Decoding the Visual Communication
“A strong, confident person can rule the room with knowledge, personal style, attitude and great posture.”
― Cindy Ann Peterson
What got scared? Calm down, I am here to assist before it's too late.
When I began coaching for personal development, I came across an interesting fact i.e. Its not just the outlook that you need to improve upon, but the energies within. Our body is made of five 'tattvas' or elements i.e. Earth, water, fire, air and space. What is your outlook depends on which energy/ element is dominant within you. No, no I don't want to go spiritual here; let me delineate the Kinesics for you.
Here is a self check that will guide you to make best use of this resource-
1. Stance: standing/sitting posture- take a look at your back right now, is it bent or straight?
2. Hand gestures- we all got a unique sway right! How often you move your hands, or what is the job assigned to your hands while you talking, sitting or standing?
3. Nice shoes! But what about the legs? Are you swinging in the air lost in your own music? Take a note.
4. Expression: are you having a strange habit of biting your nails, or giggling unnecessarily or using your brows too much? Don't confuse your prospects.
5. Speech: am I clear? Let the words come out clear.
Checked! Now assign your gestures, some score:
1. Mark 5 if you know when to bend and when to pull up and Mark 1 if you have no control over it.
(You got to score yourself in decreasing order based on your definiteness of kinesics).
Easy, go ahead!
2. Mark 5 if your hands rests on your thighs while sitting straight, lean straight around your waists while standing and gradually move while talking when needed. Mark 1 if you swing it too often or don't know what to do with it.
3. Mark 5 if you can gain control of your shaking feet while sitting and mark 0 if someone points you to stop getting nervous/ anxious.
4. Mark 5 if you can sync your expression and gestures well with your speech and Mark 1 if you often receive this compliment that you are too bewildering or complicated.
5. Mark 5 if you have a clean and clear speech, i.e. You don't fumble or hesitate while talking or else mark 0.
Now, do the Mathematics!
If you are scoring somewhere near 20 and above! You are a star! If scoring near 10 and above, will work together, don't worry. And if you're scoring below 10, Congratulations! You have opened an incredible resource, packed with
great ideas that will guide you to a new vision of yourself.
I hope you have gone through my earlier blog 'Introduce the New You' and understood that how important it is to know oneself. Thus, to begin this, let's be very clear that you got to understand your body language first.
But what is Body Language? And why it is called so?
Language has not everything to do with the speech, its also about the gestures, the expressions, the stances and definitely the emotions you communicate through your body. Its interesting to know that people judge you by your clothes and shoes, but it's even more interesting to know that people often mark your walking style, your hand gestures and definitely how you rolled your eyes (remember!). And only this language which is visibly evident without you uttering a single word is called Visual communication or Body Language.
It is universal and need not be translated to English, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic. The sole parameter getting you hold everyone's attention in a board meeting, classroom, parties or dates; is thus named so.
Can someones' Body Language be same as others?
Ever heard, "Every soul is different, and we have something unique in us." Gotcha!
Don't be judgmental, ever have observed a sales person persuading you to buy the most unwanted item for your kitchen or study table? He is attending your doubts and taking care of your pocket. But, when you fall in the trap and when you don't; depend on the sales person. Every sales person, team leader, presenter receives similar training and ethics classes but one outshine the other.
How?
Because body languages relate to the much admired skill of emotional intelligence and intellectual capacity.
Let's delve how to learn and master your unique body language.
Step 1: Don't try to learn individual signals, i.e. You must look and observe your body language in different scenarios. How your eyebrows widen and shrink, when that straight back is humped and when you are inactive picking up the dream call.
Step 2: Differentiate between the social and professional body language. Yes! Highly recommended that you learn how to present yourself socially and how not to giggle in front of your boss.
Step 3: Monitor! Common mistakes that we often indulge in is that we never polish our body language as much we polish our shoes. Monitoring the change in behavior or the need to change in behavior is key to mastering this pitfall.
Step 4: Don't masquerade or mimic. Ever observed you mind pushing to be someone else? Or you got into the trap that mirroring is similar to copying someones' body language (wishes for your healthy teeth! ) Mirroring is a potent body language, but it must not be obvious and repetition should be avoided for your own safe and sound balance.
Step 5: Congruent and consistent! Congruence occur when your thoughts and words are in tune with one another and well corroborated by the body. Conflicting body language can make one question what is being said and seek reassurance.
Step 6: Go for a Smart lie. Displaying the best and covering the rest is an element of spontaneity and there comes the trick to lie smartly. Stick to the basic element of your body language and practice confidence and assertiveness to display the best traits.
Step 7: Be a good Negotiator. Make a plan for what you want to achieve. An insight into your wants and platform you are onto can help you train your mind to act and react in synced manner.
Step 8: Read them! To survive and flourish in this world you must be equipped to deal with difficult situation and difficult people. There comes the emotional and intellectual quotient into play. Read your prospect, read their body language and you are ready to turn the tables.
