Magic Words Verses Body Language

How to make success out of body language while reading the messages

The common body languages today are used to mean many different things. Some people will use signals of hands, head, arms, legs, posture and more to convey a message. According to few the verbal messages only convey 10 percent of what it actually means, while I stand to dispute this claim. The words speak louder when action is put behind them, this is true. In other words, if you say you are going to do something, yet make no move to do it, thus your words are meaningless. However, if you say you are going to do something on a set date and attend to the task, thus your words and actions just said you are a reliable person.

Some of the common hand signals for the deaf as well as others are the finger numbers. If you point the pointing finger straight up with all other fingers tucked inside you are saying the number one. If the hand has the thumb connecting with the pointing finger and all other fingers a slanted downward so that the hand has like a circle, you are expressing the number ten.

Yet, what about signals we send in interviews, public speaking, intimate engagements, and the like. How can we use the body parts to convey a message that wins over the other person? Are our words more magical than our body languages, or do we need to combine the two to make a difference?

Funny, people can analyze body languages and find successful areas whereas to convince another person that this is the ultimate choice, however, some of us prefer to keep it real. For example, there are all types of people in the world. Some people will not use body language, yet are successful with their words, tone etc in convincing another person or even a group of persons that they are speaking the truth.

For example, a woman in our local area has accomplished deceiving an entire town nearly, until years later her lies came to the front. As I sit and spoke with this woman studying her behaviors closely for around fifteen minutes, I too could have become a victim of this woman's fatal words. She showed no signs of body language, and her eyes required close monitoring so that you could see she was strategically lying.

What are we to consider then? Are our words enough or do we need body language to make a point? Sure we do. We need the signals coming from our body to enforce our words; however we also need to recognize the signals and words expressed to us to become successful in any area of life.

Let's consider a few hand signals that most people fail to recognize, or rarely see the signals conveyed. If you wanted to send a message to a person to start his/her engines you would bend the elbow with the arm extended up and the index finger in the air waving in a circular fashion, moving it from side to side.

If you want to extend a hazardous message you will extend the arm (left) at an angle around 45 degrees and then point with a finger toward the ground. To slow a process you would extend the arm (left) at an angle around 45 degrees and with a hand move it upwards and down. To stop a process you will extend the arm (left) at an angle around 45 degrees and using the palm of the same hand you will face it in a rear motion.

What does this have to do with speaking in public? It has a lot to do with speaking in public, especially if you can not verbally relay the message.