Body Language Do's & Don'ts | Good Manners

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Hi, I'm Faye de Muyshondt of Socialskilz, here to teach you about body language basics. So many people say that your body speaks much more loudly than your words speak and it's probably...It has quite a bit of truth. It's really important that as you speak you exhibit great body language. The most important aspects of your body language are, number one, your shoulders and where your shoulders are positioned as you speak to other people. So, your shoulders could be like this or they could be like this, and that slight change makes an enormous difference in what your body is saying about you. This little change could make me seem like I'm insecure or don't have much confidence, but moving my shoulders up changes the entire dynamic of how I'm coming across.

Also, a really important part of your body language is your hands and what you're doing with your hands. Now, some people have a really hard time with what to do with their hands as they're speaking. If you have a hard time with it what I suggest is if you're sitting, just putting your hands in your lap or if you're standing just making sure that they're at your sides or folded in front of you. A lot of people have a hard time with playing with things, with playing with bracelets, with playing with hair, fumbling with their pockets. So, be aware as you speak next time of what your hands are doing. Where are your hands? Are they stationary? Or, you can ask someone else to make this assessment for you. Have a conversation with them and ask them to keep an eye on where your hands are during the conversation.

Another important element of your body language is the fact that you need to be standing still, so if you're moving during a conversation that's going to give off the impression that you're nervous or that you're uncomfortable during the conversation. So, be sure that you're standing stationary and that you're not moving around as you're talking. And, your feet, as you're talking, you don't want to be moving your feet around or lifting up your knee or moving your feet around. You want to make sure that those are stationary as well. The whole idea is that you don't want to distract someone while they're speaking or while you're speaking. Not only is it distracting, but it can make you come across as insecure, less than confident, or even uncomfortable during a conversation. You definitely don't want to give off that impression.

So, your body language speaks a great deal. You want to make sure that you have great body language as you're communicating and speaking with other people. It's probably one of the most important elements to making a good first impression.