Chapter 16
Reading the Signs
In This Chapter
Showing that youâre interested
Paying attention to all the signals
Recognising different types of gestures
In order to interpret body language accurately, you have to notice it first. If you think this sounds pretty obvious, youâre right. And yet some people just donât pay enough attention to how someone else is behaving. Then theyâre surprised when the person tells them heâs unhappy, heâs angry, or heâs packing up and leaving home. âBut you never told meâ, is the response. âIf youâd paid attention, youâd have realisedâ, comes the reply.
Noticing how people behave is the first step towards understanding. After that, you can begin to interpret what their behaviour means. Be careful at this point. The experienced observer knows that it takes more than one gesture to convey a message.
Think of body language in the same way as you do the spoken word. If you want to communicate a concept you have to speak several words, or even a few sentences, to express what you mean. Body language works the same way. One gesture doesnât tell the whole story. It takes several actions, working together, to signal a personâs feelings, ...
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