body language navarro
Body Language, One
Vocabulary
| tone | posture | contradict |
| cue | reveal | unconscious |
| claim | gesture | perfect (2) |
| suspect | witness | interrogate |
| share | generate | what’s more |
| convey | conscious | limbic system |
| largely | pattern | under our control |
| armed | interpret | to a certain extent |
| code | outcome | all the time |
| client | stranger | negotiation |
| decode | period (2) | interaction |
| vendor | prospect |
93%
According to psychologists, only about seven percent of human communication is through words alone.
This means that over 90% of our communication is nonverbal: by the tone of voice…body postures…facial expressions…gestures…breathing patterns…hand and feet movements.
These cues reveal far more than what a person says — frequently, the messages contradict each other (and guess which always wins?)
FBI Agent
Joe Navarro, a former FBI officer, claims to know how to “speed-read” people.
He perfected this skill while interrogating suspected criminals, terrorists, and witnesses over a 25-year period, and shares his finding in books such as What Every Body is Saying and Louder than Words.
Navarro and other experts explain how our limbic system generates all body language and what we convey to the outside world.
Good News, Bad News
The bad news is that these processes are unconscious, and therefore largely out of our control.
The good news is that interpreting body language, and to a certain extend, controlling our own physical communication is learnable.
Practice
Armed with this knowledge, anyone could decode others, be they their boss, colleagues, prospects, clients, vendors, friends, family members, even total strangers.
What’s more, with practice, it’s possible to influence the course and outcomes of human interactions: interviews…negotiations…meetings… presentations… business meals…speeches…
Politicians do this all the time.
Questions
1. What do the numbers 7 and 93 refer to?
2. If words and body language conflict, which “wins”?
3. Joe Navarro is….
4. People have complete control over what they say and how they move their bodies. True or false?
5. Only psychics and experts can read body language. Yes or no?
6. Would being able to read body language be useful in business? Give examples.
A. Give examples of body language from your friends, classmates, and colleagues.
B. I have seen the TV series “Lie to Me”. Yes or no?
C. Could you tell if someone was lying?
D. Is body language universal or does it vary according to cultures?
E. How would understanding body language help in your career and life?
F. As a result of globalization, most body languages will become universal. What do you think?
