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Leg Barriers

Standard Leg-Cross Position

Standard Leg-Cross Position
  • One leg is crossed neatly over the other, usually the right over the left. This is the normal crossed-leg position used by European, British, Australian and New Zealand cultures and may be used to show a nervous, reserved or defensive attitude.
  • For example, people often sit like this during lectures or if they are on uncomfortable chairs for long periods.
  • When the crossed legs gesture is combined with crossed arms, the person has withdrawn from the conversation.

The American Figure 4 Leg Lock Position

The American Figure 4 Leg Lock Position
  • This leg cross indicates that an argumentative or competitive attitude exists. It is the sitting position used by many American males who have a competitive nature. This being the case, it is difficult to interpret the attitude of an American during a conversation, but it is quite obvious when this gesture is used by a British citizen.
  • The person who has a hard and fast attitude in an argument or debate will often lock the figure 4 into place with one or both hands, using them as a clamp. This is a sign of the tough-minded, stubborn individual who may need a special approach to break through his resistance.

Standing Leg Cross Gestures

Standing Leg Cross Gestures

The Ankle-Lock Gesture

The Ankle-Lock Gesture
  • Male Version of Ankle Lock - is often combined with clenched fists resting on the knees or with the hands tightly gripping the arms of the chair.
  • Femal Version of Ankle Lock - varies slightly the knees are held together, the feet may be to one side and the hands rest side by side or one on top of the other resting on the upper legs.

Arm Barrier Gestures

Standard Arm Cross Gesture

Standard Arm Cross Gesture
  • The standard arm-cross gesture is a universal gesture signifying the same defensive or negative attitude almost everywhere. It is commonly seen when a person is among strangers in public meetings, queues, cafeterias, elevators or anywhere that people feel uncertain or insecure.

Reinforced Arm-Cross Gesture

Reinforced Arm-Cross Gesture
  • The full arm-cross gesture the person has clenched fists, it indicates a hostile and defensive attitude.
  • The person using this gesture cluster has an attacking attitude, as opposed to the person.

Arm Gripping Gesture

Arm Gripping Gesture
  • A superior type can make his superiority felt in the presence of persons he has just met by not folding his arms, but take an arm-fold gesture with both thumbs pointing vertically upwards.
  • This gesture is the defensive version of both arms being held horizontally in front of the body with both thumbs up to show that the user is 'cool'.

Partial Arm-Cross Barrier Gestures

Partial Arm-Cross Barriers Gesture
  • The full arm-cross gesture is sometimes too obvious to use around others because it tells them that we are fearful. Occasionally we substitute a subtler version - the partial arm cross, in which one arm swings across the body to hold or touch the other arm to form the barrier.
  • The partial arm barrier is often seen at meetings where a person may be a stranger to the group or is lacking in self-confidence. Another popular version of a partial arm barrier is holding hands with oneself, a gesture commonly used by people who stand before a crowd to receive an award or give a speech.

Disguised Arm-Cross Gestures

Disguised Arm-Cross Gestures
  • Disguised arm-cross gestures are highly sophisticated gestures used by people who are continually exposed to others. This group includes politicians, sales people, television personalities and the like who do not want their audience to detect that they are unsure of themselves or nervous.

Hand and Face Gestures

The Mouth Guard

The Mouth Guard  Gesture
  • The mouth guard is one of the few adult gestures that is as obvious as a child's. The hand covers the mouth and the thumb is pressed against the cheek as the brain sub-consciously instructs it to try and suppress the deceitful words that are being said. Sometimes this gesture may only be several fingers over the mouth or even a closed fist, but its meaning remains the same.
  • Many people try to disguise the mouth guard gesture by giving a fake cough.If the person who is speaking uses this gesture, it indicates that he is telling a lie. If, however, he covers his mouth while you are speaking, it indicates that he feels you are lying!

