’ve had many interactions in which people act out in a very interesting way. For instance, some people tend to cross their arms over their stomachs when talking about something embarrassing. Others will begin to take deep breaths when they hear something they don’t like.

Then there is the fact that a certain gesture can mean something for different people and/or in different situations. For example, some people will bite their bottom lips when nervous, but others will do so when aroused. Sometimes tears indicate sadness, other times happiness, and still other times anger. Even a smile, one of the few facial expressions considered to be universal among humans, can mean happiness if genuine or just be a disguise with only subtle hints exposing which is real and which is fake.

Nevertheless, at the root of it all, there is a scientific process behind body language.

Given the fact that body language conveys meaning, it is essential that you begin to familiarize yourself with the various ways in which such meaning is transmitted to your interlocutors. Consequently, the science of body language becomes much more relevant in our daily lives when viewed in light of communication. That is why we are going to delve into research conducted on this subject. Such research provides greater insight into the scientific aspects of understanding people’s nature.

A deeper understanding of body language will enable you to become more proficient in understanding the messages that others are communicating to you especially when such messages are subconscious or involuntary.

This is what makes body language such an important aspect of human interaction. Since humans use spoken and written language as the main way in which they communicate, body language tends to get overlooked. However, this is nothing short of impractical as a lack of understanding of how body language and non-verbal communication as a whole enable communication leads to constant miscommunication.

The core principles of reading people are rooted in the evolution of behavioral psychology. While psychology as a pure science deals with emotions and the human mind, behavioral psychology takes a deeper look at why humans act the way they do. Hence, gestures, mannerisms and body language and the way they convey meaning are a main concern for behavioral psychology.

It should be noted that evolution does have a cross-cutting appeal in that it fits both animals and humans under the same umbrella. In this regard, many of the instinctive, gut-level emotions that animals feel are exactly the same as those that humans do.

Let’s consider one very specific emotion: fear.

When both animals and humans are faced with fear, they can react in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze. These reactions are very common in the animal kingdom. When an animal finds itself backed into a corner, it will attack out of sheer instinct. For example, a scared dog will automatically begin growling and barking. Likewise, animals such as meerkats have evolved a complex flight system in which they remain ever vigilant for predators. In fact, most animals will pick up on human body language and react accordingly. For example, pet dogs will pick up on feelings of fear and react aggressively as a result.

As for humans, fear works in the same manner. For instance, schoolyard bullies are usually frightened kids who generally come from rough home environments. So, they lash out at other kids in hopes of finding a way of feeling better about themselves. Also, when a person is faced in a do-or-die situation, you may see them lock up, that is, they simply won’t be able to react in any way. They may simply remain silent and still. The flight response can be summed up by the phrase, “live to fight another day”. Indeed, it is an instinctive response to hightail out of a dangerous situation especially when you feel that there is no chance you can come out of it alive.

As you can see, these are gut-level reactions that are produced by deep feelings. Of course, everyday interactions are not necessarily as dramatic as feeling like a cornered animal. But on the whole, people’s gestures and mannerisms tend to be the result of the way they feel expressed outwardly, in a subconscious manner.

Consequently, it is important to consider that the study of body language, as a science, is part of the evolution of human communication, through behavior, much in the same way we consider the evolution of communication through written and spoken language. Furthermore, body language as a means of communication is also rooted in cultural anthropology as gestures, facial expressions and mannerisms are also relative to cultures and civilizations. As such, body language is as much the result of human behavior as it is a collective phenomenon.

Nevertheless, it is important to consider body language throughout history as its evolution in history can provide us with insights into how scientists and philosophers have viewed body language from the perspective of their own research. Please bear in mind that while observations into human behavior date back thousands of years, the study of human behavior, as a science, is a rather new proposition.

So, let’s take a deeper look at the history of the study of body language as it pertains to both observations and research conducted by respected philosophers throughout history.

Chapter 2: The History of Reading Body Language

Body language is nothing new. It has been around since humans were able to communicate with one another. In fact, it is quite possible that body language was a means of communication long before spoken language even existed. As such, humans have evolved the ability to decipher the meaning conveyed through gestures and other types of movements, facial expressions and even signals. Indeed, body language is the result of human evolution.

Even though we know that body language has been around since the origins of humankind, the discipline of studying non-verbal communication is rather new. While analyzing human behavior through empirical means dates all the way back to early Greek philosophers, a more systematic approach has emerged alongside behavioral and evolutionary psychology.

The study of body language has picked up significantly over the past century or so. While authors as far back as the early Greek philosophers wrote about body language, the fact of the matter is that the study of body language has emerged with the evolution of behavioral psychology.

Aristotle was a student of human behavior. Legend has it that he would sit in the middle of a public place to observe the ways in which people interacted. This led to his mentioning of how eyes and ears are able to speak. Aristotle’s insights laid the foundation for the first systematic observations of human behavior as a means of communication.

When I first read about how Aristotle observed people, I began doing it myself. The practice has proven incredibly helpful in informing how I approach my patients and their problems as a licensed professional counselor, or LPC. It is remarkable how much insight you can gain just from watching two people interact. The great thing about this approach is that you don’t need to go anywhere special. Just sitting at a local fast-food restaurant is enough to watch people in action.

Prior to the emergence of behavioral psychology, the works of Sir Francis Bacon were well-respected sources of information on this subject matter. It is fascinating to consider how he, as a great philosopher, was able to provide insight into this topic long before the establishment of psychology as a science.

Sir Francis Bacon’s insights were based upon the work of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Considering the importance of Aristotle’s works on philosophy and the evolution of human knowledge, it is clear that body language has always played a significant role in the lives of humans.

As such, it was Bacon who first began to articulate general assumptions about non-verbal communication. While he observed human interaction from a more philosophical point of view, his works were marked the first attempt at systematizing the study on non-verbal interaction.

With the emergence of psychology as a science, early proponents such as Freud and Jung didn’t really focus on non-verbal communication per se. While both Freud and Jung discussed subconscious communication, they didn’t quite articulate a full-fledged position on behavior and mannerisms.

Jung once famously said, “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” This quote clearly illustrates that we say far more with our actions than with our words. Hence, the importance of reading people through their actions becomes quite useful in virtually all aspects of life.

And while Freud and Jung focused on subconscious meaning, it opened the door for reading people through their body language. This branch of psychology has been continuing to grow along with the overall understanding of the human psyche. Scientists have learned more and more about what body language is and how it affects our daily lives.

As a result, the study of body language, and non-verbal communication as a whole, has been the subject of ongoing study and research. As such, it is no longer considered in the realm of pop psychology, but rather, it is very much considered to be an important part of understanding human development. Today, it is even often used in professional and legal settings. It is trusted enough to be used as a tool in finding out if a criminal is lying or telling the truth.

Studies currently underway are digging deeper into what body language is, how it is used, and how we can read it to our best abilities. Because of this, the history of reading body language is far from over. In fact, it is almost as if it is just beginning. That is why now, more than ever, it is a great time to further your study into this topic. The wealth of knowledge available on this subject is as plentiful as it has ever been.

Now, it is also important to keep in mind that there are plenty of self-proclaimed experts out there, many of which claim to have unlocked secrets to Jedi mind tricks. The fact of the matter is that any kind of system that claims to read people needs to be based on solid facts and reasonable science. Otherwise, such claims will only revert back to the domain of pop psychology.

One such example is seen in the dating world. There are so-called gurus and coaches who explain how attraction works through very superficial observations that are hardly predicated upon any kind of solid science. In fact, many of their claims and observations are merely the regurgitation of folk tales and urban myths.

Personally, I have taken it upon myself to put many of these claims to the test. Consequently, I have seen firsthand how many don’t hold up to close scrutiny.

One such example is proxemics. You will see dating coaches out there claim that when an individual enters your personal space (usually less than an arm’s length), it means that they are trying to get close to you.

That is not entirely true. In fact, there are plenty of reason why a person would like to get up close and personal with you. Unfortunately, most of those instances don’t have anything to do with attraction. Such instances can range from a dominant individual trying to assert their position to a submissive person seeking comfort and protection. So, it certainly pays to do your homework.

Chapter 3: Gaining A Deeper Understanding

When we talk to the people closest to us, we want to understand what they are truly trying to say. If they are discussing a difficult situation, we do not want to miss an important detail that hasn’t been explicitly stated. If we are in a serious discussion with our spouse, we do not want to miss a cue that could mean they are upset with the way we are speaking. If you are talking with a child about how great they did on their sports team that day, we want to make sure that all of our excitement strikes a chord with them.

These are all important details to notice in conversations. Unfortunately, we cannot notice or portray all of these details with words alone. Our bodies will help us to discuss and share our emotions whether we want them to or not. Through body language, our conversations gain a deeper level of understanding. Being able to read body language will ensure that you are able to get this level of deep understanding correct and that you will be able to use what you learn in your conversation or relationship.

First, when looking into this topic, it is important to note that things are not always as they seem. If a person is telling you that they love you, but they do not have a happy face, your first instinct may be to think that they are lying. In reality, they may be tired. While this example seems rather obvious, the fact of the matter is that most folks say a lot more with their facial expressions than with their words.

Another important thing to consider is that if you are saying one thing and you feel differently, your body may betray your true feelings. For instance, I have seen many individuals claim to love someone, yet they are unable to look at them in the eyes while they say it. In fact, you might see some folks look down as they say this. Of course, this might be a sign of submission, but it is also a sign that they may be lying.

Based on this example, it is clear that the body language that you use will affect the people you are surrounded by. Your body language could show them that what you are saying is true or it could show them that what you are saying is a lie. Your body language could also show them that you are nervous or uncomfortable, happy, or excited. Typically, your body language will show the people you are speaking to how you actually feel. If they are able to read these cues, they will be able to read straight through your words and into how you actually feel.

On one occasion, I found myself having to give a speech in front of a small group of people. While I have never been particularly shy, I was a bit nervous since this was the first time I was delivering this particular speech.

So, I stood up in front of my audience and introduced myself. I then proceeded to rifle through roughly 45 minutes of material in about 20. While I had thoroughly prepared my notes and rehearsed what I wanted to say, I found myself speaking like a machine gun.

After the speech, one of the audience members walked up to me and said, “You were a bit nervous, weren’t you?” I replied, “Yes, a little. How did you know?” My initial expectation was for her to say that I had spoken to fast. Her reply surprised me: “you stood up there like you had roots in the floor”.

What?

Roots on the floor?

Then it hit me: I had not moved at all during my speech. I just stood there, with my index cards in my hands, and just rifling away.

You see, comfortable and relaxed people speak with their hands and move in a natural, free flowing manner. By just standing up there like a statue, I had made it rather obvious that I was nervous as could be.

This is why I like to recommend folks to observe themselves when they speak.

You can take a look at yourself in a mirror or have someone else videotape you. The idea is that you need to see yourself. That is the best way in which you can gain a third-party perspective on the way you handle yourself when speaking and attempting to communicate with others.

Chapter 4: Being Aware of Your Own Body Language

It is not only helpful to be able to read the body language of the people around you, but it is also important to be able to read your own body language. This can be a difficult task because it’s not always easy to see yourself from a third-party perspective. That is why I recommended that you observe yourself in a mirror or even through video.

To be able to read your own body language, you need to be extremely aware of your body and the ways in which it moves. You need to be so aware that you can feel the slightest movement, like the slightest movement of shoulders or legs. You even need to be aware of the movements your body does not do in a specific situation. For example, you might not be making proper eye contact thus making a conversation a bit awkward.

Being aware of your own body language can be difficult, but it is an extremely important skill to acquire. In this chapter, we will look into some things that your body language may be telling the people around you. By being able to get a handle on your body language, you will be able to line up your words with your actions and movements.

Your Body Language May Tell

Perhaps the most common reason people become interested in reading others through their non-verbal communication is to determine when a person is lying. The so-called “human lie detectors” are not gifted individuals who have innate abilities. While they are certainly clever folks, they have simply mastered reading people.

For example, they are very much familiar with eye contact and eye movements. One telltale sign of a lying individual is the lack of eye contact. However, you can still pick up on lies even when an individual makes a point of not looking at you. You can easily pick up on this if your interlocutor has “shifty” eye movements, that is, if they move their eyes from left to right, as if to see if there is anyone coming after them. This eye movement is an involuntary response that can be a signal that something’s up.

Your Body Language May Make Others Feel Good About Themselves

Your body language can actually have very positive effects on the people that you are talking to. If you are touching the person, smiling, laughing, and looking at them more than usual, you may give them just the boost of self-esteem that they may be looking for. Of course, touch is something you need to be careful with as unsolicited touching can get creepy very quickly.

That being said, facial expressions such as smiling, or open gestures such as holding your arms out when speaking can go a long way toward making others feel much more comfortable around you. These types of behaviors will signal to your counterpart that you are receptive and willing to engage them in a forthcoming manner.

One other important aspect to consider is called “mirroring”. When you act in a similar manner as your interlocutor, you appear to be “in synch” with them. What this does is that it creates a pattern in which your counterpart feels comfortable, as if you “get them” at a subconscious level. While we will be getting into this into greater detail later on, it is worth mentioning that you can implement this today by simply observing that the other person is doing and behaving accordingly.

Your Body Language May Make Others Upset

If you are doing the opposite of the things listed above, your subtle actions could have the exact opposite effect. If you keep a distance, do not smile, do not laugh, do not make eye contact, or simply do not pay much attention to the person you are talking with, you could actually make them feel uncomfortable. Also, your tone of voice plays such an important role in helping others feel comfortable around you. So, do take the time to make sure that your voice is signaling what you are really feeling at any given time.

Your Body Language May Confuse Others

Many types of body language are easily understood by the people around us. If we smile at them and stand close to them, they probably feel that we are happy spending time with them and like who they are as a person. If we ignore the person and talk to them without even looking at them, they will feel the negative tone. If your body language does not match up to how you are feeling or if it is very inconsistent, you may confuse the people around you.

For instance, have you ever encountered a colleague that shakes your hand without looking at you? How does that make you feel? Does it seem like this person in uninterested in you or perhaps even dislikes you? If you have ever been in this situation, you can appreciate how a lack of eye contact can convey a negative message.

Conversely, what if there was a colleague whom you genuinely disliked, but you still looked at them and smiled at them often? Would that convey your true feelings? Perhaps you are just being polite in order to spare that person’s feelings. Nevertheless, you might be subconsciously sending conflicting messages as other aspects of your body language may give away your true feelings.

I recall one occasion in which two colleagues who disliked each other greeted one another at a conference. They were both very polite and professional. However, their displeasure for one another become painfully evident as they gave each other a weak handshake despite smiling and exchanging cursory pleasantries. Needless to say, it got awkward rather quickly.

So, if you want to avoid having your body language confuse the people around you, you need to be aware of it and make sure that it matches with how you feel and how you are trying to portray yourself.

One other common situation in which your body language can send mixed signals is in the dating world. When you look at smooth-talking individuals who are looking for love, you often see them talking up the right game, but they completely lack the non-verbal communication to go with it.

Some smooth talkers have the lines down right, but they don’t maintain healthy visual contact, they don’t keep a healthy posture and even resort to creepy and cringeworthy touching. In fact, you may even find that some so-called dating gurus tell their followers to touch early, and often, so that the other party can get the message that they are interested.

