Body Language From Head To Foot

It is very essential to have the ability to read and understand another person's body language. Listening only to the words the other person is saying is not always enough. His or her body language can always tell if that person is being honest in what she is saying and what she really feels deep inside.

Body language entails the gestures and movements involving the body, from head to foot. Each signal of body language may have different meanings, depending on the situation in which it was delivered.

Head

You can signal yes or no by the movement of the head. Nodding usually means “yes” or “I agree”. But in other countries such as Yugoslavia and Turkey, it sometimes means “no”.

Tilting the head backwards or to the side indicates that the person is thinking deeply or considering a though or idea.

Face (Eyes, Nose, Lips)

Facial expressions are obvious visible signs of how someone truly feels, however there are some people who have practiced to take control of their facial expressions by making them somewhat expressionless or passive.

Even with an inexpressive face, nobody could miss what is being expressed through the eyes. The eyes can speak volumes given any circumstance. Eye contact is a strong indication of focus of attention, interest, attraction, and honesty. You can spot somebody lying to you if he or she cannot hold an eye contact for a period of time. When the eyes would look away, it signifies lack of interest, dishonesty, and boredom.  But there are times when looking away signifies attraction or simply an occurrence of a slight distraction, for as long as the person will look back to the person he is talking to.

Touching or rubbing the nose is one of the most common self-touching gestures, which is usually done by people who are lying or trying to hide something. Blowing of the nose is a gesture seen as rude by most countries, but it is considered as healthy in some countries in Asia.

Licking or biting the lips is one of the typical signals of flirting done by women. Kissing is a gesture to show one's affection, and also used as a form of greeting. But there are conservative countries, particularly in Asia, which do not allow public display of affection such as kissing.  And in some cultures like in the Philippines and  Puerto Rico, the lips are used for pointing instead of the finger.

Arms And Hands

There are plenty different hand gestures, and each one has different meanings. The most common hand gestures are hands-in-the-pocket, arms crossed over the chest, hands on the waist, and handshakes. The first one may indicate nervousness or lack of interest. Crossing the arms signifies a defensive posture, and it may also mean doubt or suspicion of what the other person is saying. The hands on the waist may indicate anger or fury, but men also do this to show their masculinity. A handshake, meanwhile, is a form of greeting in most countries.

Legs And Feet

Crossing the legs are done by most people, especially women. Most of the time, it is done as a comfortable position. However, there are countries that regard this action as rude.

The Misuse Of The Ability

The ability of reading someone's body gestures sometimes is not reliable. The gestures performed by a person that are regarded as rude by other people maybe just habits of that person without the intention of being rude.

Body Language At Work

You can always use body language as a key to success in your work. You could give a good impression, convince clients, and please your boss. In communication, only 7% are the words and rest of the 93% is accounted for the nonverbal cues, which includes the aspects of speech and body language.

Appropriate Body Language During An Interview, Meeting Or Presentation

A job interview is usually nerve-wracking. But in order not to be included in the list of rejected applicants, you have to impress your interviewer by being confident. Here are the gestures and body movements you must observe during a job interview.

A firm handshake indicates confidence. Relax on the chair provided for you, but do not slouch. Slouching reflects laziness. Keep your heap up, and lean slightly forward. Place your hands on your lap, and never in your pocket. The hands-in-pocket gesture signifies nervousness, boredom, and dishonesty. As much as possible, do not cross your legs. But if crossing your legs would help calm your nerves, you may do so but point your body towards the direction of the interviewer. During the conversation, make sure you maintain eye contact to show your interest and eagerness to listen.

Art of Animation

Make use of your hands to punctuate or emphasize what you are saying. You will appear stiff if your hands will stay on your lap during the entire period of the interview. Hand gestures also signifies that you are honest and indeed knowledgeable of what you are talking about. You can do this while sitting or standing. During a presentation, move around, but walk slowly. The greatest presenters are those who can speak confidently with the right timing of body movements and gestures.

Gestures And Movements To Avoid

The wrong gestures, done consciously or unconsciously, could give the wrong impression to your boss, co-workers, and clients. These may be the reason of you getting fired. Therefore, you must avoid the following acts of body language.