Nose Touching and Eye Rub

Nose Touching and Eye Rub Gesture
  • The Nose Touch - In essence, the nose touch gesture is a sophisticated, disguised version of the mouth guard gesture. It may consist of several light rubs below the nose or it may be one quick, almost imperceptible touch. Like the mouth guard gesture, it can be used both by the speaker to disguise his own deceit and by the listener who doubts the speaker’s words.
  • The Eye Rub - 'See no evil' says the wise monkey, and this gesture is the brain's attempt to block out the deceit, doubt or lie that it sees or to avoid having to look at the face of the person to whom he is telling the lie. Men usually rub their eyes vigorously and if the lie is a big one they will often look away, normally towards the floor. Women use a small, gentle rubbing motion just below the eye, either because they have been brought up to avoid making robust gestures, or to avoid smudging make-up. They also avoid a listener’s gaze by looking at the ceiling.

Ear Rub and Neck Scratch

Ear Rub and Neck Scratch Gesture
  • The Ear Rub - This is, in effect, an attempt by the listener to 'hear no evil' in trying to block the words by putting the hand around or over the ear. This is the sophisticated adult version of the handsover-both-ears gesture used by the young child who wants to block out his parent's reprimands. Other variations of the ear rub gesture include rubbing the back of the ear, the finger drill (where the fingertip is screwed back and forth inside the ear), pulling at the earlobe or bending the entire ear forward to cover the earhole. This last gesture is a signal that the person has heard enough or may want to speak.
  • The Neck Scratch - In this case, the index finger of the writing hand scratches below the earlobe, or may even scratch the side of the neck. Our observation of this gesture, reveals an interesting point. The person scratches about five times. Rarely is the number of scratches less than five and seldom more than five. This gesture is a signal of doubt or uncertainty and is characteristic of the person who says, "I'm not sure I agree." It is very noticeable when the verbal language contradicts it, for example, when the person says something like, "I can understand how you feel."

Collar Pull Gesture and Fingers in the Mouth Gesture

The Fingers in the Mouth and The Collar Pull gesture
  • The Collar Pull - when a person is feeling angry or frustrated or sweating and needs to pull the collar away from his neck in an attempt to let the cool air circulate around it. When you see someone use this gesture, a question like, "Would you repeat that, please?" or, "Could you clarify that point, please?" can cause the would-be deceiver to give the game away.
  • Fingers in the Mouth - Morris's explanation of this gesture is that the fingers are placed in the mouth when a person is under pressure. Whereas most hand-to-mouth gestures involve lying or deception, the fingers-in-mouth gesture is an outward manifestation of an inner need for reassurance. Giving the person guarantees and assurances is appropriate when this gesture appears.

Cheek Gestures

Boredom and Interested Gesture
  • Boredom Gesture - When the listener begins to use his hand to support his head, it is a signal that boredom has set in and his supporting hand is an attempt to hold his head up to stop himself from falling asleep. Extreme boredom and lack of interest are shown when the head is fully supported by the hand.
  • Interested Gesture - Interested gesture is shown by a closed hand resting on the cheek, often with the index finger pointing upwards. Should the person begin to lose interest but wish to appear interested, for courtesy’s sake, the position will alter slightly so that the heel of the palm supports the head.
  • Genuine interest is shown when the hand is on the cheek, not used as a head support.

Chin Stroking Gestures

Chin Stroking Gestures
  • When the index finger points vertically up the cheek and the thumb supports the chin, the listener is having negative or critical thoughts about the speaker or his subject. Often the index finger may rub or pull at the eye as the negative thoughts continue.
  • The next time you have the opportunity to present an idea to a group of people, watch them carefully as you give your idea and you will notice something fascinating. Most, if not all the members of your audience will bring one hand up to their faces and begin to use evaluation gestures. As you come to the conclusion of your presentation and ask for the group to give opinions or suggestions about the idea, the evaluation gestures will cease. One hand will move to the chin and begin a chin-stroking gesture.
  • This chin-stroking gesture is the signal that the listener is making a decision. When you have asked the listeners for a decision and their gestures have changed from evaluation to decision-making.