I’ll say this again: unsolicited touching can be creepy right away and derail your chances at making a genuine connection with someone in a matter of seconds.

That is why you need to pay attention to how you conduct yourself. If you show good posture, smile like a normal person would, and respect your interlocut0r’s personal space, you will have a great chance at hitting things off without seeming like a creepy fella.

Your Body Language Can Make You Seem Confident

Body language, facial expressions and gestures in general can be a dead giveaway for confidence of lack thereof. When you are confident, your mannerism will send that message. For instance, confident individuals have square shoulders and look straight ahead. While drooping shoulders may simply be bad posture, the fact of the matter is that your posture will reveal far more than you think.

In order for your body language to portray confidence, you need to be keenly aware of the ways in which you move and behave. You need to take powerful body language movements and incorporate them into your day. It can be difficult to change something that is barely noticeable, but it is certainly a helpful skill to master.

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is to be aware of how your body language lines up with your intended message. If you genuinely like a person, then make sure that your body language matches your words. Also, if you genuinely dislike a person, make sure that your body language does not offend that individual. After all, there is nothing wrong with being polite.

Chapter 5: Learned Body Language Versus Genetic Body Language

In a simple context, body language seems like something that you create yourself. It seems like a part of your personality that you learn from watching how your parents act, and then how other family members and even friends act. Scientists have discovered, however, that even though you may have similar body language to your parents, you did not necessarily learn it from them. It actually may have been given to you genetically.

Paul Ekman, in his 2003 book Emotions Revealed, discusses how body language is considered an evolutionary trait. This assumption was the result of observations of how chimpanzees tend to move their head from side to side to warn other chimps when they are about to do something that they should not do. This gesture is something humans commonly do to indicate a negative reaction to an action. As such, it is believed that this behavior could have been genetic and passed down through evolution.

The previous example illustrates how “genetic memory” leaves certain behaviors embedded in human DNA. Consequently, some behaviors become instinctive rather learned as a product of a person’s environment.

Smiling is another form of body language that seems to not be learned. In fact, it is one of the few universal gestures in the world. Everywhere you go, smiling will have the same effect regardless of who you are dealing with. Even small babies smile when they are happy. Smiling is definitely a form of body language and speaks on many levels in many different situations throughout our lives, yet it was never taught to any of us. We were simply born with a reflex to grin when we felt happiness.

One interesting way that scientists today are seeing whether certain forms of body language are genetic or learned is by observing the body language of people who have been blind for their entire life. A blind person has never seen another person smile and therefore could have never learned that from the people around them, yet of course people who cannot see smile every day. A blind person may also seem fidgety or move a little more when they are nervous. This would again prove that the body language was genetic and not learned since the person had never seen anyone else move like that when they were feeling nervous.

While it is clear that a great deal of our behaviors are instinctive and therefore “automatic”, there is a lot to be said about the environment in which we grow up in. Many of the gestures and mannerisms which we use to communicate are cultural. As such, they are relevant to one social group but not to others. For instance, two fingers held up in “V” sign can be taken to mean “victory” by one social group but can also prove to be offensive to another.

This example clearly highlights the fact that certain mannerisms are not the product of evolution, but rather, are developed over time by certain social groups. Thus, mannerisms permeate the way in which cultures express themselves even if such behaviors have a diametrically opposite meaning in another.

Another way in which people become accustomed to certain behaviors stems from family dynamics. If you grew up in a family that went to sporting events, you may have seen people in the stands cheering in many different ways. Some people simply clap, while others yell and dance around in circles. But if your mother threw her hands high into the air and let out a high pitched “WOO!” when her favorite team scored, then there’s a possibility that this is the way that you now cheer at sporting events as well. You saw your mother behave in a certain way every time she was excited for years on end when you were at a young age. As such, it is quite normal to mimic the behaviors and mannerisms of those around you as they served as your initial role models. Hence, a person’s environment plays a key role in their overall understanding of body language.

An example of the opposite would be if you grew up in a culture with certain rules and expectations regarding body language. Most likely, you developed a pattern of body language that fits within that culture or religion’s guidelines. While cultural and religious norms are relative, they are indicative of what is acceptable and not. Some cultures value physical touch highly, while others refrain from physical touch altogether. The fact of the matter is that there are no “right” or “wrong” patterns with body language. Rather, they are very much relative to the context of the culture in which an individual is raised.

This is what makes international business rather challenging. When I have conducted business with foreign businesspeople, I have always taken the time to make sure that my behaviors are not misconstrued by my counterparts. In fact, I like to take the time to do a little research in order to determine how I can conduct myself appropriately. That way, they can feel right at home around me.

It seems clear that body language can come from both genetic backgrounds and culture. As such, it is important to pay close attention to the way your own, personal culture view certain types of gestures and mannerisms. Gaining a clear understand of what non-verbal elements are native to your culture will help you communicate in a much more efficient manner.

Thus, it is certainly worth taking the time to compare and contrast how your own culture’s non-verbal communication patterns line up against those of other cultures. You can take a page out of old Aristotle’s book and observe people in public places. If you happen to live in an area that is filled with tourists, you will find that you can easily contrast how locals interact with foreigners. This will give you a keen insight as to how other folks view your own culture.

Chapter 6: Main Guidelines for Reading People

In this chapter, we are going to be presenting six main guidelines which you can take into consideration with regard to non-verbal communication and body language as a whole.

Guideline #1: Do Your Homework

Students of human behavior and psychology know the sources which they can rely upon to get updated information on the subject. Now, you ought to be careful with the sources that your consult since there is plenty of information out there from sources claiming to be legitimate. And while much of that information is rather straightforward, you need to take it with a grain of salt. This is especially true of those self-proclaimed gurus who claim they have unlocked the secrets to human behavior and so on.

Academic sources such as the Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science runs quarterly reviews on literature and publishes studies which can provide you with up to date information on topics that may be of interest to you.

Also, the Open Access Journal of Behavioural Science & Psychology is a solid, peer-reviewed publication that presents research on topics pertaining to psychology, behavior and human nature in general.

In addition to the classics of psychology such as Freud and Jung, experts such as Harvard psychologist Jordan Peterson often publish highly popular YouTube videos and academic articles which present psychology and behavioral science in a digestible and easy to process manner.

Guideline #2: Men and Women React Differently To the Same Stimuli

Males and females, while perfectly equal from a biological perspective, are hardwired differently from an evolutionary perspective. This goes all the way back to the days in which men were predominantly the hunter-gatherers while women were tasked with the domestic tasks of providing care for infants and the home.

As such, this evolutionary cycle has led men and women to view things entirely differently. So, women tend to be more agreeable than men thus seeking to avoid conflict as much as possible. On the other hand, men tend to be more disagreeable and prone to engage in conflict. This is why men tend to be more aggressive than women. While there are plenty of aggressive women out there, men tend to play the role of warrior far more often than women do.

Of course, modern society has done its best to breakdown traditional paradigms and strive for equality in terms of gender roles. Nevertheless, the fact remains that both men and women look at things from clearly different angles. This is why it’s important to have a clear understanding of what is permissible behavior among men and women.

For instance, consider proxemics. If a man stands too close to a woman, this might be construed as “creepy” since it is a violation of personal space. Likewise, unsolicited touching and contact can even lead to potential sexual harassment claims. Hence, the “arm’s length” rule is a great way of avoiding a violation of personal space. Furthermore, refraining from physical touching, unless invited, is the best course of action that can be taken to avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate behavior.

Guideline #3: We Are “Programmed”

This is a common misconception. For starters, there are many folks who believe we have all of our behaviors and instincts hardwired into our DNA. Therefore, there is not much we can do to change that.

While that is partially true, the fact is that a great deal of our behaviors are learned through the cultural influence of our families and social groups. As discussed earlier, most of the behaviors, gestures and mannerisms we exhibit on a daily basis are learned. That is why we can try out best to adopt the behaviors that we feel will best help us foster effective communication with others. In a sense, we can “deprogram” much of the program which was given to us from our upbringing and conditioning in childhood.

Guideline #4: There Is No “Silver Bullet” To Reading People

You will often find individuals claiming to know all the secrets to reading people. In fact, many will claim they hold the one secret to reading people’s minds. Granted, these claims are often found in the dating world. Many of these experts claim that they have mastered the art of reading. So, all you need to do is buy into their program and you will have everything you need.

Now, it is true that there are techniques that can unlock your understanding of people’s true feelings, the fact of the matter is that there is no “silver bullet”. You cannot realistically expect to have one super Jedi mind trick that you can use to understand people. The reality is that this is a skill which is comprised of various smaller skills. For example, you must learn to decode body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and so on.

Consequently, your journey to reading others like a book the result of your concerted effort to learn individual clues and how these clues all line up at once. As you gain more proficiency, it will seem like it’s one super-duper trick when in reality it is a collection of strategies rolled into one system.

Guideline #5: Age Plays A Key Role

While we will be going into this in greater depth later on, it goes without saying that dealing with children is far different than dealing with elderly folks. Children, especially younger kids who cannot verbalize their feelings quite as much, will give off loads of non-verbal clues as opposed to elderly folks who are far more communicative.

As such, it is important to pay attention to children’s actions and gestures. For example, pouting is a classic sign of displeasure. Nevertheless, crying can have a host of meanings.

As for adults, the myriad of feelings that can conflate into single actions can certainly be challenging to decipher. Even then, younger adults will act out in certain ways as opposed to older adults who may show far more restraint. This is largely due to generation differences predicated mainly on culture. Generally speaking, newer generations have become somewhat laxer on expressing feelings as opposed to past ones. Nevertheless, the underlying, subconscious mannerisms remain the same.

Guideline #6: Context Is Key

In addition to gender and age, many factors about the conditions surrounding a body language reading can change its meaning: where you are, why you are there, your relationship with the person, any conversation you were just having, the person’s personality, and so on. It is important for you to take into account any information about context that you have available to you, or else you run the risk of entirely misinterpreting someone’s body language.

For more information on how context can influence readings of a person, please check out my other book, Speed Reading People , where I go into the topic in detail.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this last guideline is that experience will teach you best. In that regard, your observations will become your biggest ally in understanding and decoding the non-verbal and contextual clues that folks around you give off at all times.

In the next section, we are going to learn the specifics of reading people. And if you like what you’ve learned so far, or you’ve found benefit, feel free to leave a review on Amazon. I really appreciate it as your feedback means a lot to me.

Section 2: Specifics of Reading People Through the Various Types of Body Language, Facial Expressions, Mannerisms and Gestures

Chapter 7: Facial Expressions - Face and Forehead

When you think about body language, one of the first things that come to mind is the face. Whether you are thinking of smiles, frowns, raised eyebrows, or a mouth held tightly shut, there are many emotions that can be portrayed through facial expressions.

One of the most important things to know about body language that stems from the face is that it is the easiest type of body language to fake. Most people are very aware of their face and the expressions that they are making. Because of this, they can choose the right type of expression or movement that they need to convey meaning to their interlocutors. However, they would like to be seen. It is important that you know this so that if a person’s overall body language is not adding up, it could be fairly likely that they are faking their feelings through their face.

Eric Ravenscraft, in his 2014 article called, “How to Read Body Language More Effectively”, published on lifehacker.com, speaks of emotions that are commonly faked through the face. The first one that he mentions is fake smiles. He says that in most cultures, children are taught from a young age that they are supposed to smile in certain social situations. This teaches the children whether or not their smile is real; it should be on their face during these times.

For example, imagine you open up a Christmas gift from your beloved grandmother. It is a sweater that she knitted especially for you. It is a color you have never worn in your life and it feels quite itchy even when you are simply running your hand over it. This makes you realize how much worse it will feel when you actually put it on.

How do you react when you open this box? Do you allow your face to portray the negative emotions that you are feeling toward the sweater? Typically, our answer to this question would be “no.” In this situation, we know that our grandmother loves us and worked hard on the gift that she made for us, so we fake a smile and act like we love it.

This fake smile portrays to the people around us that we are happy with the gift, even if we are not. This is an experience that most people have gone through in their life. You may, however, just be realizing that in times like this, you have been causing the people around you to misread your body language through facial gestures that do not match up with how you are really feeling.

Luckily, with the right information, it is actually possible for us to tell if the people around us are smiling for real or if they are using this fake smile. To tell the difference, study a person’s face closely when they are smiling. With a real smile, our eyes and sometimes even our whole head is involved. We may raise our eyebrows or look slightly upward while the edges of our mouth come up to form a smile. In a fake smile, it is only the mouth that is moving at all.

The study of facial expressions and their meaning goes much deeper than just smiles. As shown in Paul Ekman’s aforementioned book, he and Wallace Friesen popularized the reading of facial expressions in 1978 through a system called Facial Action Coding System (FACS).

In FACS, Ekman and Friesen identified each area of the face and head through labels. Each one of these areas has movements that line up with specific emotions or feelings. These movements can be slight and barely noticeable, or they can be large facial gestures and expressions.

FACS is typically used by trained people in the field. This technique has been done by computers and can be performed on certain types of monkeys, like chimpanzees. It can even be helpful in the diagnosis of disorders such as depression.

In FACS, the amount of facial movement is recorded. These movements can be A (Trace), B (Slight), C (Pronounced), D (Severe), and E (Maximum). Such movements include eyebrow-raising, eye movements and forehead creasing.

On the subject of forehead movements, one of the biggest things to look at when studying the body language of the face is the forehead. A wrinkled forehead, for example, can mean that a person is surprised. A sweat covered forehead can mean that they are nervous or afraid. If the person touches their forehead, it can mean they are stressed or that they are trying hard to figure something out.

Indeed, facial expressions play a significant role in understanding a person’s feelings despite what their words are actually attempting to convey. The main thing to keep in mind is that body language is much more than just facial expressions. So, keep an eye out for other clues. Consequently, facial expressions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to studying non-verbal cues.

In general, facial expressions are the first impression you get from a person. While arms, hands, posture and even fidgeting all play a significant role, it is facial expressions that hit us first. Also, facial expressions are the hardest to cover up. Most people are unable to disguise their facial expressions as they are generally the product of subconscious reaction. So, using a “top-down” approach, that is, starting from the face down, you can gain a leg up on reading people.

Chapter 8: Eyes

Our eyes are extremely expressive and are often considered to be one of the most useful tools in body language. Because of this, there is a lot to learn when it comes to reading them. Our eyes can tell many things, from movements that we can control to movements that we are unaware of. In this chapter, we will look into what these movements are and what they mean so that you are able to read them in your own life.

One of the most interesting body language cues that the eyes have comes from the pupils. This is because we have no control over our pupils, what they do, or how they may move. We all know that pupils get smaller or larger depending on how much light we are around, but pupils can actually also dilate when we are interested in the person we are talking to or the thing that we are talking about. If you see a person’s eyes dilate during a conversation and the light around them has not changed, it’s likely that they are genuinely interested in the interaction that is happening. It could also indicate that the person is aroused. The same goes for if you see that person’s eyes open wider as well. In direct opposition to that, if you see a person’s pupils constrict and/or they start to squint without a change in external stimuli like lighting, it could be an indicator that they dislike or disagree with something in your conversation or something they see in your surroundings. It could also mean that they are concerned about something or have perceived a potential threat. Nevertheless, it is best to remain calm and cross-reference other non-verbal clues in order to confirm pupil dilation as a legitimate non-verbal clue.

