Body Language Secrets

Use body language to succeed in any situation

Diana Mather

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781444176773
• eBook ISBN: 9781444177015
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Communication
• Index: Business

Research shows that our body language accounts for more than 50% of the success (or lack of it) of our communication. This book tells you how to give out the right signals, and read other people's body language. As well as body movements, this book (complete with photos) includes specific chapters on situations such as networking, meetings, public speaking, interviews, and dating.

1

Body language – what is it?

In this chapter you will learn: • why body language is important • how to read non-verbal communication • what ‘inborn actions’ are • what ‘absorbed actions’ are.

Self-assessment

1 What is body language?

2 What are the two things we notice first about others?

3 How do you promote positive body language?

4 Are clothes a part of body language?

5 Why is diet important?

6 What has fitness to do with body language?

7 What are inborn actions?

8 What are absorbed actions?

9 Why is eye contact important?

10 Are most people aware of body language?

Answers are at the end of this chapter.

Why it is important

Why is body language important? It is important because it encompasses many different things.

• posture

• gestures

• voice

• clothes.

These all go towards creating what is called ‘body language’, a language that transmits conscious and subconscious signals and messages in your dealings with others that is unique to you. I am sure you are usually aware of the conscious messages you send but often unaware of the unconscious signals you convey. This book will teach your to understand what it is your body is saying and how to transmit those messages in the way you want them to be received. There is no point in stating something vocally if your body is saying something else.

Key idea

‘Always be a first-rate version of you, rather than a second-rate version of someone else.’

Judy Garland

Think of your body as your shop window – it has got to be spotless and polished! Seriously, if a shop window looks dusty, lacklustre and out of date it will not attract customers. It is the same with your body.

Clean, healthy skin, shining hair and bright eyes present an appealing picture and therefore help you promote yourself, whether it is in the social or business arena. The better you feel, the more you will be at ease and therefore the more you can control your body language. Positive body language must come from the head and the heart to be sincere, but knowing the negative signals means you can eliminate them. Too much alcohol and not enough sleep has a detrimental effect on body language as tiredness and fatigue means that people tend to yawn, they don’t concentrate properly and their posture is poor. A bad diet has a negative effect on your body, as does any sort of addiction; smoking, for example, will show negative body language when another nicotine hit is required. To look good, feel good and make the best of your body you need to eat foods that are going to help replenish cells quickly, give you energy and, more importantly, give you pleasure too. You are what you eat!

Try it now

✽ Eat at least three portions of cooked or raw vegetables every day.

✽ If you have to snack, try nuts or dried fruit.

✽ Eat slowly and chew the food properly.

Remember this

✽ Fatty meals, fizzy drinks, sweets, biscuits and too much white bread are detrimental to good health.

✽ If you are a ‘picker’, you can consume a large amount of food without even realizing it.

If you like a drink, it’s a good idea to have at least two alcohol-free days a week. Drinking water helps clear the system of toxins, and helps fill a hunger gap between meals. A couple of glasses before a meal can really curb the appetite. A litre a day is the minimum everyone should drink, and still water is better than sparkling. If drinking plain water doesn’t seem particularly appealing, try adding a few slices of lemon, orange or ginger, or a sprig of mint to a jug of water and leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Today, the image of physical fitness and mental alertness is an important one to project, especially at work. The competition to get and keep a job is increasing, and because the trend at the moment is for one employee to ‘carry more than one person’s workload’, to look as though you will be able to stand the strain and cope with the workload is essential! But personal life too is probably just as demanding, as you try to fit more and more into what is for many people an already hectic lifestyle. Too often, lunch breaks slip by with a chocolate bar filling that gap, and a couple of beers or large glasses of wine help to ease the stress of another long day. Not many people are 100 per cent happy with their own bodies, but without necessarily striving for perfection, there are many things you can do to promote a healthy, professional and positive image.

Remember this

✽ Drink at least a litre of water a day.

✽ Cut out junk food and sugary or fizzy drinks.

✽ Choose fish as an alternative to red meat.

✽ Eat fewer fatty foods.

✽ Cut down on tea, coffee, alcohol and dairy products.

✽ Make sure you eat a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrate and fresh, raw fruit and vegetables.

Looking pasty and unhealthy does not earn praise or promotion, and in this book you will learn some tips on how to ensure your unique body language says what you want it to say. The way you react to other people says a lot. Try to think about the effect your actions and reactions will have on others. Good, positive body language will show that you care not only about yourself, but also about other people. We have to show respect for others, which in turn brings respect for ourselves. However strong your message is, if you can’t get it across, it’s lost.

Glowing skin shows you are fit and healthy. Deep sleep is essential for the body to renew itself as the cells divide at a much faster rate and a growth hormone is released into the blood stream causing regeneration, so it is necessary to ensure t...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• About the author
• Title
• Contents 
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Body language – what is it?
• 2 Knowing your body
• 3 The voice
• 4 Body language in deportment
• 5 Social and business networking
• 6 Body language in meetings
• 7 Body language and public speaking
• 8 Interviews
• 9 What employers want
• 10 The media
• 11 Body language when dating
• 12 Entertaining and social events
• 13 Different cultures, different rules
• 14 Tricky situations
• Copyright