Head-Rubbing and Head-Slapping Gestures

Head-Rubbing and Head-Slapping Gestures
  • Pain in Neck Gesture - A person who uses this when lying usually avoids your gaze and looks down. This gesture is also used as a signal of frustration or anger and, when this is the case, the hand slaps the back of the neck first and then begins to rub the neck.
  • Forgetfulness Gesture - The slapping of the head communicates forgetfulness, the person signals how he feels about you or the situation by the position used when he slaps his hand on his head, either the forehead or the neck. If he slaps his forehead he signals that he is not intimidated by your having mentioned his forgetfulness, but when he slaps the back of his neck. He non-verbally tells you that you are literally a ‘pain-in-the-neck’ for pointing out his error.

Hand and Arm Gestures

Rubbing the palms together

Rubbing the palms together
  • Rubbing the palms together - Rubbing the palms together is a way in which people non-verbally communicate positive expectation.

Hands Clenched Together

Hands Clenched Together

Research by Nierenberg and Calero on the hands-clenched position brought them to the conclusion that this was a frustration gesture, signalling that the person was holding back a negative attitude. The gesture has three main positions,

  • The person would be more difficult to handle when the hands are held high, than he would be with the person whom hands resting on the desk position. Like all negative gestures, some action needs to be taken to unlock the person’s fingers to expose the palms and the front of the body, or the hostile attitude will remain.

Steepling Hands

the raised steeple and the lowered steeple

People who are confident, superior types or who use minimal or restricted body gestures often use this gesture, and, by doing so, they signal their confident attitude. It is frequently used in superior/subordinate interaction and that it can be an isolated gesture which indicates a confident or 'know-it-all' attitude. Managers often use this gesture position when giving instructions or advice to subordinates and it is particularly common among accountants, lawyers, managers and the like. The gesture has two versions,

  • The Raised Steeple - The position is normally taken when the steepler is giving his opinions or ideas and is doing the talking.
  • The Lowered Steeple - The position is normally used when the steepler is listening rather than speaking.

Gripping Hands, Arms and Wrists

The hand gripping gesture
  • Superiority/Confidence Gesture - Several prominent male members of the British Royal Family are noted for their habit of walking with their head up, chin out and one palm gripping the other hand behind the back. Not only does British Royalty use this gesture; it is common among Royalty of many countries. On the local scene, the gesture is used by the policeman patrolling his beat, the headmaster of the local school when he is walking through the school yard, senior military personnel and others in a position of authority.
  • Hand-Gripping-Wrist Gesture - which is a signal of frustration and an attempt at self-control. In this ase one hand grips the other wrist or arm very tightly as if it is an attempt by one arm to prevent the other from striking out.
  • Upper Arm Grip Gesture - The further the hand is moved up the back, the more angry the person has become. He is showing a greater attempt at self-control than the man in Hand-Gripping-Wrist Gesture man, because the hand is gripping the upper arm, not just the wrist. It is this type of gesture that has given rise to such expressions as, 'Get a good grip on yourself'.

Thumb Displays

Male and female back pocket gesture

The thumbs denote strength of character and ego and the non-verbal use of thumbs agrees with this. They are used to display dominance, superiority or even aggression; thumb gestures are secondary gestures, a supportive part of a gesture cluster. Thumb displays are positive signals, often used in the typical pose of the 'cool' manager who uses them in the presence of subordinates.

  • Dominant Male - Arms folded with thumbs pointing upwards is another popular thumb gesture position. This is a double signal, being that of a defensive or negative attitude, (folded arms) plus a superior attitude (displayed by the thumbs). The person using this double gesture usually gesticulates with his or her thumbs, and rocking on the balls of the feet when standing is common.
  • Dominant Female - Dominant or aggressive women also use this gesture. The women’s movement has allowed them to adopt many male gestures and positions. In addition to all this, thumb thrusters will often rock on the balls of their feet to give the impression of extra height.