Another form of body language that comes from the eyes that we do not really control is blinking. We can control our blinking, of course, but it is often done without us even noticing. Since blinking is an involuntary movement, it may let on more that we’d like to.

Visual contact is one of the most important means of non-verbal communication that we can learn to decipher and to master. Visual contact is essential in both professional and personal relationships.

For example, when I meet someone for the first time, I like to shake their hand and look them square in the eye while I smile. In a professional setting, this will make it clear that you are confident and relaxed.

On a personal level, visual contact through direct eye contact is a great way to show you are interested in a person. This is often taught in the dating world though care needs to be taken in order to avoid being creepy. The fact of the matter is that friendly eye contact will help you signal potential romantic interest so long as your visual contact is directed at a person’s eyes and not some other part of their body. Of course, it is important to avoid staring at the other person for prolonged periods of time. Also, blinking regularly will make eye contact much more natural.

Additionally, eye contact can mean that a person is interested in talking to you or that you are the subject that they are talking about. When a person is genuinely interested in you, they won’t hesitate to make eye contact. In fact, they may very well put their phone away. If this is the case, then you know you have really hit the mark with this person.

Conversely, a lack of eye contact can also mean that a person is uninterested in you or, at the very least, what you have to say. They could be easily bored by the conversation or just not really committed to carrying the talk to its end and they could be using a lack of eye contact as a sign to show you this.

Strong, consistent eye contact can also mean that a person is trying to seem powerful. Oftentimes, you may feel intimidated by this strong type of stare. It is a way that people can purposely show the power that they believe they have over you. This type of body language is actually believed to be primal since dogs can become afraid or aggressive if they feel threatened by your consistent eye contact.

Consistent eye contact can even mean that a person is lying to you. This may seem counterintuitive as a lack of eye contact is usually taken as a sign of mistrust. However, if a person is aware of this, they might make it a point to look at you when they speak. Yet, there is a point when this visual contact is unusual or awkward. At that point, you can infer that this individual is hiding something, but they are trying to convince you they are not.

Of course, a person’s natural reaction is to look away when they are lying. This is an involuntary response as they feel shy or insecure. Even master deceivers will make this mistake at some point. This is why interrogators look at suspects straight in the face until they break in some manner.

Nevertheless, a lack of visual contact doesn’t always mean that a person is lying to you. It can simply mean that they are nervous or shy. This is especially true when you are engaged in a situation such as a date or even a job interview. In such cases, your interlocutor might simply be nervous and overwhelmed. It is possible that, overall, the person is not comfortable with making eye contact, even if they are not particularly nervous or shy. Such discomfort can stem from their upbringing, their culture, or if they have a specific disability such as autism, which I will cover in later chapters of this book. This is why I always try to make folks feel comfortable by looking at them in the eyes and then give them a chance to look away.

Another interesting thing to look into when discussing the body language that is spoken by eyes is the direction in which a person points their eyes. Another element to keep in mind is that if a person points their eyes to their left, they are trying to remember an event of the past. If a person points their eyes to the right, they are trying to be creative and come up with a new idea.

Rolling one’s eyes is another common, though often involuntary, form of body language expressed through the eyes. When it is not done intentionally, rolling one’s eyes typically indicates annoyance, disagreement, or even boredom. It is common among teenagers to the point that it is part of the teen stereotype to roll your eyes often. However, adults do it as well. No matter if it is due to annoyance, disagreement, boredom, anger, or what have you, if you see someone roll their eyes and it is clearly not on purpose, you can take this as a sign that they are not telling you something and it is probably negative.

Body language that has to do with eyes can also include things that we do purposefully. For example, we may sometimes communicate through winking, which is a form of body language. We may also silently ask for help from someone around us through crying when it is too hard to ask with our words. People can also cry to get the things that they want in an unfair manner. These are not heartfelt tears but rather they are a manipulative device. Hence, they receive the name of “crocodile tears”. We might also purposefully roll our eyes at someone, either because we do not particularly care for them and/or what they are saying or because we are teasing them and rolling our eyes in a playful manner.

Chapter 9: Ears, Nose, Cheeks, Jaw, and Chin

The body language that is shown by the face is deep and can portray an endless amount of different feelings and emotions. In this chapter, we will look into how body language can show through the ears, nose, cheeks, jaw, and chin. We will look into what these movements mean and how you can read them on others and on yourself.

First, let us look into ears and how they can speak to us. Most commonly, ears relate to body language with an action called ear pulling. This causes the person to either lightly pull on, wipe their hand over, or slightly block their ear. This could be done because a person is lying or when they are feeling stressed. They perform this body movement because their ears get extra blood sent to them which in turn causes them to be red and uncomfortably hot.

Max Atkinson, in his 1984 work Our Master’s Voices, points out that certain gesticulations such a touching nose or ears may indicate that a person is lying. The main point behind this assertion lies in the fact that involuntary movements are triggered when a person is subconsciously nervous or hiding something. Consequently, such movements may be seen as a comfort mechanism rather than part of a person’s behavior.

Next, let us look into the cheeks. Cheeks seem like things that do not move and that really would not be able to say much, but there are a few different things that they can portray. When cheeks are sucked in with a person’s breath, for example, it can mean that they do not approve of what is going on. When a person blows their cheeks out, it could mean that they are trying to make a decision or that they are very tired.

As we know, cheeks also often turn red in certain situations. This can be a useful tool when you are trying to read body language through their cheeks. This redness can mean that the person is angry or embarrassed. You would be able to tell the difference between the two based on another body language that happens at the same time. If cheeks lose their redness altogether, on the other hand, it might be a sign that the person is feeling ill for one reason or another.

Moving on, the chin is actually a very interesting part of the body to learn about when it comes to body language. If a person is holding their chin inward, it could be a primal instinct that suggests that they are feeling threatened or being submissive. This is because holding the jaw in this position can protect the throat. If a person pushes their throat outward, it could mean the opposite. It could be a sign of dominance or a sign that the person wants to fight. If a person’s chin is in neither of these two positions and is more so held flat, it means that they feel safe and not at all threatened.

Sometimes, even the beard that a man decides to grow can affect their body language. If a man has a full beard that he simply let grow without any fancy keeping, it shows that they are comfortable with who they are naturally. If their beard is full and messy, however, it could mean that they simply do not care about their appearance or it could show that they are going through a hard time in their lives. A beard can let you know if someone participates in the rules of their own culture as well.

Conversely, sometimes people run their hand over their jaw. This typically means that they are deep in thought. If a person puts their hand under their chin to help hold up their head, it usually means that they are tired but also may mean that they are bored.

It is amazing how such small features of the face can have such a wide variety of meaning when it comes to body language. Typically, these parts of the face tend to go unnoticed. With the information that you have learned in this chapter, you will not only notice their movements, but you will be able to understand exactly what they mean as well.

Chapter 10: Mouth, Lips, Smiles, and Laughter

We typically see the mouth as part of our body that speaks, but usually, we focus on the fact that it speaks words. In reality, our mouth speaks at a much deeper level than the simply verbal version that we hear every day. Our mouth plays a huge role in body language and nonverbal cues as well.

If you have ever talked to someone who could read right into you and who always knew how you were feeling below the surface, they may have spent a great deal of time staring at your mouth during your time conversing together. Experts today actually believe that the best readers of body language tend to look more at the mouth of the person they are reading than anything else. The best place to look was previously thought to be the eyes, though now the consensus is that the mouth is the best place to focus on.

Typically, people breathe through their nose, so if you see someone who is breathing through their mouth, (and it is not due to a full-on stuffy nose!), this could teach you something about how they are feeling. If a person is breathing through their mouth, they are trying to take in more oxygen than usual. This could mean that they are scared or that they are so angry that their body is preparing them for a fight response. However, it might simply mean they have a breathing problem which restricts their air intake. So, do pay attention to these potential issues in order to avoid misreading signs.

If the person is breathing quickly through their mouth, it could mean that they are undergoing large amounts of stress or that they are having a panic attack. It could also simply mean that they are too hot and that their body is taking in more oxygen in an attempt to cool them down.

If a person is breathing quickly but not deeply or loudly, they may be extremely sad. This is a good cue to pick up on if someone is in need of support but is too embarrassed or depressed to reach out to the people around them.

Deep breathing can also have many meanings behind it. Deep breathing into a yawn could mean that a person is sleepy or that they are finding boredom in the situation or conversation that they are participating in. Deep inhaling and exhaling with closed eyes could show that a person is trying to calm down or relax their bodies. Long, deep breaths followed by a sigh could mean that a person is sad, bored, or even frustrated or angry with what they are doing.

Also, something as simple as your lips, which serve various purposes independent of communication, can serve as a means of communication. For example, when someone presses their lips outward in a tight circle, it can often mean that they are not comfortable with the situation or conversation that they are in. Going back to Ravenscraft in his article “How to Read Body Language More Effectively”, looking for this lip movement is actually a way that experts analyze the speeches and confessions of politicians. They can tell if the speaker is talking about something that they are not comfortable with or some that they possibly do not believe is true through this trick.

Pursing one’s lips can also reveal something about the person who is doing it. Sometimes, pursing the lips means that someone is thinking, either about what was just said or about something that they want to say. It could also indicate that the person is displeased, annoyed, nervous, or hesitant. This gesture can often occur during an awkward pause in a conversation as they try to think of if and how they should proceed with the discussion.

If someone licks their lips, it could be because they have a desire for something that they are seeing or thinking about. This desire can be as simple as a desire for delicious food that they see or smell. However, it can also point to a more sexual desire for the person with whom they are speaking. Be careful with this interpretation, though, as licking their lips could also just be the person’s subconscious act of trying to moisten uncomfortably dry or chapped lips.

Smiles, of course, come from the mouth and have significant meanings within the area of body language as well. As we mentioned earlier, smiles can be real or fake. A real smile will light up a person’s whole face including their eyes and even their eyebrows. A real smile may also cause a person’s whole head to lift up. A fake smile has only to do with the person’s mouth. Smiles, of course, mean that a person is happy if they are real. They can mean that a person feels satisfied with the conversation or that they are even proud of you when they are talking to you. Smiles can also mean that a person is interested in you and interested in getting to know you better. Another interesting fact to note is that fake smiles last longer than real smiles. With this information, you should be able to tell the difference between both fake and real smiles and this will help you to know what a person means by the body language that comes with a smile.

Let us look into different types of smiles. A half smile is a smile that is only using half of the face. This often means that a person is not necessarily happy but sarcastic or not sure of how they are feeling. It can also mean that a person is nervous but is trying to look confident in what they are doing.

Soft smiles can be considered submission to some. They could mean that a person is shy or that a person is showing you that they are not trying to compete with you.

In some cultures, smiles might have a different meaning than in other places around the world, although the variations are few and far between. Sometimes a smile can mean that you have a question to ask. Other times it can mean that you have something to say and you are waiting to be called on.

Smiles are not the only thing with the mouth that body language reads into. We can also look into what it means when a person is not smiling. A person who holds their mouth tightly shut could mean that they want to say something, but they are trying not to. This could be if they’re upset, but they are trying to act like a nice person. It could also mean that they have something to say, but it is not appropriate to say at that specific time. Also, if a person has their mouth in a straight line and their eyes are not looking very kind, it can mean that the person is upset or judging the people about them.

Of course, a lack of smiling can also lead to frowning. Frowning is a sign that a person is sad. It could mean that they feel bad about what you are saying or that they have something hard going on in their own lives.

An open mouth with wide eyebrows and eyes can mean that a person is surprised or shocked at what they are hearing or seeing. This can be a good emotion or a bad emotion, and you will need to look at the other body language signals that the person is showing off to tell between the two.

When we look beyond the shapes that a mouth can make, we often think of the sounds that it makes. We are not talking about words here because this is about body language; we are talking about laughs. Laughing shows that a person is happy and that they are enjoying themselves. They think that the thing that was said is funny or that what they see is funny. Laughing is often a short thing and does not take much time. However, there are many different types of laughs.

A person may laugh a lot when they are embarrassed or nervous. This laughing may make them feel at ease or take their mind off of the difficult situation that they are about to face or that they just finished facing. This laughing may seem inappropriate for the time, but it is the person’s way of coping. It is important to know this type of body language so that if someone is laughing out of an uncomfortable place, you are able to help them. They may be too embarrassed to ask for help, but your knowledge of body language will help them to avoid the not need to ask. You will simply know what to do to help them.

Indeed, laughter can be considered to be a positive emotion especially when seen in light of attraction. Women actually tend to laugh at men who they like, and men love to be laughed at. Because of this, laughing in an early relationship is a good sign that the connection between the two people is strong.

Sometimes, we may laugh when things are not necessarily funny. We may laugh when others get hurt or if we see things that are not in a video but are somewhat relatable to us. This is probably not actually because the things we are seeing are funny, but because we are uncomfortable and laughing is our body’s response to making the situation feel better. It is important to know that this type of laughing is different than laughing at funny things so that we do not get upset with people for laughing at things that should never be laughed at.

Type of body language that stems from the mouth is when people suck on their hand or bite their fingernails or other things when they are uncomfortable. This often starts in early childhood as a comfort mechanism but may come back to adults and older children when they are extremely uncomfortable. If you see a person doing these things, they are likely nervous and may need someone to support them. They probably do not like that they have to engage in these behaviors, but they are hard to stop because they allow the person to feel comfortable again. If you see a person that is sucking on their thumb, try not to judge them. It is something that they may need support for and that they would likely benefit from a person being on their side. It is important to note that biting means that a person is in even more stress than if they are sucking. This knowledge will help you comfort people who are nervous or uncomfortable when you come across them. It will also help you to know if you have a habit of biting your nails or sucking your thumb, that is just common and that it is not something you need to be embarrassed about. It is something that you may be able to change if you help yourself to feel comfortable in your own life and the situations that you enter.

As such, a keen understanding of body language is so powerful that it can enable you to help others and not just yourself. Most importantly, this keen understanding will allow you to take much of the guesswork out of human interaction. This is so powerful since you will be able to help others feel comfortable especially when it is obvious, they are not. Understanding how the mouth works is one important element in reading people. Yet, the are other parts of the body which still need to be discussed such as the head, neck and shoulders.

Chapter 11: Head, Neck, and Shoulders

We have talked about the body language of the face and each body feature that is on it. Next, let us take a look at the head as a whole. We will also move down into looking at the body language that comes from the neck and the shoulders.

First, we will examine what it means when a person lets their head hang lower than normal. If a person lowers their head but their eyes are still looking up at you, it is likely that they feel you somehow serve as a threat to them. This threat can mean that they have an automatic response to fight you, whether this fight—and the perceived threat that caused it—is physical or not.

If a person lowers their head and has their eyes toward the ground, though, it can mean that they are afraid or are submitting themselves to you. It is possible that they think that you might hurt them, or they might just think that you are much more powerful than they are. It can also mean that they think you are a wonderful person and that you are so great that they can’t even look at you.