Step 9: Manipulate! Not others, but your stance. Anyone can tell when someone is losing interest or is exaggerating. Rescue the situation with spontaneity and interpretation. Role of your smiling eyes comes into play here. Establish the eye contact and intrigue the audience.
Step 10: Practice! Never hesitate to practice in front of a mirror, work on the pitfalls of your body language. You are your best when you are comfortable with yourself.
How to corroborate your body language with the prospects?
We often learn and master the perfect body language tricks, but still not able to get the attention or curiously finding for reassurances. The pitfall here is the corroboration with your audience. All you need to do is be sensitive to other's gestures.
Take note of the following-
The sets of gestures and technique to master a well suited body language, portrayed above is both personal and professional in nature and it's up to you to maintain and balance the body language according to need and environment you are in. But take proper care that repeated gestures and behaviors have the tendency to overpower the once not practiced very often (negative or positive). Thus, indulge in habits to look, behave, act and react your best all the time.
All the best!
I hope you have gone through my earlier blog 'Introduce the New You' and understood that how important it is to know oneself. Thus, to begin this, let's be very clear that you got to understand your body language first.
But what is Body Language? And why it is called so?
Language has not everything to do with the speech, its also about the gestures, the expressions, the stances and definitely the emotions you communicate through your body. Its interesting to know that people judge you by your clothes and shoes, but it's even more interesting to know that people often mark your walking style, your hand gestures and definitely how you rolled your eyes (remember!). And only this language which is visibly evident without you uttering a single word is called Visual communication or Body Language.
It is universal and need not be translated to English, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic. The sole parameter getting you hold everyone's attention in a board meeting, classroom, parties or dates; is thus named so.
Can someones' Body Language be same as others?
Ever heard, "Every soul is different, and we have something unique in us." Gotcha!
Don't be judgmental, ever have observed a sales person persuading you to buy the most unwanted item for your kitchen or study table? He is attending your doubts and taking care of your pocket. But, when you fall in the trap and when you don't; depend on the sales person. Every sales person, team leader, presenter receives similar training and ethics classes but one outshine the other.
How?
Because body languages relate to the much admired skill of emotional intelligence and intellectual capacity.
Let's delve how to learn and master your unique body language.
Step 1: Don't try to learn individual signals, i.e. You must look and observe your body language in different scenarios. How your eyebrows widen and shrink, when that straight back is humped and when you are inactive picking up the dream call.
Step 2: Differentiate between the social and professional body language. Yes! Highly recommended that you learn how to present yourself socially and how not to giggle in front of your boss.
Step 3: Monitor! Common mistakes that we often indulge in is that we never polish our body language as much we polish our shoes. Monitoring the change in behavior or the need to change in behavior is key to mastering this pitfall.
Step 4: Don't masquerade or mimic. Ever observed you mind pushing to be someone else? Or you got into the trap that mirroring is similar to copying someones' body language (wishes for your healthy teeth! ) Mirroring is a potent body language, but it must not be obvious and repetition should be avoided for your own safe and sound balance.
Step 5: Congruent and consistent! Congruence occur when your thoughts and words are in tune with one another and well corroborated by the body. Conflicting body language can make one question what is being said and seek reassurance.
Step 6: Go for a Smart lie. Displaying the best and covering the rest is an element of spontaneity and there comes the trick to lie smartly. Stick to the basic element of your body language and practice confidence and assertiveness to display the best traits.
Step 7: Be a good Negotiator. Make a plan for what you want to achieve. An insight into your wants and platform you are onto can help you train your mind to act and react in synced manner.
Step 8: Read them! To survive and flourish in this world you must be equipped to deal with difficult situation and difficult people. There comes the emotional and intellectual quotient into play. Read your prospect, read their body language and you are ready to turn the tables.
Step 9: Manipulate! Not others, but your stance. Anyone can tell when someone is losing interest or is exaggerating. Rescue the situation with spontaneity and interpretation. Role of your smiling eyes comes into play here. Establish the eye contact and intrigue the audience.
Step 10: Practice! Never hesitate to practice in front of a mirror, work on the pitfalls of your body language. You are your best when you are comfortable with yourself.
How to corroborate your body language with the prospects?
We often learn and master the perfect body language tricks, but still not able to get the attention or curiously finding for reassurances. The pitfall here is the corroboration with your audience. All you need to do is be sensitive to other's gestures.
Take note of the following-
- Imitated by the prospect quite often, this shows them losing interest and trying hard to hold up the conversation.
- Poor eye contact or eyes closing briefly, shows boredom.
- Slumped posture or body lowering, again showing submissive nature.
The sets of gestures and technique to master a well suited body language, portrayed above is both personal and professional in nature and it's up to you to maintain and balance the body language according to need and environment you are in. But take proper care that repeated gestures and behaviors have the tendency to overpower the once not practiced very often (negative or positive). Thus, indulge in habits to look, behave, act and react your best all the time.
" No diet can substitute the wisdom of your body. Feed it proper."
Comments