Avoid pointing a finger at somebody, especially your boss. Even when you are angry or trying to emphasize a detail, it is regarded as a rude gesture. In meetings, refrain from showing signs of boredom and lack of interest. These signs include arms crossed over the chest, eyes on objects other than the person talking or the presentation itself, yawning, signing, drumming the fingers on the table, or tapping your foot.

Signs That You Are Not Doing A Good Job

If you are the presenter in a meeting or an applicant in a job interview, you must observe the body language of your audience as well. Reading their actions and movements could aid you to be aware of their reactions and if you are doing well.

You would detect if the other party is getting bored if their focus of attention is not on you. This is evident by the absence of eye contact. Observe their hands as well. Even if their eyes are on you, but if their hand are busy, it may mean they are thinking of something else. See if their fingers are playing with their pen or drumming on the surface of the table. Boredom is also indicated when the person in front of you begin to slouch back into their chair.

Signs of opposition to your ideas and opinions are also determined when the other party crosses their arms, wrinkle their forehead, and tilt their head.

However, the signs above sometimes do not reflect how someone really feels. What is important is that you know how to prepare yourself in critical times at the workplace.

Body Language: Signs Of Falling In Love

How can you tell that a person is already falling in love with you? A person's body language can spell out his or her true feelings and intentions for you. A person in love has that certain glow every time he or she is with that special person, but what are the other signs?

You will notice that a person is already falling for you if he can't stand being far from you, gives more smiles and laughter, mirror your actions, cannot keep his eyes off you, and have that certain glow.

Personal Space And Distance

A person in love with you would look for several ways just to be closer to you. You will know that a person's personal space has gotten smaller when he or she gets comfortable with you even in the slightest distance. And notice if in a room full of people, he will always try to stay close to you.

That person would also tend to lean his body towards you, whether when sitting down or standing up. The direction of his or her body would be always turned towards you. If not, then the direction of her eyes will show who is in her mind.

More Touch, Smiles, And Laughter

A person who is starting to fall for you would listen to you more, thus would give more reactions than he or she did during your first dates. There would be more laughter even for the cheesiest jokes. While talking, one will find in inevitable from smiling, especially during silence. This is because that person is truly enjoying his or her time with you.

He or she would also touch you from time to time. A tap on the shoulder, placing the hand on the small of the back, hugging, and holding the hands are some of the most common touching body language in falling in love.

The Mirroring Actions

This is a funny yet very sweet signal of attraction since it is done unconsciously most of the time. This is where a person would imitate the actions of that special person. For example, you will prop your chin onto your hand, the person in love with you will follow that specific action.

The Longer Stare

A person in love with you simply cannot take his eyes off you. Most especially when the feeling has just begun to develop, he or she would find difficulty in concentrating on other things. The stare is usually intimate or intense, and it is accompanied with a slight smile.

That Certain Glow

Somehow unexplainable, a person has a certain aura around him or her when he or she is in love and happy. It is due to the extreme happiness and joy coming from the inside, and this is well-reflected with a sparkle in the eyes and a smile that is hard to remove from the face.

When a person falls in love, it changes him entirely and this is reflected in his or her body language. Some people fail to notice this, but these signs are definitely there. The person himself is even unaware that he is already providing hints and clues about his true feelings for that special someone. Most people find them hard to miss, and would love these signals of deep attraction sent through the silence but delivered by simple romantic actions and gestures.

Art And Meaning Of Body Language

Body language involves many gestures and movements, and each one with different meanings. It is a  complex method of communicating. But the art of body language is that when you learn the interpretations and indications of different body signals, you are able to determine one's inner feelings and emotions. Thus you can control the situation by knowing how to react in advance.

Eye Contact

When one can maintain the eye contact and even prolong it, it is indicative that his focus of attention is in listening to the other person. The inability to maintain it has many meanings, depending on the situation. When there is sudden breakage of eye contact and the eye wanders off to another direction, it may mean that he is distracted by a certain object, like another person entering the room. It may also mean that he is losing interest, getting bored, and would like to get out of the conversation.