This particular gesture can also indicate that the person is embarrassed or ashamed. They could also be feeling guilty about something. When someone hangs their head and looks at the ground, they might be trying to avoid any possible eye contact with you. Why they are doing it, however, depends heavily on what you had been discussing beforehand. If, for example, you had just been talking about a naked baby picture of theirs that their mother had shown you, they could be embarrassed by that picture. If they had just finished telling you about the time that they were put in detention for cheating on a big math test, they might be feeling a bit ashamed by that mistake, no matter how long ago it was. If you were talking about something of yours that went missing, it could mean that they actually took it and feel guilty about having done it. The guilt version of this gesture might even occur the moment that they see you, in which case, you might want to be on alert for receiving bad news from this person.

Also, if a person puts her head down and is not making one of these specific body language cues, it could just mean that they are extremely tired. Heads are a happy part of our body as we all know and if we are extremely tired, it is hard to hold our heads up.

When a person puts her head down quickly, it could mean that they are ducking or hiding from something that they think is coming toward them. This could be something that really is coming towards them like a ball at a sporting event or something that they are imagining in their head.

Nodding of the head could also simply mean that the person is nodding yes. Often this means that the person is saying yes to you, but it could also mean that they are simply acknowledging your presence. It is often a positive sign that the person is interested in your presence.

Now, let us shift gears to what it means when a person holds her head up high rather than lowering it. If someone raises their head, it could mean that they are following something that they are interested in so that they do not have to look away from it. It could also mean that they are simply interested in what they are seeing if they tend to raise their eyebrows with their head as well.

If a person puts her head up in the air and stares upward for a long amount of time, it could mean that they are extremely bored or tired. This would mean that they are not interested in anything around them enough to look at it and that they are ready to move on to something else. If the person is not bored, it could mean that they are trying hard to focus on something that they are hearing. They may feel that the things that they are seeing are distracting them from what their ears are hearing and that they need to look straight up into nothing to be able to hear the best that they can.

In the opposite way, if a person puts their head up quickly and shortly, it could mean that they are not into you. It could mean that they are giving you the go-ahead to do something or that they are asking you what you mean because they are confused.

When a person is not tilting their head up or down but rather to the side, it could mean that they are interested in what you are saying or in what is happening around them. It also means that they are very attracted to you if they look at you in this way. This is because tilt in the head means that they are curious and want to learn more about what they see. If a person is attracted to you, they often want to get to know you better and the tilting of the head is a good sign that this is true. If a person tilts their head just a little bit, they might be self-conscious or not sure of their actions, but if they tilt their head a great deal, it means that they are extremely interested and curious of what they are looking at.

Of course, most cultures agree that nodding one’s head up and down means that they are saying yes. Typically, shaking one’s head from side to side means that they are saying no. These are easy to read signals that you have probably been able to read since you were young.

Not all body language is so easy to read, however, so this chapter should help you in your quest to understand it better. Now, we will also look into the body language that is shown by a person’s neck.

When a person is constantly touching their neck, it can often mean that they are stressed or embarrassed. It could mean that they are worried as well. If someone is rubbing their neck, it could mean that they are embarrassed, but it might also mean that they are angry or frustrated and that they are trying to calm themselves down with the gentle pressure. This is often why it is suggested to give someone a neck rub when they are feeling stressed. We know inside of us that this is a helpful tactic. Remembering this tactic when you are reading body language can be extremely helpful. Even though it is something that most people know instinctively, it is something that is good to remember and easy to forget.

Of course, it is important to remember that some gestures of touching one’s neck, such as rubbing or scratching it, could be nothing more than a reaction to pain or an itch. Just like the gentle pressure can alleviate stress, it can also alleviate tension or a knot in the neck that is causing pain, so the person could easily have a stiff neck rather than be mad at you or frustrated. That is why it is crucial to take context, such as the conversation you are having when this motion occurs, into consideration when reading body language.

Is also important to note that when a person protects their neck with either of their head or their hands as it means that they are feeling threatened. The neck is a vulnerable place as it can be injured easily and seriously, so when a person protects it, it means that they are trying to protect their life.

Let us look at what it means when body language comes from a person’s shoulders. When a person holds her shoulders high, it could mean that they are afraid or if they are excited. If a person hunches their shoulders and holds their arms close, it could mean that they are cold because this helps him to warm up.

If a person scrunches their shoulders forward in front of their body, it could mean that they are feeling defensive or that they are afraid. It could also mean that they are trying to hide from something that scares them. If they do the opposite and push their shoulders back, it shows that they are ready for the fight that they believe is about to happen. It could also mean that they are confident and believe that they are about to succeed.

When a person is moving their shoulders in a circular fashion, it could mean that their shoulders are sore or that they are trying to relax their body after being nervous. This relaxes our shoulders and the muscles within them, so if a person was holding their shoulders tight previously, this could help them to relax afterward. It could be a sign that they just went through something difficult and that they are trying to get back to their normal selves.

Take a simple gesture like shrugging. This gesture might mean that an individual does not know the answer to a question which has been posed, or it could mean that they simply do not care. Partial shrugging or shrugging just one shoulder can show insecurity or a lack of commitment on that person’s part about whatever is being discussed. It might also mean that the person is being evasive and/or deceptive regarding the conversation, and so it could be taken as a sign of lying. A person who shrugs a lot when they are not talking could also be lying. In general, it is easier for them to just remain silent rather than to try and verbally express the lies and remember every detail of it, so excessive shrugging could be their attempt to communicate without stumbling over their own lies.

When you relax your entire body, it is often seen that our shoulders are one of the first things to relax. If you relax your shoulders, it is hard to tense up any other type of body part. This means that if you see a person with very relaxed shoulders, they are probably very stress-free and relaxed themselves.

The head, neck, and shoulders can be great indicators of body language and how a person is truly feeling. The movements that these body parts do can tell you a lot about the person’s situation and now that you know the signs, you should be able to read into the signals in your real life as well.

Chapter 12: Hands, Including the Palms, Fingers, and Thumbs

Hands are something that we often do not look at or pay much attention to when we are speaking to another person. Have you ever heard, though, of how much you can tell about a person based on their handshake? This is due to the body language that hands portray. In this chapter, we will look into hands as well as that famous handshake theory. We will also look into the smaller parts of hands including the palms, fingers, and thumbs.

We have mentioned a little bit about hands throughout the book so far as we have been working towards learning body language together. We have looked into the fact that when people touch certain parts of their body with their hands, it can mean certain things. But the hands actually have much larger of a role in body language than just touching noses and ears. The hands are complex body parts with many bones, and they can do many things that relate to our emotions.

First, let us look at what it means when we hold things in certain ways. If you hold a container or cup with gentle hands, it could mean that you consider the object special or fragile. It could also mean that you were trying to give it to someone as a gift. If you hold the object extremely tightly, however, it could indicate exactly the opposite. It could mean that you want to keep the object and that you are not very careful with it. However, it could also mean that you are nervous or afraid of dropping the object.

As per Hanneke K.M. Meeren’s 2005 study, hands play a significant role in communicating meaning to other individuals [1]. For instance, the way in which a person holds an article may be an indicator of their inner feelings. This can be seen in defensive positions such as folded arms indicating self-protection. Open arms, on the other hand, might indicate a more open, welcoming attitude.

Also, you can look at the tightness of a person’s grasp or just the way that a person holds their hands to tell how stressed or upset they are. The tighter that the person holds their hands, the more upset or stressed they are. People often take out stress by squeezing which can be seen through this.

When the person is holding their hands, it can actually mean much more than what we have previously discussed. If a person is gently holding their hands together behind their back, it allows their shoulders to open up and allows their posture to be better. This helps to show that the person is confident and believes that they are able to succeed at whatever task they are about to do.

If the person is holding their hands in front of them, however, it can mean the opposite. When someone clasps their hands in front of them, a side effect is usually that their shoulders will roll forward, thus closing off the person’s chest from whomever they are speaking with. This can be a sign of a lack of confidence, especially if they also do not hold their head very high. However, it could also be a sign of submission to the other person or even a sign of shyness or other discomfort as they try to close themselves off as protection from a potential threat.

Also important to note is that people who are lying are trying to make sure that their hands are not moving. This is a way that they try to control their body language, but you might actually be able to see that they are controlling it and tell that they are lying through their efforts.

There are times when you can tell that a person is nervous because their hands are constantly moving. When they are clicking a pen or tapping on a table, this can mean that they are nervous or stressed about something that is about to happen. If you see someone who is nervous in this way, you might be able to offer your support.

Conversely, someone who is nervous might also hold their hands in an attempt to keep them from moving so frantically, much like when a person is lying. This can often lead to another gesture, i.e. the wringing of someone’s hands, that is a well-known tell of when that person is anxious.

Often times when people are happy, they also speak with their hands. If a person is moving their hands largely while they are speaking and are smiling and using bright eyes, it is probably because they are happy and excited about the topic that is being discussed.

Of course, not everyone talks with their hands because they are nervous, happy, or excited. Some people talk with their hands just because it is how they are. They might be naturally energetic and moving their hands when they talk might be part of how their body releases this energy. Maybe they regularly use sign language to communicate with someone who is deaf, and so it feels natural to them to move their hands a lot when they are talking even when they are not using sign language. It is also possible that this is just quirk of theirs, perhaps something learned from watching a parent or other adult move the same way while they were growing up. Like all body language, talking with one’s hands can mean a lot of things, so it is necessary to take context into account before jumping to any conclusions.

If someone is touching another part of their body with their hands, that can also hold certain meaning, as we already saw when we talked about someone touching their neck. Touching a specific part of the body while talking with someone can be seen as an attempt to draw attention to that body part with the reason varying based on which body part the person is touching. For example, if a woman touches the inside of her wrist repeatedly while it is visible to the other person, it could be a sign that they are flirting with that person. This interpretation of this movement is based on the fact that the inside of the wrist is a part of the body not often exposed to others and, thus, to show it is an attempt to show some vulnerability. By touching it, the woman is trying to draw attention to the fact that they are showing the other person some vulnerability, thus expressing a desire to be more intimate with that person.

Of course, sometimes touching a body part could just be a subconscious gesture stemming from some discomfort in that area. For instance, someone rubbing their eyes could mean that something, like dirt or an eyelash, is stuck in it and causing itchiness. It could also indicate that the person is tired. Someone touching or rubbing their temple might indicate that they have a headache, although it could also mean that they are irritated or exasperated with either you or the conversation the two of you are having. When sitting down, rubbing or running their hand over their knee could show that their knee hurts. However, it could also be a nervous habit that reveals that the person is uncomfortable with their current environment, company, topic of conversation, or overall situation.

The meaning behind using one’s hand to touch other body parts is as varied as people’s personalities and personal quirks. Nevertheless, there is usually some sort of meaning behind the gesture. If you are familiar enough with that person and their personal ticks, you should be able to decipher exactly what this body language means for this person and determine from there how you should proceed.

Next, let us look into the palms of the hands and how they play a role in body language. Palms seem like a small thing that could not have much meaning behind them, but that is not true.

Let us first look into what it means when a person holds their hand out with their palm facing up. As such, an upward facing palm means that the person is trying to get you to cooperate with them. According to Meeren (2005), it is said that even monkeys like chimpanzee use this gesture when they need support. The gesture helps those around you to see that you are peaceful and that you are equal to them. It shows that you need help and that you are requesting it in a calm and happy way [1].

When you face your palm toward the ground, it can mean the opposite. It can show that you want to be in control of the conversation or that you would like other people to be quiet. It can also be a way to stop people from interrupting you as you try to speak. It is often a way to tell people to stop or wait.

Next, let us look into the body language that can be read through fingers. The most common ways that fingers are used in body language is by pointing. Everyone knows what pointing means, and it often means the same thing throughout different cultures. Finger-Pointing can show someone where something is, or they can allow a person to call on someone else. However, it can also be considered rude, especially when you’re pointing directly at someone, so you have to be careful with where you point and the intensity with which you do so.

The position in which someone holds their fingers can also speak volumes as to a person’s attitude and attention level. One prominent example is a gesture called the steeple. In this gesture, the fingertips of one hand press lightly against the fingertips of the other in a way that mimics the steeple of a church, often while being held up in front of one’s chest. Sometimes, this gesture includes a motion of the palms moving back and forward, giving the appearance of a spider doing push-ups on a mirror. When this gesture is done with the fingertips pointed up, it is usually a sign of the person’s confidence. It can even convey an overconfidence, perhaps even smugness and arrogance or a feeling of being above the person that they are speaking with, as the prayer-like image attempts to project a God-like façade. This particular form of the gesture is referred to as the raised steeple.

The lowered steeple, though, carries a much different meaning. While it still indicates a level of importance, steepled fingertips pointed downward mean that the person is paying attention to whatever their conversation partner is saying. This form of the gesture makes the user look more interested and ready to respond. Even though both men and women use the lowered steeple, it is actually more common to see women doing it.

The raised steeple and the lowered steeple are perfect examples as to why you must pay attention to every detail of body language in order to execute an accurate reading. After all, you do not want to mistake someone as being smug just because they are using steepled fingertips when, in fact, their hands are in the lowered steeple position. Even the slightest change in position can change the entire meaning of someone’s body language.

Thumbs can be used in a similar way to fingers. The position of a person’s thumb is an especially good indicator as to their confidence level. In general, people carrying their thumbs high signals that they have high confidence. Someone putting their hands in their pockets with their thumbs sticking out, particularly when they are a high-status individual, displays a high confidence level as well. Similarly, a thumbs-up often means that the person is confident, that you are doing a good job, or that that person is having a positive experience. Thumbs down, on the other hand, often means that something is going bad.

Some thumb positions also indicate that someone has a low confidence level. For example, when someone sticks their thumbs in their pockets with their fingers dangling outside of them—a reverse of sticking their thumbs out of their pockets—it can mean that they are unsure of themselves or feel uncomfortable.

As you can see, gestures can say a lot more than you intend to at a conscious level. This is why it is of the utmost importance that you consider the importance of paying attention to your behavior and mannerisms. In doing so, you will be giving yourself the opportunity to communicate exactly what you wish to say while avoiding mixed signals.

Chapter 13: Arms and Touch

Touch is one of the most controversial forms of communication. For some folks, touch can be a powerful means of communicating feelings and emotion. It can signal something very deep and meaningful between two individuals. For others, it might be seen as uncomfortable and even frowned upon in their culture. Consequently, it is important to take a deeper look at how touch and the use of arms can be utilized effectively in communication.

First, let’s look into the body language that comes from arms.

If a person opens their arms wide, it can mean that they are friendly towards you. It could mean that they want to hug or that they are happy to see you. It could also mean that they are upset with you or want to start a fight. You will be able to tell the difference between these two things based on the other body language that you see taking part with arms.

Arms can also be used to make certain shapes. They can show a person details of a conversation that cannot really be explained. You can use your arms to show someone how big something is, or you can use your arms to demonstrate a specific action. Arms can also show a person details of a conversation that cannot really be fully explained by the use of words.  Arms are a powerful aspect of your body language. As such, they can drive your point home or sink your message.

