STD: 8

Reading: Book

Body Language in Business

Decoding the Signals

Skill Set : 1 / Module : 2

Non-Verbal Communication
BOOK

Body Language in Business

Decoding the Signals
Adrian Furnham and Evgeniya Petrova

Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Recommendation
Body language and other forms of nonverbal behaviour are the subtext of all
communication. Becoming fluent as a receiver and a sender is a necessary
business skill. Authors Adrian Furnham and Evgeniya Petrova set out to debunk
popular myths about body language, particularly any promises that you can
learn to “read people like a book.” They examine different aspects of body
language, such as facial expression, gesture, touch and eye contact. They also
explain ways that body language provides cues and, in some cases, can
mislead. Lastly, they offer practical strategies to consider in using your body
language as well as decoding others’ signals. Furnham and Petrova broaden
their examination of nonverbal communication to include other subjects,
including feng shui, public speaking and bullying. Body language enthusiasts
seeking detail will find this all-encompassing analysis insightful. For the less
committed, the book’s aerial view of so many facets of this subject might
muddy the waters.

Take-Aways
Nonverbal communication includes body language as well as statements made
via appearance, behaviour or possessions.

Nonverbal behaviours reinforce, emphasize, punctuate or even contradict the

spoken word.

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Understanding nonverbal behaviour is a crucial business skill.

Body language includes looks, gestures, posture, touch, odour and expressions.

Character or culture influence some facial expressions, but others are innate.

The h u m a n s m i l e i s r i c h a n d v a r i e d , a n d c o m m u n i c a t e s m a n y
d i f f e r e n t messages.

People accurately assess others within seconds based on a “thin slice of

behaviour.”

Some people are better than others at controlling and interpreting nonverbal
messages.

Nonverbal behaviour offers cues about whether someone is lying or telling the
truth.

Fluency in body language is a valuable ability, especially when speaking in

public, negotiating or selling.

Summary
What Is Nonverbal Communication?
A broad definition of nonverbal communication includes any kind of signal sent
through the senses, as well as social statements made via dress, appearance or
the possession of particular objects. Body language is nonverbal behavior that
sends signals that communicate to the receiver, consciously or subconsciously.
Body language can be subtle or overt, rehearsed and controlled, or
spontaneous and physiologically revealing. It can be ideal for communicating
and emphasizing a message.

“Bodily communication is communication without words: it is anything

someone does to which someone else assigns meaning.”

Nonverbal behavior (NVB) serves to:

“Repeat, echo and emphasize what is being said.”

“Complement, modify and elaborate on verbal messages.”

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“Contradict or confuse verbal messages to show ambivalence or cover up
motives.”

“Substitute words.”

“Underline, accentuate, punctuate and moderate language.”

“Regulate and coordinate language.”

“Body language sends messages – messages about emotions, attitudes and

personality.”

When people communicate verbally, they use the spoken or written word to
convey messages. Visual cues include all NVB’s transmitted during face-to-face
interactions, such as appearance, smell, age, dress and movement. Vocal cues
can indicate the speaker’s emotional state, class, education or age.

“Nonverbal communication is a more primitive and often more powerful means

of communications than verbal communication.”

In addition to what you say, how you say it has great meaning based on your
tone, volume, speed, emphasis, pauses and more. However, experts who
authoritatively announce that people send 70% of their messages nonverbally
discount the power of language.

In most cases, words are the most accurate, precise way to communicate,
particularly because people can’t control all their nonverbal signals. Many
strong emotions “leak out.” For example, someone who is nervous might
sweat or blush. Controlling your body language is not always possible, even
when you can read it in others.

“We have an amazing ability to pinpoint other people accurately on a range of

different personality and qualities scales without any deliberation or conscious
thought on our part.”

Understanding nonverbal behavior can give you an advantage in negotiations,

improve your work performance, boost your ability to manage people and
enhance your communications. “Soft” skills, like reading body language, have
come to carry more weight in business.

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Body Language
Biologists began to study body language in the late 1800s. Charles Darwin
published the first definitive book on the subject, The Expression of the
Emotions in Man and Animals, in 1873. However, studying body language
became popular many years later, in 1967, when Desmond Morris
published The Naked Ape. Today scientists from various persuasions, from
anthropology to psychology and even sexology, study and write about the
topic. Though many people have published carefully researched data, a lot of
gobbledygook also appears on this theme, particularly in the areas of
“symbolism, power, and controllability” and the claim that “you can read
people like a book.” For example, Freudians say that people who stand with
their hands in their pockets are withdrawn, reclusive or secretive when
actually they might just be cold.