The eyes are also used in flirting, especially in knowing if the person is attracted to you or not. When your eyes meet across the room, and then one of you looks aways but looks back, it is a signal of attraction. It is also reflected when the eyes would go down to the lips and then back to the eyes again.

If the eyes would look up to the forehead of another person, it means he is talking to someone with superiority. When the eye would go down to the nose, it means that there are no figure of authority in both parties.

Handshakes

There are two meanings of handshakes. It can show confidence, or the exact opposite, shyness. Confidence is evident in a firm handshake with the hand pointing downward. The palms should also come in contact with each other. On the other hand, a weak handshake with the hand pointing upward indicates shyness or nervousness.

Hand And Arm Gestures

The two most common hand and arm gestures that are advised to be avoided are putting the hands in the pocket and arm crossing. The first gesture, hands in the pocket, may indicate four things: he may be hiding something, bored and uninterested, refusing to perform a task, or nervous and anxious.

The latter gesture, crossing the arms across the chest may mean three things. The person may be protecting from a verbal attack, simply feeling cold, or even probably lying. But it may also indicate that he is disagreeing with you if you are the one talking.

Another common hand gesture is the clenched fist. This indicates anger, frustration, defensiveness, resistance, or confidence.

When Sitting Down And Standing Up

Your emotions can also be reflected by the way you stand or sit. Proper posture is with the shoulders squared and pulled back, but without too much tightening of the back muscles. With the back muscle rigid and stiff, you will appear very tense and nervous. Do not slouch as well. Slouching signifies laziness or boredom.

It is indeed beneficial if you know how to decipher the meanings of another person's body language. However, the indications are not true at all times. Not all impressions from reading body language last. This will only be supportive if you already have an idea on the personality of the person.

Acts Of Body Language That Should Be Avoided

Body language is one of the strongest means of communicating one's feelings, moods, attitude, and personality. In fact more than 60% of the communication process comes from the nonverbal cues which includes the body movements and speech volume, pitch, and pacing.

However, there are body gestures and movements generally considered as inappropriate and rude. A proper body language has a right place and a right time. Most of us are usually unaware of our actions. Thus, it is time to practice learning the acts of body language that must be observed and avoiding the actions which may be offensive to other people.

During A Job Interview

A job interview is a very important step to be accomplished by any applicant. They key to success to be hired for the vacant job does not only depend on the documents you passed. Your employer would also give high regards for the way you move and act. Thus, it is essential for any applicant to observe his body language when being interviewed.

One must avoid slouching, which indicates laziness and boredom. Do not tighten your body muscle as well, for this will make you look stiff thus making you look nervous and lacking confidence. Do not place your hands into your pockets as well; this reflects your anxiety and discomfort. Lack of confidence is very well reflected in tapping of the foot, drumming of the fingers, and fidgeting.

If You Want To Show Interest

Signs of interest includes eye contact, and one must be able to maintain it. It signifies that the focus of your attention is on that person. Frequent nodding and leaning your body towards that person also indicates that you are listening to him or her.

Generally Rude Body Language

There are many gestures that are regarded as rude by most people, or that you are avoiding to interact with them. This includes crossing the arms across the chest, holding objects such as books and a bag in front of you, inspecting the time on your watch or the clock, stroking your chin, standing too close, staring or narrowing your eyes, forcing smiles, placing the hand on the waist, slouching, touching your face frequently, blinking more than usual, foot tapping, and many more. Most of these gestures are done unconsciously, but nonetheless, the people who you are talking to may be offended by the said actions.

Posture And Body Movements

One who maintains a good posture is one who relaxes into the chair provided for him, yet his back remains straight with his chin slightly held up and shoulder pulled back. Confidence is also shown in eye contact and in a firm handshake. A poor posture is shown by slouching; it usually means laziness or lack of interest.

If you have a posture that shows confidence, people will treat you differently. They will treat you with more respect.