Yet, properly managing your arms is one of the most important skills you can learn in non-verbal communication as it displays sincerity. In general, people tend to trust others who use their hands when speaking since it shows that they are truly engaged in what they are saying.

On the contrary, folks who do not use their hands when speaking seem robotic and insincere. While this may just be the effect of nerves, it does not give off a vibe of sincerity. As such, these folks may simply come off as being insincere or uninterested in what they have to say.

Furthermore, arms can also be used for waving, as a means of saying hello, or they can be used to wave as a signal of danger. If you raise one arm up into the air, it might mean you have a question. If you raise both your arms up into the air fast, it could mean that you are frustrated or that you are confused.

Arms may even be used in a threatening manner. You can use them to attack a person, or they can be used in imaginary fights to show what you are capable of doing. They can also defend you if someone tries to fight you. They can block a person from hitting or hurting you.

If you cross your arms in front of your body; it often means that you were uncomfortable or scared. This is almost similar to forming a shield in front of your body to protect yourself.

If you reach your arms forward, it could either mean that you want to be close to the person near you or that you are trying to attack the person near you. This difference can be told by how fast the movement is and by other body language features that accompany it.

Now, if you should happen to hide your arms behind your body, it could mean that you are comfortable and that you trust a person near you. This shows that you do not need your arms to protect you and shows that you are happy in the situation that you were in. However, it might also be misconstrued as an indication that you have something to hide, hence, you have put your hands behind you back. This is why it is always important to have your hands out in front of you at all times.

I would also like to make one additional point on arms. Over time, open hands, palms facing upwards and other “open” gestures with your hands and arms indicate friendliness. One such example of this is the military salute.

Virtually all militaries throughout the world have some type of salute in which they face they allies with an open hand in front of them. The salute can be similar to the one used by the United States armed forces in which a soldier’s palms are facing down, or it could be like the British salute with the open palm facing forward.

Whatever the variation of the salute, it is a clear example of how this gesture is taken to mean friendliness. In the Middle Ages, friendly knights would pass each, and in order to indicate they were allies, they would take their right hand off their swords and use their open hand to lift up the visor of their helmets. This allowed friendly knights to both make direct eye contact and show that they meant no harm.

To this day, any type of open-palmed gestured is taken to indicate friendliness and non-aggression. So, it certainly pays for you to pay attention to this when you interact with folks. Whenever you see hands opening up, you can infer they are friendly and comfortable around you. Any time you see a fist coming up, then you can take that to mean a sign of aggression or defensiveness.

When considering touch, it is important to keep in mind that all types of touch need to make sense at the time they happen. For example, a hug given when a person is upset and needs comforting makes sense. Otherwise, unwarranted touching can lead to a person feeling uncomfortable. This may lead to rejection and potential accusations of impropriety.

Also, it is important to keep in mind that the “arm’s length” rule is the safest way to go. In addition, it is worth noting that friendly touch such as a tap on the shoulder or light touch on the elbow can help create a friendlier interaction. However, this is dependent on the level of familiarity among the parties. So, it is best to limit physical touch to handshakes with people whom you are not familiar and escalate touch as interaction permits. It is simply best to avoid touch when you are unsure of whether it would be deemed appropriate or not.

Chapter 14: Chest, Torso, and Belly

The chest, torso, and belly make up the midsection of our body. This part of our body is hard to move on its own so it seems like it would not add much to our overall body language. However, this part of our body actually does have a lot to see. In this chapter we will look into these things in detail.

If a person pushes their chest outward, it is often a sign that they are attracted to you. Women do this to show their breasts, and men do this to show how strong they are. If it is not a sign of attraction, it could be a sign that someone is showing dominance over you or is simply feeling confident in themselves and in their abilities. Of course, in trying to show their dominance over you, the person might also be issuing a challenge or a threat, but that can only be determined with the help of other body language signals and context.

When a person does the opposite and pulls their chest inward, it means that they are feeling afraid or vulnerable. People might do this if someone tries to attack them or if they simply feel threatened by a certain situation. This adds into what we talked about earlier with curling forward your shoulders. People often do these two body language things at a time.

The chest also plays a big role in leaning forward. People often lean towards other people when they feel attracted to them, when they are interested in what they are saying, or when they want to be close to them. They might also, however, lean toward someone when they feel power over that person or when they want to show dominance over that person. You will be able to tell the difference between these two things by the other body language that the person is portraying.

We mentioned breathing earlier, but the chest can exaggerate the body language associated with the act of breathing. When a person breathes in in a certain way, it is seen through their chest, so looking at the chest is a good way to tell if a person is breathing in a specific way.

Next, let’s look into how the torso plays a role in body language.

Form of body language with the torso happens when a person touches their stomach. A person may touch their stomach if they’re not feeling well after eating too much food. They could also touch their stomach if they are feeling stressed or worried.

The person is pulling in their stomach and it may mean that they want to look attractive and they feel overweight. If a person is pushing their stomach out it could mean that they feel comfortable or that they feel vulnerable and want some space. You will again be able to tell the difference between these two things by the other body language that the person is showing.

The chest, torso, and belly might not be able to move much on their own, but they do play a large role in body language. After reading this information, you should be able to tell what a person is trying to say through the movements that the middle section of their body makes.

Chapter 15: The Position of the Body and Its Role in Body Language

In this chapter, we will be taking a look at the role the entire body plays, through movement, in transmitting knowledge. While we have discussed individual body parts, such as arms, it is also important to see how the entire body can be used to convey meaning to others.

First, let’s look into what our legs have to say. A person uses their legs in many ways throughout the day. When they’re standing, their legs might say certain things about how they are feeling. If a person stands with their feet apart, it means they feel comfortable in the situation that they are in and they feel confident in their abilities. If their legs are spread wider than shoulder width apart, it means that they are trying to find a powerful position in the group. If their legs are close together, it could mean the opposite. It could mean that they’re worried that they are in a dangerous situation. If a person is standing with their legs open, it makes the genitals more visible, and it could be a sign that the person is attracted to you. If they stand with their feet not next to each other but instead with one in front of the other, this could mean that they are feeling unsafe and are preparing for an attack. It could also mean that they have a plan to go somewhere and they want you to follow.

Next, we will look into the body language of the buttocks. If a person pushes out their bottom, it could mean that they find you attractive. In other situations, it could be an insult. You will be able to tell the difference between these two things based on the other body language that the person is portraying.

A person is moving their bottom; it means that they are trying to draw attention toward it. This is often meant to bring people in, and it’s not an insult in most cases. This is often done in dances to attract people of the opposite gender.

The previous example illustrates how dance is a means of non-verbal communication meant to transmit a specific message. In fact, many cultures throughout the world is dance as a mating ritual. Certain types of dance are used to signal availability. Such dances can range from upbeat rhythms such as those seen in some African tribes to swanky balls thrown by courtiers. In either case, dances are often used to communicate at a primal and instinctive level.

Another important aspect to consider is stance, be it when sitting or standing. For instance, if you sit with your hands on your knees and your back straight with your feet flat on the floor, it means that you were paying attention and are interested in what the person has to say. However, if you slouch over and look like you’re about to get up, you do not look interested in you look like you want to leave the conversation.

If you sit with your back storage down so far that your elbows are able to touch your knees and your hands are able to bend up and hold your head up, it means that you do not want to talk to anyone. It means that you may be stressed or upset, and you want to be left alone.

If you sit with your back turned to the point that you can put your elbows on your knees and your hands are simply laying limp in front of you, it means that you may not have the confidence in you that will allow you to do what you were trying to do. if you sit with your back bent to the point that you can put your elbows on your knees and your hands are simply laying limp in front of you, it means that you may not have the confidence in you that will allow you to do what you were trying to do. It means that you feel like you are not able to succeed, and you are accepting fate.

Next, let’s look into some standing stances. You stand with your arms behind your back, but with one arm grasping your other arm, it means that you are angry. This could be a primitive reflex to stop yourself from hurting or punching another person. If you stand with your arms crossed in front of your chest, that means that you are maybe feeling threatened or you are simply uncomfortable in the situation that you are in. If you slouch your body with your arms hanging and you’re back far from straight up, it means that you were tired, or you are upset with your poor performance that day. If you stand with your arms by your side and your hands clenched in first second me that you were very stressed out or anxious about something that is about to happen. If you stand with your hands relaxed and together in front of your body, it can mean that you are in control of your body and that you are comfortable in the current situation.

Stand with your arms bent at an angle and your fist sitting on your hips; it means you are ready for what is about to happen. It could mean that you are confident in your abilities or that you are simply ready to try. If you stand with your arms at your side but your hands and fingers loosely laying on your legs, it means that you are friendly and ready to go. It means that you are not stressed and that you are open to what is about to happen. It also means that you may be a friendly face for people to come up and talk to. The stance is inviting and comforting to the people around you.

There are many different ways to stand or sit with your buddies, but these are some good places to start. Do your stances tell you how your body is portrayed to others as well as help you understand how others are feeling based on the way that their body is held. If you understand these dancers, you will be able to read people simply by the way they are standing or sitting.

Chapter 16: Mirroring, Micro-Expressions, and Height

First, we will discuss the concept of mirroring. Mirroring in body language is something that people do to bond and to get to know one another. It helps people to understand and relate to each other. Basically, when you were talking to someone, you instinctually, and not purposefully, mimic their actions. An example of this is when you see someone yawn and you yawn too. Everyone knows that yawns are contagious, and this is the reason why. Of course, yawns are not something that people can pass to one another like the common cold. We copy each other when we yawn because of this thing called mirroring. Smiling is also a common way to mirror people.

Beatrice de Gelder, in her 2003 article published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, “Towards the Neurobiology of Emotional Body Language”, indicated how a single area of the brain is responsible for both the production and recognition of facial expressions. As such, this is what causes people to instinctively mimic the facial expressions of those around them.

This is an important skill to know about when you were getting into body language because you need to know if a person is actually feeling the emotions that they are showing or if they are simply mirroring the people around them. Typically, you will be able to tell because the person that first shows the expression will be the one who truly feels it. The people around them copy that expression but it might not be the real emotion.

Mirroring is a scientific theory that also helps us on a common level. It allows us to connect to the people around us and feel like we are equal to them. It is a type of body language that we do not control and typically cannot control. If you have ever tried to not when someone around you has been yawning, you know what we mean. It is almost like an automatic response that we cannot control. This is hard when you’re trying to hide emotions, but it is very useful for when you are reading other people’s body language because you know that they are usually not able to hide this kind of emotion.

Another interesting fact is that mirroring can actually cause you to feel the way you are acting even if you do not feel it to begin with. For example, if you are around people who are constantly smiling and therefore you are constantly smiling, you will probably feel happier because of it. If you’re around people who are constantly yawning, you may feel more tired even if you have been getting a great night’s sleep every night.

Microexpressions are also part of the non-verbal communication package related to facial expressions and body language. In short, microexpressions are an involuntary response that often conflicts with a voluntary one. For example, an individual on a date will try their best to smile in order to seem friendly and agreeable. This is an example of a voluntary reaction during the date. However, there might be an involuntary response due to the individual’s nervousness. One such example might be poor posture and even sitting with crossed arms. Consequently, the smile signals friendly and open, but the arms and the legs signal something completely different.

Ultimately, it is important for you to pay attention to the more subtle clues that come with non-verbal communication. While your interlocutor might be overtly trying to seem nice, they might really be feeling something completely different. Hence, it is worthwhile for you to also pay attention to the way you come off with the folks around you.

Next, I am going to talk about how height affects body language. Often times, tall people are looked at as being more powerful. Sometimes shorter people are even thought to be considered a joke in certain situations. People who are tall have a heightened body language that is more noticeable by the people around them and oftentimes more powerful. This does not mean that shorter people are unable to use their body language to their benefit. It simply means that they will need to work harder for it.

However, posture is the name of the game when it comes to height. After all, what good is being tall if you have terrible posture? Rather than having an imposing presence, you may very well end appearing to be weak and submissive. In contrast, a shorter person can have great posture, square shoulders and a level head. This would quickly signal to other that this is a confident and relaxed person. In the end, this individual would transmit far more confidence than a taller individual.

At the end of the day, understanding the subtle clues that come from involuntary responses such as microexpressions will give you the advantage you need to instantly read people despite their overt attempts to convince you of the way they want you to think they feel.

Chapter 17: Body Language and Lying

It can be difficult to tell if someone is telling the truth or if they are lying. Luckily, there are ways to help you figure out the answer to this question. Body language is a great tool in figuring out if someone is telling the truth or lying. It is often even used by professionals and people in the jails and court systems to tell if criminals are innocent or guilty. In this chapter, we will tell you how to look at a person while they are speaking to tell if they’re lying or telling the truth.

First, we will look into what it means if someone pulls on their ear. Typically, when people are lying, they may rub or pull their ears. This is done to make sure that they are getting blood flow to their ears and to control their body temperature. Blood flow and body temperature are both affected by the nervous system when someone is anxious which is why people do this behavior when they’re lying.

People also may scratch their neck or pull out the collar of their clothes when they’re lying. This action helps the person to take some of their anxious energy and use it in a different way. If you see someone doing this while they’re talking to you, there’s a good chance that they are lying. They may be just itchy, but if they have no reason to be itchy or if they continue to do it excessively, they could be lying. This action helps the person to take some of their anxious energy and use it in a different way. If you see someone doing this while they are talking to you, there’s a good chance that they are lying.

If the person reaches toward their eyes, or rubs their eyes repeatedly while speaking to you, it could be a subconscious sign that they are covering their eyes so as to not look at you. They may do this because they feel embarrassed that they are not telling the truth. We often times cover our eyes when we are embarrassed, so it makes sense that people would do the same when they’re lying.

If the person talking to you hold their hand to their mouth or covers up their mouth while they are talking to you, it could also be a sign that they are lying. This is a primal instinct that people have since being young children. It comes from the primal instinct to cover up your mouth when you are saying something that you know you should not say. In this case, however, you do it subconsciously instead of on purpose. You may never even notice that you are doing it.

Even touching your nose can be a sign of lying. This is because touching the nose can be a form of comfort for many people; they may itch their nose or just briefly touch it. Either way, it could be a sign of lying if there is no reason for the person to actually be itchy.

Another way to tell if a person is lying is by looking at their body posture. Typically, if a person is lying, they will use what is called a closed body posture. This is made up of the person pulling their chin inward and their arms being held close to their body. And also include crossing of the legs and turn in the body away from the thing that they are nervous about. These are all supposed to make the body seem less intimidating which makes the person believe that their lie may be more believable.

The way that a person moves their eyes can also show that they are lying. If a person is not making much eye contact, it could be a direct signal that they are lying. On the other hand, excessive eye contact could mean that the person is trying really hard to look like they are telling the truth. That way, if eye contact does not seem typical, it could mean that the person is lying when they talk to you. Eyes that move back and forth quickly and look at many things around the room could also mean that a person is very nervous and lying. If a person knows what they’re doing and tries to avoid this behavior, they could actually stare at one thing for too long. Once again, if a person is using eyes that do not seem normal, it could mean that they’re avoiding telling the truth.

