Understanding Body Language: What to Look For

Understanding body language can be a daunting task. There are so many variables and so many different things that a single action can mean. And it can be so easy to develop your own interpretation of someone’s actions that is completely inconsistent with reality. So, how do we avoid this? How do we read body language accurately? This article does not intend to give a comprehensive list of what any action can mean. That would a work of several volumes. The goal here is to give a few simple things to watch for that will help you start to notice patterns in other people’s, and maybe your own, body language.

The first thing to look for is a change. Transitions, where there is a change in posture, are very important. When trying to understand body language you should take careful note of any time that someone goes from an open to a closed stance, or if they change from being relaxed to being tense. Once these changes are noted you can begin to look for the trigger.

A trigger is a cue, something that causes a certain physical response. Noone’s actions happen in a social vacuum. The words or actions that directly precede the change in body language should be carefully observed, and factored into whatever interpretation of the situation that you make.

Another thing to be on the lookout for is a group of changes. While changes in body language can happen as single events this is often not the case. It often happens as a group of related events. For example, someone who is trying to communicate superiority and aggression may puff their chest out, spread their legs, hold their head high, and their shoulders back. All of these happen relatively simultaneously, and understanding how they work in a group is a key part of interpreting the change.

The last thing to consider is the overall context of what is happening. One part of this is the person’s character. Another part of this is the person’s surroundings. Understanding how a person generally reacts to certain situations is a vital part of understanding their body language. Someone who is naturally extraverted will respond very differently to a situation that someone who is naturally extraverted. And the surroundings can play a role just as significant in determining a how a person will respond. If the surroundings are familiar and comfortable the response will be very different than if the surroundings are new and unknown.