How to Decode Body Language

Body language can express happiness.

Reading body language is important for making friends, dating, getting along in the workplace and pretty much any social interaction. Short of listening to what people say and observing facial expressions, it is the best way to read someone's mind and figure out how that person feels about you. Unfortunately it does not come naturally to all of us. Some of us need to carefully study body language in order to get an idea of what a person is thinking.

Instructions

Decoding Body Language

1. 

   Note this man's confident, open posture.

   Notice the ways posture indicates mood. Asses how open or closed their posture is. Closed postures typically involve legs crossed or close together, arms crossed or otherwise "protecting" the space around a persons chest. Open postures invvolve legs positioned farther apart, head upright, hands relaxed and palms facing outwards. Someone who feels safe, comfortable, and relaxed will display open posture. Someone who is feeling nervous or hostile will display closed posture

2. 

   This man shows interest by smiling and looking toward the woman, while she shows disinterest by blocking her body off with her arm (closed posture) and looking away.

   Pay attention to the orientation of the head, chest and knees to gauge attention and interest.

   Someone whose head, chest, and knees are oriented toward you, is fully engaged and interested in you. Someone who only turns the face, but not the chest and knees, toward you may not be fully engaged.

3. Watch interactions to assess how confident someone is. When people meet, confident, friendly people will generally initiate the interaction (with a smile, handshake, or whatever happens to be the cultural norm), while submissive, oblivious, shy, or unfriendly ones will wait for the other person to make the first move.

4. Watch the eyes to understand a whole host of emotions. One who looks directly into the eyes is interested, confident and socially aware. One who looks off to the side while talking may be disinterested or not very socially adept. Looking down is a sign of submissiveness or shyness. Rapidly darting eyes can be a sign of nervousness or fear. If someone looks at you and his or her eyes immediately dilate, it generally means the person is friendly toward you. If the eyes narrow, the person may be angry.

5. Recognize the hidden clues people will give when they are attracted to you. Because this set of behaviors often involves both interest and shyness, attraction is harder to decode than the previously described feelings, and the signs will vary from person to person, depending largely on how confident they are. In the initial stages, if someone looks at you and you look back, and then the person immediately looks down (a gesture of shyness) rather than to the side (a gesture of indifference), it is a sign of attraction. Small "accidental" touches and standing very close are a dead giveaway.

Tips & Warnings

• As important as body language is, facial expressions and tone of voice are much more telling cues of what someone is thinking and feeling.

References

• body language how to read body language signs and gestures - non-verbal communications - male and female, for work, social, dating, and mating relationships
• Using Body Language