bodylanguage

A GUIDE TO BODY LANGUAGE

Did you know that there are 6,500 spoken languages in the world today? But, despite this barrier of communication we still manage to work with, understand and help eachother. You can always tell a person’s true intentions by their body language. It can help you out of sketchy situations and make you more adept at understanding people. Finally, language barriers never need to be a problem again. We say more with our bodies than we do with our words.

READING BODY LANGUAGE

Below I’ve laid out useful body gestures that can help you evaluate an encounter with a stranger. It’s important to remember that a stranger using only one of these gestures, such as glaring at you, is not enough to judge a person. Instead, you need to evaluate all of the body gestures, and micro gestures, that a person makes in order to correctly gauge a situation. Gestures below are broken into categories of Foe, Friend, or Unsure. Be leery if you see someone acting with foe gestures. Vice versa you can be put at ease if a stranger acts like a friend. Finally, some gestures are ambiguous. If you are interacting with someone who uses these gestures your behavior will determine if that person becomes friend or foe.

GESTURE
MEANING

FOE

constricted pupils anger, challenging
clenched teeth anger, hostility
slow rubbing palms feeling of expectancy
lips pushed forward, chin thrust out, eyes glaring challenging, dominance, anger
shaking a thumb ridicule, disrespect
rubbing nose or corner of mouth/ eye lying
upward thrust of thumb “up yours”, “shove it”
crossed arms with clenched fists anger, hostility
rubbing eye or ear person is lying
crossed legs, locked ankles defensive, disagreeable, feels threatened
0 degree angle with torso, feet turned towards you closed position, either hostile or attracted to you
leaning against car, in doorway, shop, etc shows ownership and territorial behavior
finger and toe tapping, grooming, head scratching inner conflict, restlessness
walking with hands in pockets secretive, critical of others
covering mouth deceitful
head down demeaning, negative
clenched hands or hand-wringing hostility, anger
hands on hips aggressive, possibly hostile
staring at you without blinking/ blank stare hostility, boredom, indifference
crowding your intimate space violence or attraction imminent
shoulders pulled back, head held high, staring dominance, confidence, superiority
feet, knees, hands turned away points to where attention is
walking with swinging arms person is directed
high head, protruded chest confidence, fearlessness, superiority
eyes flit to the side shady, suspicious
eyebrows curl down at corners tension, anger
looking away when talking deceitful

FRIEND

dilated pupils excitement
broad smile with exposed teeth contentment, laughing
mirroring body movements interest in person, ideas, or conversation
tilted head interest in conversation
hands behind head confident, superior
90 degree angle with torso and legs open to company
rubbing chin, cheek or mustache thinking
high head, protruded chest confidence, fearlessness, superiority
palm open and up openness, friendliness
eyebrows curl up happiness
lips drawn back in a smile exposing teeth making an effort at politeness

UNSURE

turned body facing where his attention is
looking at door or window wants to get away
feet, knees, hands turned away points to where attention is
crossed legs, locked ankles defensive, disagreeable, feels threatened
staring at you without blinking/ blank stare hostility, boredom, indifference
rubbing neck doubt
rubbing chin, cheek or mustache thinking
gripping one arm with the other nervous, lacking confidence
gripping wrist with one arm nervous, lacking confidence
crossed arms on chest defensive, disagreeable, feels threatened
placing coat, book, backpack on bus/train seat superiority, possessiveness