Be Conscious Of Your Actions

Be aware of how your body move or act. You might be already sending signals of rudeness even during the moments you do not intend to do so. Make sure you maintain a good posture and perform the proper gestures appropriate for the place and time. You might also as well consider the cultural background of the person you are talking to, and adjust to their acceptable behavior and body language.

Body Languages: When To Use Or Avoid

There is an appropriate timing and place for every act of body language.  Most of the time, we are oblivious to the messages we convey through our body gestures and movements. We could give negative signals that might offend other people without intending to do so. There are gestures that we indeed have to avoid, but it may require discipline and practice for the very reason that we may have been used to performing this negative acts in our daily lives.

It is very important for one to be observant of his body language, and those of other people as well. You can read other people by learning how to understand how they act and move. But you must also be aware that there are people who know how to interpret body language, and somebody may already be reading you now. Thus, be cautious of actions by knowing when to use them and what to avoid.

At Work

It is always relevant to be in your best self at work. By doing so, you can impress your boss and please clients. Simply be confident when facing somebody. If you are relaxed, other people would not regard you as overconfident. Show them you truly know what you are talking about by maintaining good posture, eye contact and using appropriate hand gestures.

During A Date

How can you give signs that you are indeed attracted to another person without telling them verbally how you really feel? The solution is simple. Talk with your eyes and match it with a bright smile. These two are enough to let somebody know you are indeed enjoying his or her company.

You would know that the date is going well when signals of flirtation are present. A woman would tend to touch her hair, lick her lips, eat or drink slowly, and preen. Meanwhile, a man would usually wink, close the distance between them, lean forward, and stand tall. Bottom line is both sexes want to impress their partner by showing the masculinity or sexiness through actions. And these signs are indeed just the beginning of a higher level in the relationship.

Acts You Must Practice To Avoid

There are many kinds of gestures that you must practice to avoid. At work, try to hide your anxiety or tension by avoiding fidgeting, trembling, or shaking. Avoid excessive hand movements when talking, since this could distract others from focusing on your statements. Avoid also excessive blinking; this shows you are are uneasy and nervous. Stop looking at your watch or the clock. This is very rude since you are giving an impression that you want to end the interaction right away.  Do not stroke you chin, lean on an elbow, and fake a smile.

When on a date, it would be much more polite if you directly say “no” rather than showing signals of rudeness to the person if you are uninterested or getting bored. Do not sigh, look at other people other than your partner, slouch, and prop your head on your hands.

Observe Cultural Differences

The appropriate use of body language also depend on where you are and who you are interacting with. You may be talking to somebody with a very conservative culture and regards some gestures rude and disrespectful, even if they are normally used in your place.

The Secrets and Tips In Body Language

Studying and learning how to read and understand body language could give you three advantages: (1) ability to control the situation, (2) know what others are thinking and intend to say, and lastly, (3) know how to express without the use of words.

Through body language, you can impress other people, detect lying, and even know if somebody is flirting with you. This article discusses what gestures are usually used in certain situation and body gestures and movements that you must avoid.

How To Be Impressive

You can impress you boss, an interviewer, co-worker, and other people by simply showing that you are confident through your actions, such as handshakes, posture, proper use of eye contact, and hand movements.

When shaking hands, make sure it is firm and your palm will come in contact with the palm of the other person. Make an eye contact for about two to three seconds and smile slightly. Maintain a good posture. When standing up, refrain from putting your hands in your pocket or crossing your arms. Meanwhile, when you are sitting down, down sit near the edge with your back tensely straight. This indicates that you are very nervous. Do not slouch as well. Simply relax into the chair without tightening your back muscles.

When conversing, maintain eye contact to make an impression that you are indeed interested and attentive to what the person is saying. If you are hesitant to prolong eye contact, the trick is to simply look on the bridge of the nose of the person. You may use hand movements when talking. The person you are talking to will think that you really know what you are talking about.

How You Can Detect Lying

A person lying is easy to determine through his eyes. When he cannot look straight into your eyes or is frequently removing his eyes from you, it means that he is being dishonest and may be hiding something. He would also tend to touch himself unconsciously. He would scratch his forehead, cover the mouth, or rub the nose. These are signs of discomfort due to the situation of lying.

