Body Language

Being able to speak fluently and grammatically correct is important in good communication. It helps you get your ideas across personally and professionally. Knowing how to communicate through the silent language, i.e. what you say through your movements, mannerisms and gestures is also crucial to your success. Although experts disagree on exactly what percent of your message is communicated through your body language, it is safe to say that a far greater part is communicated by how you say something rather than what you say. Therefore, it behooves you to become fluent in this language as well. It is a pathway into people's minds and helps you to better understand and be understood.

Body language has its own grammar and vocabulary including posture, space, handshakes, gestures and facial expressions. I can safely speculate that you have not spent even a fraction of the time perfecting this set of grammar and vocabulary as you've done with that of your spoken language. One of the main reasons is that most elementary and high schools don't even offer a body language course. Some colleges offer the subject as part of a general communication course. It's not until you get into the business world that you begin to understand body language's vital role and to become aware of the plethora of books, courses and CDs devoted to this topic.

When you don't know how to use both parts of your brain in the communications process, you are using just half of your available resources. The left side is your logical, analytical, structured side, and it helps you process intellectual content, i.e. the words. The right side of your brain is the intuitive, spontaneous, creative side, and it monitors the emotive qualities - the nonverbal communication.

Your goal is to integrate your logic and intuition and let them work freely together, letting your mind choose which it needs to use when. You need to make the two function harmoniously so you can hear and observe at the same time. Words are often used to try to hide feelings and emotions. You need to read in the speaker's movements and expressions or use of space what is not said in words. This is a far more reliable guide to how a person really feels and, along with appearance, gives clues to what's happening inside and to the person's true emotions.

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Body language has its own g____ and v____.