“The face is a highly expressive region. It is ‘readout’ of emotions: immediate,

spontaneous, honest and uncontrollable.”

Body language encompasses many physical signals such as looks, gestures,

posture, touch, odor and expression. The eyes convey messages as plain as
punctuation; for instance, glancing up at the end of a statement to gauge other
people’s reactions. Eyes communicate complex emotions, like shame.
Extended eye contact signals attention, cooperation and liking. The way people
make and maintain eye contact varies among cultures. Outgoing people make
more eye contact; introverts avoid an open gaze.

“Where, when and how we look are all part of the phenomenon of eye gaze,
one of the most important and primitive ways of communication.”

Facial expressions are highly communicative. Many are innate to humans, such
as looks of surprise, fear or pain. Cultural background influences how people
use facial expressions in social situations. They compose their faces in one way
at a funeral and another way at a wedding. Although people might try to mask
their emotions by using a “poker face,” the more genuine the expression, the
more authentically it reads – especially with smiles. Fake smiles don’t involve
the eyes and recipients instinctively understand if a smile is real or counterfeit.

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“Our ability to attribute other people’s states and attitudes relies on reading
body language.”

Psychologist Paul Ekman studied smiles extensively and identified several

types, including:

“The felt smile” – A genuine smile that conveys positive feeling.

“The fear smile or contempt smile” – A smile built on negative emotion.

“The dampened smile” – A smile someone tries to suppress.

“The miserable smile” – A smile someone uses to make the best of a situation.

“The flirtatious smile” – A come-hither signal.

“The Chaplin smile” – An exaggerated smile that is almost a parody of a smile.

“The qualifier smile” – A smile someone uses to convey unpleasant news.

“The coordinated smile” – A polite signal that shows, “I’m listening.”

“There is a skill in being a sender and a skill in being a receiver of nonverbal

communication.”

Humans use gestures for many reasons including emphasis, indicating

directions or drawing an imaginary picture. Some gestures are nearly universal,
such as nodding to show agreement, clapping to indicate approval or rubbing
your stomach to signal hunger. Yet gestures vary greatly from one country to
another. For example, a circle created by your thumb and forefinger means
“okay” in the US and “zero” in France, but in central Europe it is the equivalent
of an obscenity.

“EQ is about emotional literacy, and emotional literacy is about reading the
cues of nonverbal communication.”

Posture and body orientation send messages. Sitting at the head of a table
signals power; standing over someone indicates dominance. How close you
stand to someone – your body proximity – establishes territory. Cultures
define personal space differently, but people generally establish four zones of
body closeness: “intimate, personal, social and public.”

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“When stakes are high and emotions intense, especially in business
negotiations, body language is the source of information to be taken into
account.”

Touch, odor and voice are integral elements of body language. Contact, from
embracing to patting someone’s hand, stroking them or linking arms, is a
powerful communicator. People use touch to persuade, sympathize, show
affection or threaten. Many attach a spectrum of meaning to the way a person
shakes hands. Animals communicate via odor and so do people, but this
primitive system often operates beneath human consciousness.

What You See...

Ideally, people should evaluate each other based on individual character, but
assuming that appearance doesn’t play a part is naive. Science proves that
people assess others in seconds based on a “thin slice of behavior.” Moreover,
this initial assessment is uncannily accurate. Height, weight, body shape, skin
texture, symmetry of features and hair characteristics shape a person’s
attractiveness. Furthermore, firms are likelier to hire and promote good-
looking people, who generally have an easier time overall.

“Business people hope to detect the real, infallible truth and catch liars by
carefully analyzing...body language.”

How you dress can indicate your social class, reveal your values, underscore
your image or make an artistic statement. Many businesses dress their
employees in uniforms to denote cleanliness, rank or professionalism. Color
also plays a role since many colors have symbolic associations.

