BODY LANGUAGE IN INTERVIEWS!!!!

BODY LANGUAGE

Introduction

1.       If you look at the screen, you will see a set of faces. How would you describe the emotion each face expresses ?   Joyful, Interested, Arrogant, Hurt. That was easy, wasn’t it ?  We have just completed an exercise in reading faces.  How did decipher it ? The answer is -  Body Language, which is the topic of my talk today.

2.                   A small pt before we start.  Taking a cue from one of the guest speakers…

3.       We saw in the management series how communication is
fundamental to all meaningful relationships  at the social and professional levels. We dealt more with verbal communications, although a mention of non verbal communications was made. According to a pioneer in   the field of non-verbal communication, Professor Ray Birdwhistle,       “ More human communication takes place by way of gestures, postures, position and distance than by any other way.”   A recent research has revealed that as much as 55 per cent of human communication is non-verbal or through ‘Body Language’.

“What is Body Language ?”

5.                 Body language is the way people unconsciously telegraph their private thoughts

and emotions through body movements – the way in which they

·        fold their arms,

·        cross their legs,

·         sit,

·        stand,

·        walk,

·        use their hips,

·        eyes and

·        even in the subtle way they move their lips.

·        We indicate our being puzzled by wrinkling our eyebrows,

·         cross our arms to remain aloof,

·        shrug our shoulders to show indifference,

·        wink to display intimacy or

·        slap our forehead to acknowledge forgetfulness.

5.       When we encounter people, we   usually

·        look  first at their face to see if their expression reflects what they are saying.

·        Then we listen to the tone of their voice to check if there are any indications of the emotions involved.

·        Finally, we actually listen to the spoken words.

·        Even if these are cynical or sarcastic, we will accept them as a joke if the speaker’s face is jovial and happy.

6.                 Our body is sensitive to our emotional state and clearly transmits whatever messages we intend or do not intend to communicate.

·        Eg, you can’t fool your mother or wife about their culinary prowess or cooking abilities by sweet sounding words, if your Body Language says otherwise. Therefore, it is evident that all of us speak two languages - one using words and the other using body movements.

The Characteristics of Body Language

7.                 Two essentials of any language are

·        a medium of communication and

·        a script.

8.       Medium of Body Language.     The medium of Body Language is, of course, the body. It covers a range of aspects of the body, such as :-

·        Facial expressions (smiles, nods).

·        Gestures (especially hand and arm movements).

·        Body movements.

·        Posture.

·        Visual orientation (like eye contact).

·        Physical contacts (handshakes, patting).

·        Spatial behaviour (proximity, distance, positions). Two or more people in a large gathering or in a public place may indicate that for the time being they are a closed group by their spatial positions.

·         Appearance (including clothes).

·        Non-verbal vocalisations. Paralanguage is the technical term for voice cues that are non-verbal, eg,

·        laughing,

·        crying,

·        groaning,

·        yawning and intonation,

·        voice quality and

·        emphasis which are commonly used to reinforce verbal meaning.

·         There are also feedback signals such as ‘good’ and ‘really’.

·        Whistling could also fall under this category as it indicates a variety of feelings.

9.       Does Body Language Have a Script?       Body Language often follows an unspoken script. The strange part is that if we were asked to explain or describe how we understand the script, we find the task difficult if not impossible. But the fact is that we read or interpret it rather easily, moreover we ourselves use the script.

·        Eg, we say to someone, “That was terrific,” but transmit the message in a way that makes it clear that we do not mean it and are being sarcastic.

·        The script for sarcasm requires of us a lot of specific non verbal actions like

·        raising of both eye brows in an exaggerated manner, or

·        speaking very slowly or

·        changing the tone of our voice and

·        lacing undue emphasis on the word ‘terrific’.

10.                      Although  we may not be aware of  the  hidden  rules that govern

listening behaviour, we can immediately make out whether the person we are talking to is paying attn or not. In a conversation, a listener nods his head and mutters hmm sounds. A faint smile may indicate that the listener is enjoying the conversation whereas a raised eyebrow or the corner of the mouth pulled down may indicate disagreement. These are silent messages that control our conversation.