Head - body language

Everyone knows that you can send signals with individual parts of the body as well as in concert.
For instance, the head can send such a wide range of signals that the face and other parts of the head. The head is very significant in body language.

The head tends to lead and determine general body direction, but it is also vital and vulnerable being where our brain is, so the head is used a lot in directional (likes and dislikes) body language, and in defensive (self-protection) body language too.

A person's head, due to a very flexible neck structure, can turn, jut forward, withdraw, tilt sideways, forwards, backwards. All of these movements have meanings, which given some thought about other signals can be understood.
Here, we focus just on movement of the head as affected by the neck muscles.

As the sensory center of our body, the head turns towards the things we like, and away from the things we want to avoid.

Truth is, it's quite instinctive to "get it" when it comes to the meaning of head gestures. We know that a nod means a 'yes' and shaking the head means a 'no' (most of us anyway). We also learned to recognize many other more subtle movements subconsciously, meaning we get a certain feedback from them but often if we were asked why is that so - we couldn't say.

I'll give an example that can illustrate this point perfectly. Suppose you're trying to convince your boss with a new idea you have for a product (just pretend) - you're enthusiastic and animated - you make the best to sell your idea. Your boss, however, doesn't say a single word during your presentation - he just sits there and stares at you, at the end of your presentation he just mention that he'll consider it. Do you think he bought your sales pitch? Of course not.

But how can you explain why is that so? Because if you relying solely on his words it can either mean a positive or negative reaction. Understanding body language gives you the edge - you'll know to recognize the nonverbal signals happening during the presentation, interpret them as positive or negative and change your strategy before the final chord is played.

Head gestures are mainly telling us 2 things:

· How someone is agreeable and in rapport with us

· How engaged, enthusiastic and committed they are to the current event, and if they're not - where their true interest lies.

With these two things in mind you can figure out many combination of attitudes:

o Animated and rhythmic head-nods show agreement and understanding.

o Erratic head movements with frequent eye glances to the sides show discomfort and stress. This person clearly doesn't want to be where he is and he seeks help or escape route from another direction.

o Slow head shake shows disbelief or uncertainty towards a remark being said. "I just can't believe it...". If it was a faster head shaking it was a decisive "no".

So, head gestures reveal the way we see things and how we feel about them and head - is dynamic and busy in communicating all sorts of messages - consciously and unconsciously.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1225