How to Read Body Language

Reading body language is an incredibly useful tool to have at your disposal.  Unfortunately It can be a huge subject to cover.  Despite this there are some very simple basics you can learn how to read body language.

These simple basics on how to read body language can come in incredibly useful. Whether you are in the office, home,closing a business deal, or even playing poker, you can always gain an upper hand!

The pro’s at reading body language will be able to look for hundreds of telltale signs, however on top of this they also learn to control their own emotions! Learning how to read body language to this level can take a lot of time, fortunately there are four basics that anyone can learn!

Reading Body Language from the Eyes

The eyes are one of the key tells of a persons thoughts and emotions.  Everyone learns the pure basics, crying can mean extreme happiness or sadness, drooping eyelids can mean tiredness, and so on.  There ar however a few more intricate things you need to look at to read what someone is thinking from their body language.

If a person looks up then it often signals that they are imagining something, this is a very common phenomena, if it drifts to the side then they are generally thinking of something other than the conversation.  This does not necessarily mean people are bored, or not listening to you, many people will hold a conversation with interest, but still be able to think about another subject entirely.

Looking down is often a sign of sadness, or physical memory, because eyes look up for imagination and down for physical memory you can tell a persons viewpoint on life by their eyes.  Where as looking up is a sign of imagination looking down can often be a look back at the past.  Some people naturally look downwards, it is important not to confuse this with a sadness or drifting thought.

Looking downwards can often be a sign of submission, towards a more dominant person.  It is this sign of submission that is a tell tale sign of someone who is lying.

Drifting sideways can mean several things, from a loss of interest, looking for a way to escape.  A quick glance can mean several things, since direct eye contact can be considered confrontational it is natural to glance away several times a minute.  However a sharp glance can often mean irritation.

An interesting fact of eye movement is that in most cases right handed people eyes look left is when they recall a sound, looking right is when they are imagining a sound.  This is reversed for left handed people. If you know the persons good hand you can often tell if people are making up a story, or telling someone else’s story instead of telling a true story that happened to them.

Regular shifting of eyes left and right can mean three basic things, that they are lying, searching for an escape or feel uncomfortable.  Some people are naturally uncomfortable in social situations so always subconsciously look for an escape. Habitual liars however often look around for on the spot inspiration!

Blinking more often shows an increase in brain activity, and while this does not occur in everyone, it is a tell often used in poker to determine the strength of a players hand.

A person closing their eyes is trying to shut out the world around them, this can signify boredom, fear, hate, or uncomfortableness. However people with active imaginations often close their eyes for short periods as they imagine what is on their mind!

Pupil Size can tell you a lot of things, when you learn how to read body language you can read books full of information on this.  A shrinking pupil can signify amazement of shock.  An enlarged pupil can often mean attraction or interest, remember however that light and darkness will also affect the size of your pupils.

Reading Body Language from the Hands

The hands can tell quite a lot about a persons overall attitude to life.  Constantly moving hands show a heavily active imagination, hands in pockets can show a subdued demeanour.

The hands have a lot to say, however it is hard to categorize them all.  The best part of the body language concerning your hands is how naturally you can read touches.  A strong pat on the back is a friendly gesture, a stroke down the back can be romantic and a slap around the face, well pretty much says it all!

Hands can comfort, care, and hurt, but they can also lie.  A friendly pat on the back could be done by a person who does not care at all.  The body language of the hands is the most often faked, whether consciously or not!

Telling Body Language from the Hips and Legs

The hips control the direction of the body, if the hips move forward then it straightens your body, when the hips sink in it it lets the body slouch.  Hips forward gives a huge image of personal power and importance.

The position of the legs can show a persons interest in a conversation or item.  If a foot is pointing sideways it is a sure indicator that the person is subconsciously positioning themselves to move away.  This does not always mean the person is waiting to escape, some people naturally stand in this position, and indicates more a fear of social situations than boredom of a subject.

The skin gives off several signals, and if you want to learn how to read body language, it can be a great tell.  For starters sweating can help you realise if a lie is being told, and raised body hair often signifies fear (or just being cold). Te real tells of body language of the skin however come from scratches.

A scratch behind the ear generally means people don’t like what they are hearing, a scratch on the nose or mouth shows they don’t like what they are saying.  If a person scratches their arms it shows they are disliking their emotions or feelings. This is an often overlooked part of body language, but anyone who has had to listen to an awkward conversation will more than likely have seen all of these!

All of these tells can form an image of a persons inner monologue clearer than what the person speaks!  If you learn how to read body language you can gain a huge advantage in a number of ways over any conversation, debate, and dealing! psychology