People express their emotions through body language, in part, because they
can't help it. Blushing, perspiring, changes in breathing or pupil dilation are
physical signs of emotions like anger, embarrassment or sexual excitement. As
people mature, they learn to read other people’s emotions by watching their
body language. Some of this skill is innate while some is culturally learned.
Often, someone people describe as perceptive and intuitive is simply very
adept at reading body language. However, some people send and interpret
nonverbal messages better than others. Generally, women read body language
better than men.

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“Training and experience do help in the business of lie detection, but even then
it is by no means simple or foolproof.”

People decode more proficiently as they mature, but the skill usually peaks in
the mid-20s. Some evidence shows a relationship between intelligence and
nonverbal skills. The smarter the child, the better he or she is at reading NVBs.
Extroverts and optimists read people better than introverts or close-minded
people do. Why do people act differently in various situations? The setting,
social rules, relationships and reasons for an interaction all influence their
behavior. Skilled people-watchers observe nuances in conduct that enrich their
understanding. Such people usually rate high in Emotional Intelligence (EQ),
the ability to “express emotion, regulate emotion in oneself and others, and
utilize emotion in solving problems.” Your EQ depends on your ability to read
body language with acuity.

Your Lips Say Yes, But Your Eyes Say...

Discerning between honesty and deception is a vital business skill, especially in
negotiating. People lie for many reasons: to protect themselves from
punishment, embarrassment or threat of violence; to win approval; to gain the
upper hand; or to take credit. Lying takes three forms. The first is the
commonly accepted “white lie,” told to avoid hurting another person’s
feelings. The second is the kind of expedient lying associated with the
stereotypical car salesman, or lying that misrepresents or excludes information
to gain business. The third level of lying, falsifying facts or omitting data
altogether, is the most insidious in business.

“Body language helps us quickly to sort out friends from foes, good from bad,
and sincere from dishonest words.”

Many people rely on body language to deduce if someone is lying. Liars betray
themselves via verbal and nonverbal cues. When dissembling, a person will
hesitate between sentences or talk about himself or herself in the third
person; speech cadence might vary from slow and uneven to quick and
hurried. Liars often are uncomfortable with silences and may explain too
much. Nonverbal cues include fidgeting, wriggling in a seat or making too much
or too little eye contact. Liars may speak in a monotone to mask their emotions

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or use more “comfort gestures” such as touching their lips. To detect when
someone is fibbing, look for variations outside his or her normal behavior.
Consider discrepancies between verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

“Body Language in Business”

In many business situations, fluency in body language is a valuable ability,
especially when speaking in public, negotiating or selling. Giving a speech is
nerve-racking for most people. Because it is so intimidating, many speakers
experience physical reactions: Their heart rate increases, they sweat and even
tremble. Deep breathing helps counteract these symptoms.

Good speakers’ nonverbal behaviors include assuming an open body stance

and suppressing distracting gestures like moving objects on the podium.
Engaging orators inspire their audiences, impart information or persuade their
listeners to consider a fresh viewpoint. They rehearse their nonverbal
behaviors, such as gestures, eye contact and stage movements. Speaking in
front of an audience of any size changes the dynamics of communication. The
speaker offers a message, the audience reacts; the speaker receives their
feedback and then changes in response.

During negotiations, nonverbal position and dominance clues signal who is in

charge and making decisions, and who is the helper. Nonverbal behaviors are
less binding than words during negotiations, yet they can suggest agreement,
disagreement or the desire for a particular course of action. Nonverbal vehicles
for relaying messages while negotiating include interpersonal distance,
nodding and smiling, posture, mirroring and eye contact. In sales, nonverbal
communication reinforces various methods of persuasion. In 2007, R. Cialdini
outlined six methods of persuasion: “Commitment and consistency,
reciprocation, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity.” Certain nonverbal
behaviors reinforce each one. For example, a handshake can entice a buyer to
enter a conversation. Motions that mirror a customer’s body language are
signs of empathy and likability.

Body language will not reveal the depths of your soul, but people who read it
well can gain accurate insights from very brief exposure. The main thing to
remember is that “the power of body language lies in its subtlety, in its

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promise of an action rather than the action itself. Body language hints towards
a certain disposition or behavior rather than identifies or determines it.”

About the Authors

Adrian Furnham, a psychology professor at London’s University College, has
written more than 60 books and 800 articles. He contributes to the Financial
Times and the BBC. Psychologist, researcher, ballet dancer and
scholar Evgeniya Petrova has won several Russian literature prizes.

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