In addition, when people are telling the truth, they generally look in one direction. Then, when they are lying, they will look in the opposite direction. This behavior has to do with the dominant brain hemisphere that individuals have. So, if a person is right-handed, they will look to the left when telling the truth. If they are left-handed, they will look to the right. While this is not a technique is not infallible, it is a great tip-off that someone is hiding something.

Other signs of body language that a person is lying could be signs that also show when a person is nervous. If a person is standing up and acting very fidgety, it could mean that they’re lying. They may also look sweaty and breathe shallowly. Whether or not the signs are showing if a person is acting strange when they’re talking to you it is important to understand that they may not be telling the truth. After reading the information in this chapter, you should be able to tell when the people around you are lying. You have been given many tools, and if you use them together, you will find the truth.

Thus, it is important to keep an eye on the subtleties of movement in your interlocutor. If you pay close attention, they might be letting on a lot more than you think. Consequently, you may find a lot more contextual clues to a person’s behavior than you might have originally thought.

Chapter 18: Signals — Emotional, Attractional, Relational, and Power

Now that we have looked into the many types of body language, we will look into certain signals that body language can portray. First, we will look into emotional signals. The first emotional signal that you should look for is crying. Crying is a very obvious signal as you will see it right when someone starts to do it. It often begins by a person’s face looking sad or by their eyes filling with tears.

In general, crying is taken to mean a sincere display of emotion of either happiness or sadness. For instance, “tears of joy” are very real especially during extremely emotional circumstances. However, care needs to be taken when tears are used to manipulate others. This is especially true with children. It is common to see children use “crocodile tears” in an attempt to get their way. So, it certainly pays to keep your eyes open in order to determine the context under which a person is shedding tears.

Next, we will look into emotional signals that show that someone is mad. If a person is angry, their eyebrows often lower and sometimes even form a V. The person’s eyes may become wide open and their mouth may open as well. They may stand in a way that shows their dominance or they may cross their arms in front of their body.

People also exhibit emotional signs when they are feeling stressed or anxious. They often move their body and their hands quickly in little motions called fidgets. It can cause people to shake or tap their feet. It can also affect how a person’s face looks.

If a person is embarrassed, they will exhibit certain signs as well. Often times their face will turn bright red and they might look at the ground. They might avoid eye contact. They may even laugh to break the tension.

People also may exhibit signals of pride. Signs could vary from a small smirk to throwing their head backward to holding their hands on their hips in a defiant pose.

Next, we will discuss the signs that show you that someone is attracted to you. If a person is attracted to you, they may give you more eye contact than the typical person would.

They may also stand closer to you than people do in a normal conversation. People may put their hands on their hips and push their chest out to look either more feminine as a woman or stronger as a man. They may give you flirtatious winks or touch you gently. They may laugh more at your jokes and smile at what you say.

Relational body language changes based on who you are around and who you were talking to. If you are talking to a spouse or a significant other, you might display signs of attraction or extreme closeness. If you are talking to a family member, your body language might be similar but would hopefully not include the relationship romantic details. If you were talking to a coworker, you might joke around but still have a professional demeanor to yourself. If you were talking to a boss, you would want to show that you are capable and confident in what you were doing. If you were talking to a potential client, you would want to show that you are worthy of their business. If you are talking to a stranger, you would want to come across as friendly. If you are talking to an enemy, you would want them to know that you are not interested in spending time with them. As you can see, relational body language is ever-evolving and depends on whom you are around. It can include all different types of body language depending on what situation you are in.

Lastly, we will delve into at power signals in body language.

It’s a type of body language called power body language and it is considered the type of movements that make people listen when you speak. They show that you are confident and successful in what you are doing. It shows that you are reliable, and that people can trust you in your field of expertise.

Naturally confident people tend to make good leaders. Often, positive leaders exhibit their leadership traits through powerful body language. The good part of such leadership traits is that they can be learned and assimilated through constant practice and self-awareness.

A great example of how leadership traits can be learned is seen with politicians. When politicians are running for office, especially high-ranking positions within government, they are generally coached by image and body language experts. These experts focus on a candidate’s non-verbal communication just as much as their actual words.

Aside from the obvious traits such as smiling and visual contact, candidates use powerful gestures such as raising their arms in the air, fist pumping and even placing their hands on their hips when they are attempting to be tough. Other powerful gestures including waving a finger when looking to make a point on an issue or even pounding the stand during a debate.

On the surface, these actions may seem like genuine emotion that comes from personal feelings on a subject. However, they are the result of careful coaching. It should be noted that legendary world leaders are the ones who naturally communicate these feelings. They don’t need coaching since they are already in-tune with these types of gestures. Consequently, they come off as honest and heartfelt. These are the types of leaders who win elections and stay in power for a long time.

Of course, chances are you are not thinking about running for public, at least not yet. Nevertheless, you can apply these techniques when you need to deliver a speech, make a pitch or try to convince others. You can take the pointers illustrated herein and rehearse them. You can plan what gestures and facial features you want to use at specific points in your speech. In doing so, you will provide your audience with reinforcement they need to see your point. Best of all, you will be able to align your verbal message with all the right non-verbal clues.

Chapter 19: What Body Language Can Add To Your Life

We know that body language can be extremely beneficial to your life. It can allow you to be portrayed in the way that you want others to see you when you are aware of your own body movements. It can also tell you how the people around you are feeling.

One of the first things that the ability to read body language can add to your life is the ability to help others. If you are noticing that a person is consistently sad or depressed, their body language may be able to show you more about this and allow you to reach out to the person. If the person was too depressed to ask for help, you may just save their lives simply because you were able to read their emotional cues. Things to look out for in a situation like this would be consistent crying, a lack of eye contact, and a body posture that suggests a lack of self-esteem. The person may even move slower than usual or participate in conversation less than normal. Maybe they are slouching when it’s not characteristic of them to do so, or they are holding their head lower than normal. They might sit to the edge of a group and act as if they want to be alone. If you are able to notice these actions and have the opportunity to reach out to them from a place of support because of it, you could help them significantly in their personal struggles when they otherwise might have never received help at all.

Depression is not the only mental illness that you can possibly notice though someone’s body language. Many forms of anxiety can also manifest in this way, especially social anxiety, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and panic attacks. For example, if you notice someone who is normally fairly calm wringing their hands, tapping their foot incessantly, or otherwise moving constantly, it could be a sign that they are anxious in whatever environment you two are currently in or in whatever interaction(s) they are having. Maybe you notice a friend standing very stiffly, their arms close to their body with their chest heaving. This body language could be showing that they are trying to make themselves as small as possible and are hyperventilating, tell-tale signs of someone having a panic attack. Just like you can reach out to someone whose body language indicates depression, you can reach out to someone whose body language indicates anxiety and help them through the attack when they normally would have suffered alone.

Another thing that body language can give you is the ability to interact with others in a way that makes them drawn to you. To do this, look at the tips we went over in the last chapter on how to use your own body language in quests to create new friendships or find new romantic partners or significant others.

Body language can also protect you, as I mentioned earlier. It can show you that someone is about to engage you in a fight. It can show you that someone is not happy with what you are saying. If you see someone getting angry while you are talking, lowering their chin and eyebrows, and breathing in a deeper way than usual, you may want to change the subject to keep them happy.

Body language can even help us in our careers. Having the body language of a leader can help people around you to follow you and listen to what you say. Having confident body language shows that you are a successful person and could help you get the job you have always dreamed of. To do this, stand tall, make eye contact, and smile often. Hold your head high and people will see you in the way that you would like them to.

You might even be able to use body language to tell someone that you do not like something if you are not comfortable saying it out loud. If someone says something that offends you and you do not want to speak up, though you certainly can, you could give them less eye contact and look toward the ground. You could cross your arms across your chest and lower your head. You could also stop smiling altogether. These signs would help you to get your point across.

You can even use body language for something as simple as getting your coworkers to participate in a task with you. If you put away your distractions, make eye contact, and use body language that shows you are engaged, the people around you will likely follow and be engaged in the activity as well.

If you would like to get to know someone on a professional level, you can start the conversation with a strong handshake. This can show the person that you respect them, which causes them to respect you as well.

If you would like to spread joy and make the people around you happy, you can try smiling. If you smile, people are likely to mirror you and smile back. This will lead to their bodies feeling actual joy as well. It is a great way to brighten someone else’s day as well as your own.

Body language can even improve the way that you talk and make people around you listen better. To achieve this, just simply talk with your hands. This attracts the interest of the people around you and makes you seem like you are an overall better speaker.

Overall, it is clear that being able to read body language can benefit your life in many ways. Use the tips in this chapter to benefit your life overall.

Chapter 20: How To Use Body Language To Your Own Benefit

Now that we have covered all of the little details and learned a large amount about how to read body language, it’s time to learn how to use this skill for your own benefit. After all, this is probably the reason why you bought this book and why you have been reading along this entire time.

First, let’s look into how you can use body language to make friends. If you are attending social events often and hoping to make friends but it's just not really happening, knowing the body language that you are portraying as well as being able to read the body language of the people around you can be extremely helpful.

The first thing that you will need to do is make yourself look friendly and open to conversation. You will want to smile and make eye contact with the people around you. You will also want to make sure that you are standing with your body in an open stance with your feet at shoulder width apart.

Next, you’ll need to look at the body language of the people around you. If someone is standing in a closed-off fashion or sitting with their head in their hands, they are probably not good options when looking for a person open to a new friendship. You will want to find someone with body language similar to what you are using yourself.

An extra tip to use once you start a conversation with a friendly person is to use your new skills in mirroring. If you smile when they smile and take on the body language that they present, you may be able to form a quick connection with that person. This may lead you to making a new friend in a way that was much simpler than you could have ever imagined.

Next, let’s look at how you can use body language to find a new romantic partner. Finding someone to date is similar to making a new friend. You will want to make sure to use the same body language tools to allow yourself to appear open and inviting. In addition to the body language that we have gone over for friendship, you will want to add in some romantic features as well. You may want to stand with your chest pressed outward to show the people you are talking to that you are attractive. You may even want to gently touch the person when they are talking to show that you are interested in them. It also helps to laugh at their jokes as this shows interest as well.

You may someday need to use body language to succeed in the workplace. To do this, a good tool to use is Power Stances. You will want to look confident and trustworthy. Use the power body language to show that you are a capable leader who deserves to advance in their field.

We have looked at a few ways to use your own body language to benefit your life, but let’s also look into how being able to read the body language of the people around you can help you in many ways as well.

First of all, if you can read body language you can often tell when a person is lying to you. If you suspect that the person you are conversing with is not telling the truth, you should watch to see what types of subtle movements their body is doing. Are they reaching up to touch their nose? Are they covering their mouth when they speak? Do they seem to be nervously fidgeting and tapping their toes? These could all be signs that the person is lying to you. They may also be lying if they are avoiding eye contact or making eye contact for too long in an attempt to cover up the falsehood of the facts they are stating.

You could also use body language—both reading it and manipulating your own—to save yourself from an uncomfortable position. Perhaps you are out at a bar with a friend and start talking with a stranger that approached you while you were both ordering drinks. You notice that this person is starting to lean closer to you, open up their body by uncrossing their arms, their leg is touching yours, and their eyes even seem to dilate without any notable change in the lighting around you. From what you have learned in this book about body language, you suspect that they are interested in you beyond friendship. If you do not reciprocate these feelings, you can adjust your own body language to let them know without hurting their feelings. Lean away from them, cross your arms over your chest, avoid both touch contact and eye contact with them, etc. They should get the hint and hopefully move along. If they do not, you can also try manipulating your relational body language when around your friend to make it seem as though you are more than friends. If the other person sees you engaging in body language that implies a romantic relationship, they will probably back off. This advantage of reading and employing body language is particularly handy for women.

Furthermore, you might someday need to use body language as a defense in a dangerous situation. If someone is extremely upset with you, you can read their body language to be able to tell if they intend on hitting you or hurting you in any other way. Are they holding their arm behind their back with their other hand? This could mean that they are restraining themselves from punching you. Are they puffing out their chest? This might mean they are trying to intimidate you with their strength. With this knowledge, you will be able to decode body language in difficult situations so that you can protect yourself from violent occurrences or at least be ready when they are about to happen.

You might also be able to use body language to save someone else from an uncomfortable or even dangerous situation. It can be hard to believe until you are actually put into this position, but those of us who have been there know how hard it is to speak up or just walk away when stuck in an awkward or hazardous scenario—due to social conventions with the former and often threat of bodily harm with the latter. If a bystander can read body language, it could be a lifesaver for someone in such cases. I know this from personal experience.

When I was in my last year of college, I once went out with some friends to a very popular club near our university, just trying to have a good time and relax after our winter finals. It was Saturday night, so it was very busy, and we all dispersed to our own activities—dancing, drinking, chatting, flirting and subsequently striking out. After a few hours, we all agreed to meet up at the bar. When we got there, I noticed one of our female friends wasn’t there. We took a quick look around and noticed her over by the wall with this guy who seemed to be hitting on her. She was smiling and laughing, so everyone assumed that everything was fine.

Still, something didn’t seem right to me. I noticed that my friend kept crossing her arms over her chest and would stiffen every time this guy moved toward her. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and her eyes seemed to be looking anywhere but at the guy talking to her. Based on her body language, she was obviously uncomfortable, and I decided to go check on her. The man left almost as soon as I came up to them and tried to introduce myself. My friend couldn’t have been more relieved. She told me that the man had been following her around all night, grinding up on her, hitting on her, and in general just not leaving her alone. Not only that, but he had already hinted at her that he had a concealed carry, which made her scared to push him by rejecting him. Thanks to my ability to read her body language and catch on to her discomfort, my friend was saved from a potentially deadly situation.

At the end of the day, your ability to understand your own mannerisms and behaviors will enable you to communicate effectively and provide your interlocutors with the right message. After all, all languages, including body language, are intended to communicate meaning among people.

Chapter 21: Body Language Differences in Other Cultures

If you are speaking with people who are of a culture that is different than your own, you need to be aware of body language signals that might mean different things to them. Many types of body language are the same throughout cultures, but others have major differences.

For example, handshakes and their properties can be different in different areas of the world. In the Western cultures, a firm handshake is a good sign. In some countries in Eastern Europe, however, a firm handshake can be considered rude or aggressive. In these cultures, you should bow to the person you are greeting instead of shaking their hand.

Hand gestures can also mean different things in different parts of the world. For example, most cultures agree that a “thumbs up” signal means “good” or “good job.” In Greece and other Middle Eastern countries, however, it is actually a very offensive sign that should never be used. In fact, there are many hand gestures that seem innocent enough in American culture that can be incredibly offensive in other cultures. Raising your pinky at someone is considered extremely rude in Japan. The same goes for crossing your fingers in Vietnam or giving the “OK” sign in Brazil. Even other English-speaking cultures can have different offensive gestures than Americans, such as how biting one’s thumb at someone in the United Kingdom is equivalent to giving them the middle finger. Just changing the gesture a little can change the meaning as well. In some Commonwealth countries—the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa—a reverse “peace” sign, in which the back of your hand faces outward, much like biting your thumb in the United Kingdom, can be the same as flipping somebody off. It’s important to learn these if you don’t want to offend anyone.