Palm Gestures In Body language

Palm Gestures

Palm Positions
  • Submissive Palm Position - The palm facing up is used as a submissive, non-threatening gesture, reminiscent of the pleading gesture of a street beggar. The person being asked to move the box will not feel that the request is given with pressure and, in a normal superior/subordinate situation, will not feel threatened by the request.
  • Dominant Palm Position - When the palm is turned to face downwards, you will have immediate authority. The person to whom you have directed the request feels that he has been given an order to remove the box and may feel antagonistic towards you, depending on your relationship with him. For example, if the person to whom you gave the request was a co-worker of equal status, he could reject your palm-down request and would be more likely to carry out your wish if you had used the palm-up position. If the person to whom you give the request is your subordinate, the palm-down gesture is acceptable, as you have the authority to use it.
  • Aggressive Palm Position - The palm is closed into a fist and the pointed finger becomes a symbolic club with which the speaker figuratively beats his listener into submission. The pointed finger is one of the most irritating gestures that a person can use while speaking, particularly when it beats time to the speaker’s words. If you are an habitual finger-pointer, try practising the palm-up and palm-down positions and you will find that you create a more relaxed attitude and have a more positive effect on other people.

Shaking Hands

Shaking the hands
  • Glove Handshake - The glove handshake is sometimes called the politician’s handshake. The initiator tries to give the receiver the impression that he is trustworthy and honest, but when this technique is used on a person he has just met, it has the reverse effect. The receiver feels suspicious and cautious about the initiator’s intentions. The glove should only be used with people to whom the initiator is well-known.

Double Handed Handshakes

The Wrist hold and Elbow grasp handshake
  • The intention of the double-handed handshake is to show sincerity, trust or depth of feeling towards the receiver. Two significant elements should be noticed. Firstly, the left hand is used to communicate the extra feeling that the initiator wishes to transmit and its extent is related to the distance that the initiator’s left hand is moved up the receiver’s right arm.
  • Elbow Grasp - The elbow grasp, transmits more feeling than the wrist hold, and the shoulder hold.
  • In general, the wrist hold and the elbow grasp are acceptable only between close friends or relatives and in these cases, the initiator’s left hand penetrates only the receiver’s intimate zone.
The Wrist hold and Elbow grasp handshake
  • The shoulder hold and the upper arm grip enter the receiver’s close intimate zone and may involve actual body contact. They should be used only between people who experience a close emotional bond at the time of the handshake.

Body Zones

Zone Distances

Zone Distances

The radius of the air bubble around suburban middle class white people living in Australia, New Zealand, England, North America and Canada is generally the same. It can be broken down into four distinct zone distances.

  • Intimate Zone (between 15 and 45 centimetres or 6 to 18 inches) - Of all the zone distances, this is by far the most important as it is this zone that a person guards as if it were his own property. Only those who are emotionally close to that person are permitted to enter it. This includes lovers, parents, spouse, children, close friends and relatives. There is a sub-zone that extends up to 15 centimetres (6 inches) from the body that can be entered only during physical contact. This is the close intimate zone.
  • Personal Zone (between 46 centimetres and 1.22 metres or 18 to 48 inches) - This is the distance that we stand from others at cocktail parties, office parties, social functions and friendly gatherings.
  • Social Zone (between 1.22 and 3.6 metres or 4 to 12 feet) - We stand at this distance from strangers, the plumber or carpenter doing repairs around our home, the postman, the local shopkeeper, the new employee at work and people whom we do not know very well.
  • Public Zone (over 3.6 metres or 12 feet) - Whenever we address a large group of people, this is the comfortable distance at which we choose to stand.

Conversation Distance

Acceptable conversation distance

Greeting Each Other

Greeting Each Other

Gestures

Shoulder Shrug Gesture

The shoulder shrug gesture
  • The shoulder shrug is also a good example of a universal gesture that is used to show that a person does not know or understand what you are talking about. It is a multiple gesture that has three main parts: exposed palms, hunched shoulders and raised brow.