Other signs indicative of lying are sweating, fidgeting, trembling, speech errors, body stiffness, and the like. However, people nowadays are already oriented that they will be caught lying when they cannot prolong eye contact; thus they try to maintain calm and prolong eye contact to cover up their lies.

Is She Or He Flirting?

The eyes can always send a signal of attraction.  Intense, prolonged eye contact is one flirting signal, as well as the three-step eye contact. When  one caught the eye of the other, he looks away, and then back again, it is a sure sign of attraction. Another common flirting signal that both men and women observe is smiling and preening.

Men flirt by showing their masculinity by standing tall and squaring their shoulders. Meanwhile, women loves to tease by tossing their hair, licking their lips, and showing some bare skin.

Acts Of Body Language You Must Avoid

These are negative signs that you should start avoiding when interacting with somebody: looking at the watch or clock and fingernails, crossing the arms, putting the hands in the pocket, holding objects in front of you, stroking the chin, squinting, forcing a smile, placing hands on the waist, rubbing the nape, slouching, tapping the foot, and the like.

Body language can truly send signals of emotions and state of mind. One needs only to learn how to understand how one acts in order to determine what is really going on in the mind of that person. That is the art of learning the secrets behind body language.

Body Language: Romance And Signs of Attraction

How can a person show his affection to another person without telling him or her? And how can one know that he or she is indeed attracted? Body language. One's body language is an obvious way of telling someone how he feels and what he wants to say. Your eyes, facial expressions, and body movements can truly express that you want to engage in a romantic or intimate relationship with another person.

What The Eyes Could Say

The eyes are strong indicators of romance and attraction. They can express, flirt, and even seduce much more better than words. Eye contact may not mean anything if it only happens briefly. But once it lasts longer and with an intense look, he or she is definitely into you. Winking will also work, but it does requires right timing. Another strong evidence of attraction is when one would catch your eye, then look away, then back at you again. But, if he or she would look away and never look back again, it is a clear sign that he or she is not interested.

Smile And Facial Expressions

The smile is one of the greatest sign that he or she likes you. It means that he is truly interested, comfortable, and enjoying. But make sure you know how to determine a forced smile from a sincere one. Raising the eyebrows, although unconsciously done, has also been observed to be done by people flirting with each other.

Magic Of Touch

Sometimes, leaning towards another is just not enough. Closing the distance is much better. A light tap or stroking of the arm could send electric signals to another person. Most of people would pretend that there is a smudge on the face or lint on the clothes just to have a reason to touch.

Difference Of Men And Women

Compared to men, women can send signals of attraction five times stronger. They have more flirting habits than men and most of them are done intentionally. They love to preen, play with their hair, tossing the hair over the shoulder, and play something with their hands such as a wine glass. Most women are also quite good in seduction and teasing men, especially when they involve their lips. Biting and licking their lips, putting on lipstick, eating or drinking slowly are the usual moves of an interested woman.

Meanwhile, men usually try to appear masculine to show their prowess to the women they like by giving them a look at their full length. They would try to stand taller, square their shoulders, and sometimes hook their thumbs into the belt for that macho aura. They also unconsciously touch their ties or collar, and this means they find you irresistible.

Signals Of An Invitation

You would determine if a person likes you if he or she would give the following signs: prolonged aye contact, raising of eyebrows, smiling back, laughing with you, leaning, closing the distance, imitation of actions of the partner, touching, preening, and the like. If you received these signs, it means there is a big possibility that you could take your interaction to a higher level.

Signs Indicating “No!”

A person is most likely not interested when he or she never glances back at you. You can also determine that person is starting to get bored or uninterested in you when his or her eyes start to wander, sigh, yawn, have a passive or neutral facial expression, and the like.

The signals of body language in terms of romance and attraction are easy to detect if you know how to interpret one's actions. Understanding gestures and body movements of another person can definitely help you know in advance if you can be intimate together or be rejected.

Flirting Body Languages In Men And Women

The flirting body language is complicated to understand and oftentimes misinterpreted. Men gives signs of flirtation in different ways compared to women. So how can you tell if someone is already flirting with you? Does she like me? Is he interested in me? This article discusses facts and tips on determining flirting signals.

