Peopleusemorethanjustwordstocommunicate.Infact,someresearchersclaimthatlessthanhalfofaspokenmessage'srealmeaningisinthewordsusedinthemessage.Theysaythatmostofamessage'smeaningcomesfromunderstandinghowthe
Peopleusemorethanjustwordstocommunicate.Infact,someresearchersclaimthatlessthanhalfofaspokenmessage'srealmeaningisinthewordsusedinthemessage.Theysaythatmostofamessage'smeaningcomesfromunderstandinghowthespeakerusesthingsliketoneofvoiceandbodylanguage.
Bodylanguageincludessuchthingsastheexpressiononthespeaker'sface,gesturesthespeakermakeswithhisorherhands,andthepositionofthespeaker'sbody.Justastherearemanydifferentlanguagesspokenaroundtheworld,therearemanydifferentwaysforpeopletousebodylanguage,too.Forexample,gesturesmayimplydifferentmeaningsindifferentcultures.Makinga"thumbsup"signinAmericameans"Great!"However,inArabcultures,thisgestureisextremelyoffensive.AndinIndia,iflistenerswanttoshowspeakersthattheyunderstand,thelistenerswillmovetheirheadsfromsidetoside.InmanyWesterncountries,asimilargesturemeans"no".
Althoughmanygesturescanbeinterpreteddifferentlybydifferentcultures,therearealsomanygesturesthatarealmostuniversallyinterpretedthesameway.Forexample,byandlargeasmileisunderstoodasasignoffriendshiporgoodwillaroundtheworld.Also,usinganopenhandtogesturetowardsomethingisviewedaspoliteorfriendlyinmostcultures.
Therearealsosomeformsofbodylanguagethatcanbeuniversallyreadwiththemeaning,"Iaminterestedinyou"or"Ilikeyou."Sometimesthiskindofbodylanguageisusedunconsciouslybetweentwopeople.Thesesignsifinterestincludestandingorsittingwithbothfeetflatontheground,mirroringorusingthesamegesturesastheotherperson,andturningone'sbodytofullyfacetheotherperson.Inaddition,aperson'spupilswillautomaticallybecomewiderwhentheyareinterestedinanotherperson.
Bodylanguagethatcanbereadwiththemeaning,"Iamnotinterestedinyou"or"Idon'tlikeyou,"mayincludethefollowinggestures:lookingdownorlookinginanotherdirection,leaningawayfromaperson,crossingone'sarmsorlegs,ortappingafootorfinger.
Bodylanguageexpertspointoutoneimportantthing.Theperson'scultureisonlyonefactorthatcaninfluencehisorheru