Body Language Essay Research Paper Body

Body Language Essay, Research Paper

Body Language

In most areas around the world, English and Latin are known as the universal languages. There is one language that most people forget, body language. Most body gestures are understandable to people all over the world. For example, most people realize that when a person has their arms crossed they are not very open to what another person has to say. Body language itself is great to analyze as a correspondent of written/spoken language because the roots of a gesture are often much more apparent than the roots for a word. Because body language involves physicality, interaction and communication can occur on a much more basic and primitive level as a means of communication.

All of us are trained in the use of speech, to communicate what we mean in a way that other people will understand. As we are trained to use speech to communicate we also are taught how to position our bodies to express what we are feeling. As children learn from their parents how to speak, they also observe the gestures that their parents use when saying certain words. Communication through body language is in this way somewhat of an unconscious learned behavior. A person’s external body language speaks amplitudes. Your subconscious mind records everything it sees and experiences, including body language and the words it hears, then analyzes their consistency and spits out true gut feelings. That is why you can usually rely on your gut feelings.By observing somebody’s posture, eye movements, and breathing you can gain information about what she/he is doing in her/his mind. You can get the same information by listening to the qualities of her/his tone of voice.

The style you use when speaking is as important as the words you choose to use. When someone has a very sarcastic tone of voice the speaker is often unpleasant about the topic that they are talking about. When a person’s tone of voice is sarcastic, their body language is often sarcastic. For example, when they are saying the sarcastic statement the speaker may roll their eyes. Most people are unconscious of their body language, but it speaks volumes about what they’re really thinking. Everyone uses body language to communicate, whether they are aware of it or not.

Body language is either positive or negative. Some examples of positive body language are relaxed posture, good eye contact, nodding agreement, smiling or adding humor, and gesturing warmly. Negative body language includes a tense body, having you arms folded in front of you, having a hand on your face, fidgeting, placing your arms behind head, leaning back, yawning, exhibiting impatience or distraction, leaning away, and displaying negative facial expressions. When a person is analyzing their body language they should try to appear open and warm, confident, trustworthy, and relaxed. When two people in a conversation exhibit these characteristics, a conversation is sure to go smooth and be successful.

Through life experience we have learned that people often lie with words. White lies are told numerous times in one day by a person. However, facial expressions and other body language tend to be more honest. When a person’s words and body movements are consistent, we feel more comfortable and confident that what that person is saying to us is true. When a person’s facial expression differs from their words, your experience tells you to believe the person’s body language, not the words. Everyone is aware that your body doesn’t know how to tell a lie. Body language, unlike spoken language is indefinite; so you have to be careful about how you interpret it. A certain movement or facial expression may be quite meaningful, or it may mean nothing at all. Therefore, it would not be wise to accuse someone of lying to you just because one of their gestures suggested that they were uncomfortable and lying.

It is impossible for a person to not communicate. No matter what you do, or don’t do, you still declare your emotional state. Each of us reveals our emotional state with non-verbal signals. During courting, and later in a romantic relationship, knowing what the other person is feeling helps you behave appropriately. But, to know what that person is experiencing, you must attack the environment with your eyes, ears, and yes, your inintuition. In relations miscommunication is often the cause of most of the arguments, that includes misunderstanding someone’s body language. For example, a person may get upset with their significant other simply for the look they have on their face when they say something, if something was said sarcastically, or if one person yawned in the middle of a conversation.

If you think about it everything that you think of as communication is actually body language: tone of voice, clearing our throats, rolling our eyes, touching our nose — everything except the words we say. Your eye contact, or lack of eye contact, communicates. Your pauses communicate. Your facial expressions communicate. Your crossed legs communicate. Your posture communicates. Your open hands communicate. Your aroma communicates. In particular, your appearance communicates; hair style, type of eye glasses, accessories, tattoos, and your overall choice of attire. Once again, everything about you is part of your personal communication.

Our bodies can be just as expressive as our tongues. In fact