Men's Flirting Signals

There are five standard body signals that a man is flirting: eye contact, raising the eyebrows, giving the masculine impression, touching self, and leaning towards you.

The first sign of attraction a man would give you is catching your eye. But if he passes on to another person and doesn't look back at you, it means that he is not interested. However, if he glimpses at you, looks away, and then back at you again, it is a very clear indication that he is attracted to you. Sometimes, eye contact would not mean anything. But if it lasts longer, it means something indeed is running in his mind and you are involved. The second signal, raising the eyebrow is not a very strong indication and is most of the time done unconsciously. It often means that he finds you interesting or sexy.

The third flirting sign is that men would square his shoulders and try to stand tall and straight. When sitting, his feet and legs will be apart. A man would also tend to hook his thumbs over his belt. These actions would show and emphasize his masculinity, with hopes that he would acquire that admiration from you.

Lastly, a man attracted to you would try to get closer to you or lean his body towards you. This act can be done intentionally or unconsciously.

Women's Flirting Signals

Research shows that women gives body language messages five to six times more than men. They can give many signs that she is flirting with you and they are easy to spot. The most common action is preening. A woman would tend to play, stroke or comb her hair and sometimes toss it over her shoulder. A strong flirting preening action is when a woman would involve her lips. Licking the lips, eating slowly, drinking with poise while having eye contact, and putting on lipstick can easily seduce a man.

Slowly crossing or stroking the legs is also a clear intentional flirting action by women. She would also tend too adjust her clothes to expose more skin. Playing with an object, like a glass, is a sign that she likes you. But make sure she is looking at you while doing it, otherwise it would mean that she is not interested.

“Yes, I like You”

The general signs saying that he or she is indeed interested with you include smiling, longer eye contact, preening, licking the lips, raising the eyebrows, playing with the hair, looking away and then back again, leaning towards you, head slightly tilted, mirroring your actions, good posture, frequent nodding, laughing, and many more. If you spot these signs, then it would be a great time to move a step further.

“No, I'm Really Not Interested”

How would you know if that quick glance did not mean anything and a connection is not happening? Watch out for these body language signals: looking away and not looking back, looking at other people, slouching, sighing loudly, passive expression, playing an object with her fingers without looking at you while you talk, dull eyes, crossing the arms, and the like.

Body language is truly a strong reinforcement of messages especially during flirting, seduction, and dating. Each one may have different ways to express their desires, but most of these actions have general meanings that are easy to decipher and learn.

The Power Of Eye Body Language

Cliché as it is, the eyes are indeed the windows of the soul. The eye body language is one of the most powerful mediums of nonverbal communication. It can either support or betray whatever you are saying. Even the slightest movement of the eye can indicate the biggest meaning.

Eye Contact

During a conversation, it is normal to have eye contact. It means differently in specific situations. Looking at a person directly to the eye means that you are interested in what he is saying. But the inability to take the eyes of another person when he or she is talking may also indicate doubt, suspicion, or lack of trust.

Appropriate use of eye contact also includes when to break eye contact. A long eye contact has many interpretations. It may mean a focused attention or sign of attraction. But this can sometimes be uncomfortable, thus the trick is to just look at the bridge of the nose. Long eye contact may also indicate a sign of authority or domination if one can do it without much blinking. However, prolonged eye contact may also pose as a threat, so breaking it from now and then is essential. But breaking it may indicate other meanings as well, such as situations wherein one wants to end the conversation, has been insulted or found out, or is being threatened.

Eye Movements

The eyes looking at different directions also have different meanings. When one looks up to the right, it means that he is imagining visual images.  Meanwhile, when he looks up to the left direction, it means that he is trying to recall a memory. However, there are still instances where it is in a reversed order, depending on the person. Try to test him first by asking him to recall a known memory and to picture out an event.

On the other hand, looking down may mean that one is talking to himself, but this is more evident if there is also movement of the lips. It is also a signal of guilt or submission. Looking down on another person means that he is control of the situation or is talking to someone who is under his superiority.

