BODY LANGUAGE - ALLAN PEASE Part 10 ppsx

Eighteen

Putting It All Together

Communication through body language has been going on for over a million years

but has only been scientifically studied to any extent in the last twenty years or so; it

became popular during the 1970s. By the end of this century it will have been

‘discovered’ by people throughout the world and I predict that its impact and meaning

in human communication will be part of formal education. This book has served as an

introduction to body language and I encourage you to seek further knowledge through

your own research and experience and through the examples given.

Ultimately, society will be your best research and testing ground. Conscious

observation of your own actions and those of others is the best way for each person to

gain a better understanding of the communication methods of the earth’s most complex

and interesting beast - man himself.

The remainder of this book is devoted to social and business situations and shows

how gestures and body signals occur in clusters and the circumstances that may affect

your interpretation. However, before you read the notes, study each picture sequence

and see how many you can interpret through what you have read in this book. You will

be amazed to find how much your perceptiveness has improved.

Clusters, Circumstances and Gestures in Daily Encounters

Figure 165 A good example of an openness cluster. The palms are fully exposed in

the submissive position and the fingers are spread wide to give more impact to the

gesture. The head is in the neutral position and the arms and legs are apart. This man is

communicating a submissive, non-threatening attitude.

Figure 166 This is a classic deceit cluster. As he rubs his eye he looks away

towards the floor and both eyebrows are raised to the disbelief position. His head is

turned away and down, showing a negative attitude. He also has an insincere,

tight-Tipped smile.

Figure 167Inconsistency of gestures is obvious here. The man is smiling

confidently as he crosses the room but one hand has crossed his body to play with his

watch and form a partial arm barrier which shows that he is unsure of himself and/or his

circumstances.

Figure 168 This woman disapproves of the person at whom she is looking. She has

turned neither her head nor body toward him but is giving him a sideways glance with

her head slightly down (disapproval), eyebrows slightly turned down (anger), a full

arm-cross gesture (defensive) and the corners of her mouth are turned down.