The Ring or ‘OK’ Gesture

Everything is ok
  • The ’OK’ meaning is common to all English-speaking countries and it means "All correct".

The Thumb-Up Gesture

No worries
  • In Britain, Australia and New Zealand the thumb-up gesture has three meanings, it is commonly used by hitch-hikers who are thumbing a lift, it is an OK signal, and when the thumb is jerked sharply upwards it becomes an insult signal, meaning ‘up yours’ or ‘sit on this’. In some countries, such as Greece, its main meaning is ‘get stuffed’.

Congruence (state of agreement)

Common critical evaluation cluster
  • We often see a high ranking politician standing behind a lectern with his arms tightly folded across his chest (defensive) and chin down (critical or hostile), while telling his audience how receptive and open he is to the ideas of young people.

How To Tell Lies Successfully

Child telling a lie

Body Language Speaks Volumes


Body language speaks volumes.
  • Up to 93 % of communication is non-verbal. Including tone of voice, eye movement, posture, hand gestures, facial expressions and more. The pressure of body language can especially be felt in emotional situations. Body language usually prevails over words. Are you good at reading body language?
  • The eyes communicate more than any other part of the human anatomy. Staring or gazing at others can create pressure and tension in the room. Gangs have fought over the way someone looked at them. Researcher suggests that individuals who can routinely out gaze another develop a sense of control and power over others not so inclined. Maintained eye contact can show if a person is trustworthy, sincere or caring. Shifty eyes, too much blinking can suggest deception. People with eye movements that are relaxed and comfortable yet attentive to the person they are conversing with are seen as more sincere and honest.
  • Eyebrow muscle draws the eyebrows down and toward the center of the face if someone is annoyed. If someone is empathetic and caring during dialogue the eyebrows will not show the annoyed facial grimace. See eye signal gestures.
  • The smile: There are 50 or so different types of human smiles. By analyzing the movements of over 80 facial muscles involved in smiling, researchers can tell when a smile is true. Look for the crinkle in the skin at the middle, outside corner of the eyes and if it is not there, the smile is probably fake. Authentic smiles are smiles that "crest" or change rapidly from a small facial movement to a broad open expression.
  • Bodily cues are the most reliable of all nonverbal signals of deception to help you read body language. This is because a person generally has less conscious control over these than other signals. (Springer, 1996; Ekman & Friesen, 1974). Hand-to-face gestures and shrugs are strong markers of deception. Playing with or touching things nearby during conversations has been found to be associated with deception (Cody & O'Hair, 1983). Deceivers also are likely to have increased illustrator activity--quick and animated use of hands/arms during speech.
  • Vocal cues can predict deception. More and lengthier pauses during conversation; a lot of such sounds as "uh," "um," word repetitions; intruding sounds not part of the actual speech, less lengthy answers or explanations where they would be expected to be.
  • Space is important. Personal space is needed and if it is invaded intentionally and at times by oversight can cause an individual to feel uncomfortable or threatened. Studies have shown that individuals that do not respect others space are less popular and often rejected by others.
  • Body language arms gestures
  • Gestures communicate. Hand signals can communicate without the use of any speech. Touching communicates. Touching can be friendly or it can be aggressive. The way a person stands reflects their level of confidence and comfort level. If a person stands tall so to speak they are seen as more confident. If someone is standing with their hands on their hips that can indicate aggression or alertness.
  • When you interact socially develop your listening and observations skills. The above are a guide for looking for the clues to deception they are not fool proof.
  • Watch your body language. Avoid shifting eyes and head quickly during conversation when someone asks you a question. Do not look down or to the side. Look directly at the person with a sense of confidence but not overbearing or threatening in nature.
  • Note: If you want to win someone over a good rule of thumb is to mirror his or her body language. Read their body language and follow their lead.
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