Lateral eye movements can also indicate signs of dishonesty, distraction, or simply checking out the surroundings. When looking from one eye to the other then going up to the forehead, it means that you are looking at somebody with superiority. When going down to the nose, you are talking to someone within the level of your status. And when looking from one eye to the other and down to the lips, it indicates a sign of attraction or romance.

Eyes Expressions

Different emotions and mood can be expressed through gazing, glancing, winking, squinting, closing, and staring. Gazing indicates interest or concentration. Glancing indicates desire. For example, one glances at food. It means that has a desire to eat. Winking indicates an agreement, and it could also be a means of flirtation. A person would squint his eyes if he is uncertain or trying to evaluate or verify truthfulness. Closing the eyes means that the person wants a moment to be away from the world, or simply trying to remember. And lastly, staring indicates a state of shock, surprise or disbelief.

Eyes of Romance and Flirtation

You can use your eyes to show affection to another person. Winking is one way to flirt. The process of looking at someone, quickly looking away, and then staring back is an obvious indication of attraction. A lingering, warm gaze is also an indicator of romance or desire.

If you know how to read and understand the eye body language, you will know what the person you are conversing with would want to tell you. And, if you know how to properly use it, you can take control of any situation or know when is the proper timing to use different eye movements or expressions.

Detecting Lies In Body Language

All of us have experienced lying, and many of us may even think they are already good at it. But how would you know if your partner, friend, sibling, lover, co-staff, acquaintance, or even a stranger is lying to you? What are the different clues to detect lying? The solution is simple: read and interpret his or her body language.

Signs To Look For

The most common signs of lying that you should look for are signs of nervousness, stress, anxiety, tension, defense, and discomfort. These will be evidenced by different gestures, facial expressions, actions, or mannerisms. And among them are self-touching, speech errors, speech hesitations, different eye movements, discrepancies in the body and posture, and many more.

Touching Self

Self touches are also known as adaptors. Liars would tend to touch or rub their nose, scratch their forehead, play with the hair, wring or twist their fingers, cover the mouth, and the like. The urge of frequent self touching indicates extreme nervousness and increasing tension. However, there are some people that have already trained themselves to avoid using these adaptors. Thus, detecting other clues is relevant.

Speech Errors And Hesitations

People who lie, especially those caught in the act, stumble over their speech, stutter, or even mispronounce. Voice pitch will somehow ascend and pacing is faster. However, clues in the speech is tricky. A person may already have speech defects at birth or it may be normal for that person to speak in a fast pace. These are only helpful if you are already familiar with how the person speaks.

Eye Movements

The eyes are the loudest channel of honesty and lies. Eye movements that may indicate lying include lateral movement, squinting, frequent blinking, and looking away. Pupil dilation also occurs during a state of tension, but this is not easy to observe. For ages, it was believed that the inability to hold one's gaze for a long time indicates lying. However, many people are already aware of this and practice over time how to lie even with eye contact.

Body and Posture Discrepancies

A person may cover up lies through confident facial expressions and voice pitch and volume, however their body can reveal dishonesty. Fidgeting, shakiness, trembling of the hands, body stiffness, shuffling of the feet, and jitters are typical indicators of lying, but they are not that definitive or reliable. Gestures showing the palm indicates sincerity. But in lying, the palms are rarely seen and are usually inside their pockets. As a defensive posture and protection, one would tend to cross his arms across his chest. Liars are also prone to sweating, increasing heart rate, breathing deeper, and being pale.

Other Clues Of Lying

Aside from those stated above, there are several more indicators of lying. However, they are less reliable in detection of dishonesty. Among them are forced smiles, slight tightening of the forehead between the eyebrows, lip biting, hand shrugs, movement of the Adam's apple, delay of answers or response, flaring of nostrils, tighter lips, elbows pulled to the sides, tilting head movements, inability to concentrate on other things, and other unnatural gestures.

This is the art of understanding body language. Even though sometimes unreliable, several different gestures can tell you how sincere and honest a person is to you. Simply look for the typical signs of lying and detect dishonesty instantly.