In some countries, the “come here” gesture with your index figure is perfectly normal while in some Asian or Middle Eastern countries it can be taken as a completely offensive gesture. That is why it is important to take this into account especially when traveling around the world.

Eye contact has many different meanings around the world as well. In the United States, it is a positive sign that is kind and means you are interested in conversing with the person near you. It does not have such great meaning in other cultures and countries. In the Middle East, for example, eye contact is only really allowed between people of the same gender. People of opposite genders should not make eye contact unless they are family or married to one another. Other cultures in parts of Asia and Africa think that eye contact can actually be threatening. In other parts of the world yet, people do not give eye contact to people who are at different social or economic levels than them. For example, a little boy would not look an older man in the eyes out of a sign of respect for him.

Shaking the head from one side to the other typically means no, but in certain cultures, such as in Eastern Europe, it can also mean that you understand what the other person is saying. So, shaking your head can be understood in different forms thus necessitating you to be clear on who your interlocutors are.

Touch is a form of body language that varies strongly among different cultures around the world. For example, countries that are in northern Europe and on the east side of the world are cultures that often do not allow much physical contact between people. Sometimes people will shake hands, but otherwise, they do not touch each other. Even touching someone on accident can be a bad sign.

Other cultures involve touch in many areas. In countries like Spain, people commonly kiss each other on the cheek to greet one another even if they do not know each other well. It is a way for people to socialize with one another and get to know one another. It’s worth mentioning that proxemics does vary from country to country. So, some European and Asian cultures have very close proxemics while other cultures tend to value personal space a lot more. If your particular culture values personal space, then you might want to keep an eye out for those cultures that have closer proxemics.

There are countries yet have specific rules when it comes to physical touch. In countries like Thailand, it is not allowed to touch a person’s head. This can seem strange to people who are not in the culture, but it is a rule that needs to be respected by all.

Another way that body language barriers between cultures is their sitting postures. For example, if you sit with your legs crossed in Japan, you could be seen as being someone who does not respect the people you are around. If you sit with the soles of your shoes showing in the Middle East, you could also seem rude.

It is easy to see that body language varies greatly from different cultures around the world. If you are visiting another culture, it is important to learn what the body language expectations are in the area that you are going. For example, you would not want to do something that would disrespect the people you are around. You can use the information in this book or four more detailed explanations; you can search the country that you are going to followed by body language expectations in Google to find what you need to know.

Respecting another culture’s body language norms is something that everyone should do. Even if you are not traveling to a new place and you happen to come across a person who is from another culture in your country, you should do your best to respect them. If you do not know much about their culture and what their expectations are when you meet them, you could work on mirroring. If you mirror the body language that the other person uses, you will likely be in line with what they are used to. As such, this is an important topic and something that everyone should be aware of. However, remember that when you mirror someone, you must be careful to not make it too obvious that you are purposefully mirroring the other person. If you are, some people might interpret this as social awkwardness on your part while others might think that you are making fun of them and be offended.

When you are learning to read the body language of the people around you, remember to always consider the culture that the person is from. It will help you to understand and to interact with them at a much deeper level.

Chapter 22: Reading the Body Language of A Child

We have already learned that body language can mean different things to people of different cultures, but did you know that reading the body language that is portrayed by children can also be a different experience? In this chapter, we will look into why a child’s body language is different, how to read the body language of a child, and why this is an important thing for parents and guardians to know how to do.

First of all, we should talk about why it is different to read the body language of a child. The first reason is that they are young and have not yet learned to control their emotions. If a child is sad, they cry. If a child is happy, they smile. If they are angry, they yell and make mad faces, and if they are embarrassed, their cheeks turn red and they hide their face. Some children might even decide to tell you about the emotions that they are feeling. Children are new to the world and have no reason to hide the things that they are going through.

Because of this, children have body language that is extremely easy to read. They do not know how to control their emotions, so they always show how they feel. If you read the emotions of a child, you are reading what they truly feel.

Another important thing to note about reading the body language of children is that since they do not yet know how to hide their emotions, they also are unaware of the body language signs that they portray. They are not capable of sending the opposite signal of how they are feeling like adults are.

Their lack of awareness of their own body language can also make it easy to spot when a child is lying. A child might try to hide the truth through their words, but they do not have the wherewithal to think to conceal it in their body language as well, often allowing tells to slip through that they are not telling the truth or are omitting part of the truth.

For example, my sister has a five-year-old daughter who likes to sneak chocolate chip cookies before dinner. My sister always checks the Chips Ahoy package right before she starts making dinner, so she knows when a cookie is missing. She will still ask her daughter in the hopes that her daughter will confess on her own. Most of the time, my niece will try to lie about it (my personal favorite being when she claimed her father ate the cookie). However, no matter how convincing she might think she sounds, she has one big tell that she is lying: a huge smile plastered on her face. Because she thinks she is getting away with something so mischievous, this smile appears on her face as she is so proud of her deceit. When it is clear that she will not get away with it, this smile is usually replaced by another tell, i.e. her hanging her head while looking at the floor because she is ashamed at having been caught.

Everyone has their physical tell that gives them away when they are lying, and fortunately for parents, guardians, and teachers, children are unable to hide their tells until they are older and have more experience both with lying and with reading their own body language.

Now that we know how simple it is to read the body language of a child, let’s look into how important it is to pay attention to the signals a child is conveying. Whether you are around children a lot or not, you need to be able to read a child’s body language so that you can do your part in ensuring that our children are healthy and safe. Like reading an adult’s body language can help us determine if they are in a dangerous situation, so can we also use a child’s body language to determine if they are in any danger. The unfortunate truth is that we live in a world in which people will abuse, kidnap, and otherwise harm children. We want to be able to help children out of such situations, but it can often be hard to tell when something suspicious is actually going on.

Being able to read a child’s body language can help us to determine if there is more to the situation than meets the eye. Because young children do not know how to control their body language, any discomfort they feel around a specific adult will manifest in such ways as how they hold themselves around this person. For instance, if a child exhibits such body language as standing stiffly, hunching their shoulders forward to make themselves smaller, or avoiding eye contact with everyone, including the adult they are with, it could mean that they are afraid of something. If they flinch whenever the adult that they are with reaches over to touch them, it could very well mean that this fear stems from someone hurting them on a regular basis, most likely this adult. Also, if they refuse to initiate physical contact with this adult while still never wandering any significant distance from them, it could mean that they are afraid to have any intimacy with this adult and of doing anything to anger them.

Mind you, none of this is a reason to call the police or Child Protective Services on someone. After all, there are multiple interpretations to any given body language. Standing stiffly, hunching their shoulders forward, or avoiding eye contact, for example, could just mean that the child is not comfortable in that particular environment or with strangers. Flinching and avoiding initiating physical contact with the adult could indicate, rather than fear, that the child has a problem with physical touch overall or that they are mad with that adult for some reason. Not wandering far from the adult even though it is natural for a child to want to explore could simply show that the child is well behaved or not particularly comfortable with checking out their surroundings on their own.

Like with all body language reading, what a child’s body language means often depends on the context. If you know the child and/or adult personally, it can be easier to determine what the child’s body language means. If they are complete strangers, it will be trickier. Nevertheless, spotting such body language in a child will help you to be on alert so that if suspicion arises that the child is being abused or has been kidnapped, you will be ready to take action.

Reading a child’s body language will also help you to be there for them emotionally. If you have a child or take care of a child for large amounts of time, they will consider you their support system. They need you to help them learn about their lives and the world around them. This includes learning how to handle their emotions.

Sometimes, a child might have an emotion that they do not yet know how to explain. They may express this feeling through body language but still feel frustrated when they are unable to put their experience into words.

As an adult who knows how to read body language, you can help in this situation. You can read the nonverbal cues that the child is portraying and use them to help the child express his or her feelings verbally. This will help the child to learn about their feelings and more about who they are as a person. It will also help the child to grow up knowing that feelings are healthy and that it is okay to share your struggles with the people who are close to you. If you can help your child in this way and teach these things to your child at a young age, they will have significantly fewer emotional struggles over the course of their life. This understanding is important to any adult who deals with children such as doctors, teachers and parents dealing with other kids such as their children’s friends.

It is not only important for parents and caregivers to teach their children about how to express their own body language, but it is important for them to teach the kids about simple body language reading techniques as well. You might not want to call it body language reading to them because they either will not understand or will think the topic is boring, but it is important that this skill be taught to children in whatever creative way necessary.

You might wonder why I believe it is important for children to be able to read body language, since it is a science-based topic that can be complicated at times. We will explain why this is important now.

First, if your children understand that nonverbal communication has just as much meaning as the words that they speak, they will be able to understand the people around them at a new level. Take their time on the playground, for example. If they ask a friend to play with them and the friend says no but is looking at the ground and has another child staring at them as if to tell them not to go play with the child, they will know that there is more meaning behind this situation. They will either be able to speak up for their friend and encourage them to do what they want without worrying about what other people think, or they will be able to walk away without feeling offended because they know that there was more to the conversation than a simple denied request to play. In fact, this might even be a sign that the friend was bullied away from playing and your child will be able to tell a trusted adult what they saw.

Also, think about if your child sees a classmate that is not saying much when they usually talk all day, every day. If your child is aware of the body language of the people around them, they might notice this difference in behavior and ask the child what is wrong. This could make a huge difference in the sad child’s day.

You might even consider the friendships that the child already has. You know that as an adult, being able to read simple body languages allows you to have better friendships. It makes sense, then, that the same is true with friendships among children.

Your child will also be able to avoid being a bully better if they are aware of their own body language. They will understand that actions like rolling of the eyes or walking away from someone when they are talking to them hurts just as much as mean words. They will be able to understand these actions and avoid them in order to be nice to the people around them when other children might accidentally hurt their friends with actions like these without knowing the consequences.

When a child knows body language, they are able to make sure that their friends are comfortable with them. If the child sits close to a friend, they will be able to tell if the friend is okay with the close contact or not. If the friend is not okay with it and is showing signs of being uncomfortable, the child will know that the right thing to do is move away.

A lot of these types of body language are things that children learn through real-life experience. The only problem with this is if they are learning in real life, then real feelings are getting hurt, and real friends are feeling uncomfortable. The sooner a child learns these skills, the sooner they can use body language to their advantage. This is why it can be helpful to teach children about body language from a young age.

One way that you can teach body language to young children is by expressing how you feel out loud when you realize you are expressing something through body language. You could say, “I am shaking my head from side to side because I do not like what you are doing.” You could also say, “I am smiling because I am happy to see you this morning.”

You can use the same tactic to teach children about how their own body language affects the people around them. You could say, “I feel loved when you look at my eyes while I talk.” You could also say, “When you walk away from me while I am talking to you, it makes me feel sad.”

With these tools, you should be able to understand the body language that children present. You should also be able to see the importance of teaching body language to young children.

Chapter 23: Body Language and People with Special Needs

Not everyone can express or process body language in the same way as the average person. A war veteran who lost his arm is not going to be able to talk with his hands, even if that was a habit of his behavior before combat; blind people won’t be able to read your facial queues; and a child on the Autism Spectrum won’t necessarily be able to keep your gaze while talking with you. As a form of communication dependent on both genetic and learned behaviors, body language can be problematic when these and other disabilities come into account. That’s why we need to be prepared for reading body language—and having our body language read—in more than what we consider “everyday” situations. For this chapter, I’ll be giving you some advice on body language when people with special needs is involved, both when reading and when being read.

Be Careful About Making Assumptions

You know what they say about making assumptions: it makes an arse out of you and me. However, when it comes to split-second judgments, like when reading body language, some assumptions have to be made. There’s just no way to know every bit of context that can inform every little signal someone’s body language gives off, let alone sift through and apply it all on the spot. Instead, the key is to be careful about what you are basing these assumptions on.

Let’s look at the case of Elaine, one of my patients who sees me for anxiety and happens to have Asperger’s Syndrome. For as long as she can remember, Elaine has had parents, teachers, and other authority figures insist that she make eye contact with people when talking to them even though it has always made her very uncomfortable. Elaine once told me that it’s even more frightening and frustrating for her because people expect her to pick up on all these subtle socioemotional cues from their eyes during this forced eye contact. So, when she does make eye contact, her gaze often comes across as blank or too intense. Often, she can’t even maintain the eye contact, frequently looking away from the person’s face as she grows too uncomfortable or tries to figure out what she’s supposed to be seeing there.

However, many people mistake Elaine’s kind of eye contact as a signal for everything from not paying attention and being rude to disliking someone or even lying. These people do not take into account the fact that Elaine has Asperger’s, either because they do not know or because they assume that all rules of body language apply as much to the neurodiverse as they do to the neurotypical. These kinds of assumptions can lead to misunderstandings on both sides of the interaction, and any trouble that comes from it ultimately could have been preventable.

Some assumptions could also make you misjudge another person’s abilities to read your body language. For example, many assumptions have been made about autism and certain social skills that are now being disproven or proven to be more complicated than we have always thought. It’s long been believed that people who fall on the Autism Spectrum can’t ready body language or at least struggle with it greatly. However, a 2015 study conducted by the University of Queensland and the University of Pittsburg suggests that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, can actually read body language at the same level as their so-called “typically developing” peers [2]. So, to assume that someone who is autistic cannot read your body language is both misinformed and prejudiced.

Remember, even though some assumptions are necessary to make quick analysis of people’s body language, you must do so by taking all factors into account while not relying on stereotypes or otherwise uninformed positions for your final judgement.

Learn About Different Disabilities

The only way to make sure that you don’t make the wrong assumptions and mess up your body language readings is to learn all that you can about different kinds of disabilities. After all, the struggles you will have in reading someone with ASD will not be the same as the difficulties you might have with reading someone who’s had a stroke. Some disabilities will affect a person’s ability to read body language. Others will make it harder for the person to physically make common facial expressions and body language.

Here are some examples of how different disabilities can affect body language readings:

- Blindness: As mentioned in chapter five, blind people know some body language signals inherently, including facial expressions like smiling to show happiness and frowning to show sadness. However, certain signals evolve over time as our society and culture change, such as the “rock on” hand gesture. Because they cannot see them, blind people might not be aware of them, let alone be able to mimic them.

- Stroke: In addition to paralysis that can cause physical problems with body language, strokes can lead to issues with perception, memory, and concentration that could negatively affect someone’s ability to express themselves through body language and read it.

- ASD : People with ASD can have problems reading certain—though not all—body language as well as being comfortable participating in some signals that seem natural to other people. A prominent example, as illustrated by Elaine’s struggles, is maintaining eye contact and reading emotions in people’s eyes.

- Deafness : Rather than a disadvantage, deaf people who use sign language can pick up on body language much more quickly than most people. Not every disability negatively affects body language readings, but it’s still important to be aware of positive effects as well in order to squash any misinformed preconceptions about a disability that could taint your readings.

