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December 24, 2006

Body Language is Effective in Public Speaking

Public speaking is a very important skill that kids need to enhance when in school. You need to have self-confidence to be an effective public speaker. Enhancing your public speaking skills is never a difficult task.

Treat your listeners as your friends and you will not feel any anxiety and pressure when doing your presentation. However, there are instances where you may encounter hostile audiences. If your audience participates and listens attentively, they would expect you to have a good result in the presentation.

You may encounter different kinds of people. You may find people that are helping you to build confidence in public speaking. You may think of ways to interact with them. You can also make some activities to involve them in any discussion. Always remember that even if they are not participating, you can always have a two-way communication in one way or another.

You have to give your attention to those people who are actively involving themselves in your presentation. You can easily distinguish those persons who are listening and interested. You may look at their facial expressions and body movements such as if they are nodding their heads. This means that they may agree to what you are saying to them.

There are also those audiences that frown and show their disagreements to what you are saying. If there are instances like this, you should be satisfied with the reactions you have created. This means that they are listening to you.

You have to point out the subjects and issues in your presentations. Keep them awake during the course of your speech. There may be times that you are a lousy speaker. Listeners will tend to sleep and be lousy as well. That is one thing that you do not want to experience in your public speaking.

You may ask rhetorical questions to keep them away from going to sleep. You have to include them by directly calling the name of the person when you are about to ask a question. If the situation is still at a lousy pace, you should change your strategy on the way you deliver the topic.

You have to be ready for any circumstance that may occur in public speaking. Eye contact with the listeners is very important in communicating with your audience. You can at least lend 5 to 10 seconds to each person in the conference room.

You may change the volume of your voice and be provocative in the way you speak. A lively speaker can create an active audience. Always remember that public speaking requires a lot of practice. The first time may not bring you a satisfactory outcome. However, that will make you improve as a public speaker.

 

Posted by Leon Edward at 11:01 AM |


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December 23, 2006

The Wonders of Body Language

Actions do speak louder, much louder, than words. If every action and gesture could only be instantly converted to real and communicative words, you would be surprised to hear the loudest screams from every action from people.

Some people have unconsciously given out the real content of their hearts and of their minds on actions. That is why through the years, communication experts and researchers have dealt a great time and focus into looking closely at body language.

Body language

Body language clearly and effectively conveys ideas, feelings and thoughts. Thus, looking a person straight in the eye and with great intensity, could convey the lust and passion one person is feeling for the other.

Sometimes, people develop the uncanny ability of communicating just through mere eye contacts. People with that ability are said to have developed the great sense of rapport.

Anger, admiration, security, doubt, happiness, disappointment, lust, passion, sadness and all other emotions can be communicated and conveyed even without the use of words. The art and function of body language would have to take its toll.

Some obvious and common body language

You might have probably learned a little practical body language lessons and knowledge by observing the gestures and actions of your parents, officemates, or partner.

For example, when your partner is talking to you, and he or she suddenly crossed his or her arms, that should be a great warning to you that your partner is having some insecure moments and he or she wants to conceal that from you.

Crossing one’s arms is a great body language, somehow a reflex that means the person is protective of himself or herself. That means that his or her sense of self security is put at risk, and he or she will protect it to the extent that he or she would have to attack others’

Justification would be the more appropriate and effective word for that reaction. When someone does that while talking to you, beware, and do not rub much into the person’s face. Otherwise, you would rub some wound and could be reverted back to you.

Another body language or gesture would be the handshake.

Handshakes are common in the civilized world. Through handshakes, people firm up and symbolize openness and willingness to open up to a new acquaintance.

Loose handshakes could indicate disinterest. If you met a new friend or acquaintance and the handshake was not that firm, it means the person is not that open and happy to having known you.

Firm handshakes on friends mean that the other person looks at you significantly and that person value and treasure you as a friend. He or she wants to keep a firm grip on your friendship, which is a really good actuation or symbol.

How to deal with negative body language

Of course there are also gestures and body languages that depict and clearly point out negative emotions and feelings.

When encountering such gestures from people, you are sometimes put up to a difficult and compromising situation. The best thing to do during instances like these is to keep your focus and self confidence.

If your conscience is clear, and you are harboring no ill feelings or intention toward people, you should not be afraid and uncomfortable.

The body is there for a lot of functions. Doing out tasks is not the limit to the body. Conveying messages and feelings would further be made effective by the support and use of body language.

Posted by Leon Edward at 09:26 PM |


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December 21, 2006

Know A Person's Personality through Body Language

Body language is interrelated with your attitude and your confidence. As you must know, people communicate with each other on various levels. The words spoken are just a small percentage of what you communicate. Majority of your communication is the way you move, your gestures, your mannerisms, your diction, or to sum them all up, your body language.

 

 

Society has created a link between your actions and how people feel. For instance, you are seen walking back and forth ceaselessly outside the delivery room. You have just expressed that you are nervous about your wife, who is, if you conclude the situation, giving birth. Such movements are very much obvious, even to kids. That is why you can't hide what you feel that easily.

 

 

Knowing Their Character

 

You can also know more about other people by just observing their body language. You can tell if a certain girl is promiscuous if you see her showing the skin of her thighs to every man who passes by. You will know if a man is sloppy because he sips his coffee too loud. You can tell almost everything about someone just by the way they look.

 


Body language tends to stereotype people. If you’re a party animal and you see a geek walking hesitantly toward you, you would probably not give him much of your time because you already have this perception that he is going to be a doze-off. However, if you see an extremely confident person who happens to wear the latest fashion styles, your mind would be purporting “What an eye-catcher!” You would have to be losing some of your marbles if you reject him.

 

 

Now here is the big question. What if the very same nerd enters the room and approaches you with money written all over him and with the world's latest fashion trend? Would you regard him with any difference? No, there would not be much of a difference with how much you would probably be treating him. You would be seeing the same nerd, only with expensive clothing; but he is still the same nerd.

 

 

Body Language’s Influence on Confidence

 

Who are the truly confident people? They are the ones who have a well-known profession. They are the doctors, company directors, rich men, and the list of the upper class people in the society goes on. Some people who

 

do not entirely make thousands of bucks a day are still confident, but that case is somewhat one in a hundred.

 

 

Observe how they take care of themselves. See how they walk, talk, and stand. You will notice that they seem to have a notion on how to control time. They act like as if they have time playing on the palm of their hands. They sail smoothly, and you seldom see them in a hurry. Their presence is obviously radiant. This is how you get to realize that he is one bigwig.

 

 

See how body language is so significant? It establishes your mark in the society. So if you are one of those who care so highly about your image, then you should mind your body language and act the way your character dictates you to act.

 

 

Posted by Leon Edward at 05:57 PM |


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Watch Your Body Language!

Picture this scenario.
You are applying for a job in the corporate world. You passed the required examinations and now you scheduled for an interview.  You offer a limp handshake and mumble a few words greeting your interviewer. She asks you about your previous employment and you cannot look straight into her eyes. After a few minutes, the interview was over. She advised you to just wait for her call.
Did you know that non-verbal language sends a stronger message than what you actually say?
Observe the people in the corporate world. Many convey the message that they are defensive instead of being frank, direct, and defensive. On the other hand, people from the suburbs display gentleness and kindness. Other types of people display calmness and serenity as if they have achieved completeness and are at peace with the world.
Most of these behaviors are readily recognized by the other people. However, not all forms of non-verbal communication can easily be recognized and comprehended. Other forms of communication need certain levels of acceptance in order to learn the real message behind them.
These neglected forms of communication can affect one’s social standing and even one’s career or future.
Some people use non-verbal forms of communication to detect and assess the behavior of another individual. They use body language in determining a person’s personality and total wellbeing.

Body Language and Your Future Career

Body language is a non-verbal form of communication. This means that the individual tries to communicate his feelings or ideas through gestures or body movements rather than use words or other types of communication.
Corporate people have learned to consider this form of communication as one way of assessing a person especially when applying for a job. They silently evaluate the applicant and decipher whether what he or she is expressing verbally is consistent with his or her actions or gestures.
Body language can be voluntary or involuntary. Their meanings may vary. In the social context, psychologists and sociologists have learned to decipher the meaning of certain body language. This enables a person to gain an understanding of the message being communicated by the other person.
For this reason, experts advice job interviewees and applicants to be aware of their gestures or hand and eye movements as these has great impact on how they come across during an interview.
Applicants should remember that during interviews, employers are very observant and meticulous about the way an individual reacts to the situation, the way he answers the challenging questions, and how he projects himself. This provides the employer a gauge if a person can handle the job better than the other applicants.
 

Facial Expression

Facial expressions can suggest or express an individual’s emotions or feelings.
In essence, facial expressions are controlled forms of body language. These involve feelings or sentiments. Most often than not, these are spontaneous and instinctive.
Then again, during the interview, it is best to control most of the facial expressions and project an aura of efficiency and confidence. Interviewers or employers would like to see an individual who is eager to get the job done and has a pleasant personality who can work with a team.
An employer can easily sense the applicant’s confidence with himself. An insecure or unconfident person would most likely be fidgety. Even if he will not admit it, his actions will speak for themselves.

Eye Contact

Eye contact is a strong way to convey emotions or feelings towards another person. In fact, experts say that eye contact can have a great impact on social manners. It can directly express one’s confidence and personality.
Eye contact can also build trust. The interviewer can easily evaluate if the applicant is confident of what he is saying. Once trust is established, it would be easy for the applicant to express and highlight his or her skills and accomplishments and eventually get the job.
Avoiding the other person’s eye send signals that may end one’s future career. It could mean that the other person is guilty of something or is trying to avoid the truth.

Gestures

Gestures can also have a large influence during the interview. In most interviews, employers watch how an applicant reacts to certain situation through his facial expressions or “body and facial gestures.”
For instance, if an applicant did not like the idea stated by the interviewer, rolling the eyes could indicate a negative emotion. This simple gesture could mean frustration, annoyance, or arrogance.
All of these things are important during the interview. It is best to be aware of them to avoid negative results. People should use body language to their advantage during interviews.  Use it to convey professionalism and confidence. As they say, actions speak louder than words.

Posted by Leon Edward at 05:24 PM |


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