If your reading does not mesh with everything you’ve learned about body language so far, see if you can figure out why. Is the person acting very polite and speaking truthfully but cannot seem to maintain eye contact with you? Consider if they’re autistic. Maybe, like Elaine, it’s too uncomfortable for them, and so you can’t use it to assess their politeness or if they’re telling the truth. Perhaps the person’s voice sounds excited and pleasant, but they aren’t smiling. Do you know if they’ve had a stroke? They might not be able to smile or use similar facial expressions because they are paralyzed on one side of their face. They might also be happy with you and/or what you are talking about but residual pain from the stroke is distracting them. Remember, context is everything. Different disabilities will cause different problems with body language and reading it, so it’s best to be as educated on a variety of disabilities as possible.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Like with anything, the best way to prepare for situations where you’ll need to read the body language of someone with disabilities is to practice. You won’t want to go looking for disabled people solely for the reason of practicing reading their body language. Frankly, that would be rude. However, when you do engage in conversation with someone who happens to have ASD, be deaf, be blind, or so forth, pay close attention to their body language and make a conscious effort to read it. Don’t stare at them or outwardly treat the person any different from anyone else but keep mental tabs on your interaction so that you can analyze if your readings are accurate.

For example, I have multiple patients who have disabilities. In addition to Elaine, I also have a mentally disabled veteran who sees me for PTSD after surviving a bombing and a stroke victim whom I help with his anger management. Each time I see these patients, I actively observe their body language as they talk about their problems and use that to decipher how they are feeling underneath their words. I make a mental note of whether my reading proves correct or incorrect so that I can figure out how I can improve in future interactions with them.

Be Patient

You must be patient with yourself and the disabled person when you’re communicating. It could take a while for you to get used to switching from reading body language in everyday conversations to having to be hyper-aware of the abnormalities that might arise when reading the body language of disabled people. Be especially patient when the other person is having a hard time reading your body language. You must keep in mind that sometimes these conditions can impair one’s ability to pick up on the more subtle emotional cues and process them in a timely manner.

While reading the body language of disabled people is, in general, not too different from any other scenario, there are many little adjustments you must make in order to avoid misreading the other person.  You might even run into contradictory readings, which we will talk about more in the next chapter.

Chapter 24: Contradictory Body Language Readings and What To Do About Them

Usually, when you are attempting to read body language, you will be successful by using the tips and information that is provided in this book. However, sometimes body language readings might seem to contradict each other. If you find yourself in a situation where this happens, you might feel very confused. In this chapter, we will help to provide information on how to get through this challenge.

The first thing that you should do if you come across a contradictory body language reading is consider the context. For example, if a person is showing you that they are successful, but they are also very fidgety, they might be good at what they are doing but also nervous. If the person is great at public speeches and is about to speak in front of a large crowd, they could be very nervous even if they are about to be successful. In this case, you should pay attention to the body language signals that show that they are good at what they do. The signals that say that they are nervous do not matter because they do not show when the person is on stage.

The next thing to do if you come across body language readings that just don’t add up is to consider which parts of the body language stick together and which one stands out. For example, if a person is showing three body language signals that they are happy and only one signaling that they are sad, they are probably happy.

You will also want to consider a baseline. If a person is acting in a way that you do not understand, consider how they normally act. Is this typical for them? If it is not, they might be feeling some emotions that they are not used to feeling. So, it is important to pick up on whether these emotions are normal or perhaps they are a sign of something else.

I remember one time when I was having a guy’s weekend with a close friend as an undergrad. We had gone away to a cabin for fishing, something that my friend had loved to do since he was a little kid. While we fished and chatted, my friend would smile and laugh. However, he constantly fidgeted with his fishing pole and would not meet my eye while we talked. He was usually laid back and had no problem maintaining eye contact. His facial expressions indicated he was happy, but his hands and eyes pointed to something bothering him.

At first, I was not sure what to make of these conflicting readings. Finally, though, the baseline I had for this person told me that the nervous behavior was so extraordinary for him that I knew that reading was correct. When I brought it up to him, he confessed to me that he had failed a couple of tests and was worried that he would fail the entire class. He had not wanted to ruin our weekend away, so he decided to try and put on a happy face for my sake. Through my knowledge of his baseline body language, I was able to decipher which of my readings was correct and then talk him through his worries so that we could both genuinely enjoy our time together.

You also need to be aware of your biases in a situation like this. If you find yourself judging a person before they even speak, you could be reading into their body language all wrong. For example, if you judge a person by their looks and consider them to not be successful because of what they’re wearing but their body language actually shows them to be great at what they do, you’ll probably read their body language in a way that is completely incorrect. When you are reading body language, you need to pay attention to what you actually see and not what your brain is thinking.

These things are very important if you want to become good at reading body language. Anyone can read a book and take the tools in it and apply them to their life, but you need to be able to use them smartly if you want to succeed in this field. With the use of these four tips, you should be able to do just that.

Chapter 25: Using Body Language in Your Daily Life

Now, let’s take a closer look into something that you can use in every single day and part of your life. In this chapter, we are going to go through the typical day in the life of an adult from sunrise to sunset. We will look into how body language reading can be used in every aspect of our daily lives.

First, let’s think about when we wake up. Typically, when we wake up, we get ready for the day and eat breakfast. Often times, these events may take place surrounded by your family or by roommates. Mornings can be a difficult time for many people, so it is important to be able to read the body language of the people around us during this time.

In the morning, if people are yawning, it means that they are clearly still tired. If they are avoiding eye contact or walking around with their shoulders hunched inward, it may mean that they are not yet ready to talk to you or the other people in the home.

If they are making eye contact and smiling, they may want to talk before they leave the house for the day. They may want to catch up over breakfast or simply say good morning.

If a family member is jittery or unhappy in the morning, they might be nervous about something that they need to do that day. If you know they have a big test or presentation coming up, wish them luck and tell them you know that they will do a great job. If you are not sure what they are nervous about, consider asking them. They may need your support before they take on their big task of the day.

Next, let’s consider your commute to work. This seems like an odd time to have to read body language, but occasionally you will want to read the body language of the people who are driving near you. For example, a friend of mine told me this story: they had miscalculated a lane change on their way to work one day. When he realized that he had accidentally cut off the other car, he rolled his window down and waved to the other car apologetically. Sure enough, both cars ended up, side by side. The other driver acknowledged the apology with a wave though she didn’t seem too pleased with what had happened. In this example, my friend managed to right the wrong though the facial expression on the other driver made it evident that they hadn’t appreciated the incident.

Next, consider a deeper analysis into your workday. Given the fact that we devote a considerable amount of time to work, it is important to be able to use body language skills smartly while you are at work. You will probably want your body language to portray you as a successful and confident person. Try drinking your morning coffee before you enter the door so that you do not enter the building while you are still yawning. If you arrive at work focused and energetic, you will seem passionate to the people around you.

You will also want your coworkers to see you as confident so that they know you are capable of success. This will help them to trust you with your tasks and to even look up to you as a role model. To do this, consider using power stances and power body language.

Personally, I like to smile and greet people with a firm handshake. There is nothing like a good handshake to click with someone who is not feeling at their best. This is highly effective, especially in early morning meetings, since not everything is a morning person. Positive energy can certainly be contagious.

However, it is important to be sincere about your confidence so that you don’t give off “fake” confidence. This is why I take time to pay attention to my interactions with colleagues and customers. One such exercise that I do is to pay attention to video calls. During a video call, I can see my face while I am speaking with my interlocutor. This allows me to see my facial expressions and analyze my reactions when speaking. This is one of the few times in which you can gain a third-party perspective on the way you communicate with others.

It is equally as important to be able to read the body language of your coworkers. If a coworker is upset with you, they may not be able to express it verbally because it may not be an appropriate conversation to have in a work setting. If you can discover this through their body language early on in the situation, however, you might be able to turn the negative feelings around right away.

If a person is stressed at work, they might need help with their tasks. If they are embarrassed of this, they may not ask for help. If you can read their body language in these situations, you may be able to help them and avoid having them make a mistake for the company.

I recall one occasion some years ago in one of the first jobs I had. There was a new colleague who was very shy and extremely uncomfortable during their first week. I could tell they were struggling with some tasks but couldn’t work up the courage to ask for help. I could tell they needed help by the drooping shoulders and low head position when going over files. So, I walked over and offered my help. They immediately accepted. It turned out that it wasn’t anything major, but this colleague simply needed some pointers in the right direction. This was one of the first interactions in which I felt satisfied that I had gotten the right reading on a person.

Another important part of your day would be the commute home. During this time, you would want to use body language in the same way that you used it on your way into work. This is especially important if you happen to see the same folks day in and day out. It is a way of making life just a bit more pleasant for others on your way home.

Once you get home, body language is again important with your family. Even if you are tired from a long day at work, you will want to make sure that your body language stays positive so that your family members can see that you love them and that you are excited to be home with them for the evening.

You will also need to read their body language during this time. If a family member seems sad through the movements of their body, they may have had a hard day. If they are slouching, looking at the ground, and not smiling, you may want to ask them what is wrong. They may need you to listen and help them through a difficult thing that happened to them during their day at work or school.

You will even want to use your ability to read body language to care for your young children if you have them. If your young child is yawning and acting as if they are tired even though it is not yet bedtime, you may want to consider putting them down for the night at an earlier than usual time to ensure that they get the rest that they need.

When it comes to your relationship with your husband or wife, you want to make sure that their body language is positive as well. If it is not, ask them what is wrong. Spend some time working on your relationship by talking or even cuddling to show that you love each other. This body language and touch can benefit your relationship and day-to-day life in many ways.

These are ways that you may use body language on a typical day, but we know that most days are far from typical. Usually, you will have extra events that you need to attend outside of your normal commitments. Next, we will look into how you can use your ability to read body language in a couple of these situations.

For example, some nights you may go out to dinner with friends instead of eating at home. This can be a fun way to catch up with the people who you do not see on a daily basis. At dinner, you should be aware of your own body language as well as the body language of the people around you. You will want to make sure that you are smiling and making eye contact to show that you are interested in what your friends have to say and that you are happy that you have the chance to spend time with them. You will want to avoid signs that show you are tired as these can make your friends think that you would rather be at home resting than spending time with them. Even if this is true, you do not want your friends to believe it!

You will also want to read the body language of the friends you are having dinner with. When you talk to them, make sure that they are remaining happy and are not upset by anything you say. Pay attention to if they are making eye contact and smiling to ensure that they are having a good time as well.

One classic example in this case are salespeople. Effective sales professionals are able to make eye contact with their customers is a friendly, non-threatening way while using their hands and the facial expressions to ensure an inviting atmosphere. In addition, they are able to use their tone of voice in such a way that customers feel comfortable rather than pushed around. Indeed, effective salespeople are excellent communicators at all levels.

Another thing that you may do that is out of the ordinary during a day is go to a doctor appointment. At this appointment, you may want to make sure that your body language does not show that you are nervous. It is okay to be nervous, but if you do not want the people around you to know how you feel, you may want to try to remember to make eye contact and try not to fidget with your hands.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that your ability to put non-verbal communication to good use will allow you to communicate with others on a much deeper level. This leads to more meaningful relationships in which you are able to connect with people on a very personal and relatable level. This is what sets remarkable people apart from the rest. When you are able to connect with people at a very personal level, you will become the type of person that everyone will want to be around. That will not only increase your chances of getting what you want out life, but it will also help you build up your self-confidence in such a way that you can be truly proud of yourself.

That alone is worth far more than any material possession.

One Last Reminder Before Conclusion

Have you grabbed your free resource?

A lot of information has been covered in this book. As previously shared, I’ve created a simple mind map that you can use right away to easily understand, quickly recall and readily use what you’ve learned in this book.

If you’ve not grabbed it…

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Conclusion

Now, we are here at the end of this book. We covered a lot of ground with regard to non-verbal communication and how this can enable you to read people. You can confidently put these ideas into practice.

Now that we have given body language serious consideration, it is up to you to put these new concepts into practice. After all, what good is all this knowledge if you can’t put it to good use?

Becoming a master communicator is a lot easier than you think. However, it takes some good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Please take the time to go over any of the parts of this book that you feel you need to review and then get out there and make the most of them. You will find that when you are able to read people effectively, you will be able to communicate with them on a deeper, more meaningful level. This will enable you to gain people’s confidence and thereby become a more confident individual.

Try your best to put the techniques and strategies which we have learned throughout this book into practice as soon as possible. You will find that practice is the best way in which you can improve your overall communication skills.

Also, don’t forget to check out Speed Reading People . You will find that it is also filled with actionable advice and information that will further complement the insights discussed in this volume. Most importantly, it will allow you to further your study and understanding of reading people.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this book.

Sincerely,

Harvey Augustus

P.S.

If you’ve found this book helpful in any way, a review on Amazon is greatly appreciated.

This means a lot to me, and I’ll be extremely grateful.

Notes

[1] Meeren, H. K., van Heijnsbergen, C. C., & de Gelder, B. (2005). “Rapid perceptual integration of facial expression and emotional body language.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(45), 16518-16523.

[2] Brownell, Celia, Peterson, Candida C., & Slaughter, Virginia (2015). “Children with autism spectrum disorder are skilled at reading emotion body language.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 139, 35-50.

More Books By Harvey Augustus

Speed Reading People: Analyzing Personality & Signs in Conversation - How to Read, Understand, Talk to & Influence People (Effective Communication Training Mastery to Improve Your Social Skills)

Read Someone’s Personality In A Few Minutes? This Coach Says YES – And He’s About To Show You How!

Are you feeling overwhelmed when you have to meet new people?

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- Tap into your intuition to read people and understand what everyone’s body language is saying

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- A complete guide to dating people who are wildly different from you

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If you’re ready to finally understand what makes people tick and say goodbye to misunderstandings, frustrating sales and business meetings, and dysfunctional relationships, now is the time.

Table of Contents

Your Free Resource Is Awaiting

Introduction

Section 1: The Fundamentals of Body Language

Chapter 1: Body Language and the Science Behind It

Chapter 2: The History of Reading Body Language

Chapter 3: Gaining A Deeper Understanding

Chapter 4: Being Aware of Your Own Body Language

Chapter 5: Learned Body Language Versus Genetic Body Language

Chapter 6: Main Guidelines for Reading People

Section 2: Specifics of Reading People Through the Various Types of Body Language, Facial Expressions, Mannerisms and Gestures

Chapter 7: Facial Expressions - Face and Forehead

Chapter 8: Eyes

Chapter 9: Ears, Nose, Cheeks, Jaw, and Chin

Chapter 10: Mouth, Lips, Smiles, and Laughter

Chapter 11: Head, Neck, and Shoulders

Chapter 12: Hands, Including the Palms, Fingers, and Thumbs

Chapter 13: Arms and Touch

Chapter 14: Chest, Torso, and Belly

Chapter 15: The Position of the Body and Its Role in Body Language

Chapter 16: Mirroring, Micro-Expressions, and Height

Chapter 17: Body Language and Lying

Chapter 18: Signals — Emotional, Attractional, Relational, and Power

Chapter 19: What Body Language Can Add To Your Life

Chapter 20: How To Use Body Language To Your Own Benefit

Chapter 21: Body Language Differences in Other Cultures

Chapter 22: Reading the Body Language of A Child

Chapter 23: Body Language and People with Special Needs

Chapter 24: Contradictory Body Language Readings and What To Do About Them

Chapter 25: Using Body Language in Your Daily Life

One Last Reminder Before Conclusion

Conclusion

Notes

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