Body Language: Arm-Swing

Many people study body language to learn how to detect lies. Believe it or not, they are successful in their endeavors. The human body gives away all the signals you need to “read” your interlocutor

. So if you feel like you are being lied to here’s my tip: trust your instinct. You are being lied to!

I could give you a lot of tips on how to catch a liar, but this is not the main purpose of this series. I write this because there is not much online about body language, or if there is the topics are too general, and I write this because I know that body language can mean the difference between making a good impression or a bad one. I can only hope that my advice will help you with a job interview (a great CV and perfect answers mean nothing if your body fails to backup your message), a meeting with the media, a business meeting and (why not?) a date!

Business Meetings and Arm-Swinging

It is not difficult to define arm-swinging: to change the location of the arm(s) by moving it back and forth. This is and automatic unconscious motion, perfectly natural when we walk, studied when we dance (for example twist) and not so welcome when we need to listen to a boring or divisive discussion.

When we have a conference table involved in the equation, some might not really like it if you continuously move your arms (for no particular reason) from the table to your chair, from your chair back to the table, and so on. This movement exposes either nervousness, disagreement upon a topic of the discussion, simple boredom or the need to leave the table for personal reasons. No matter what is hiding behind the arm-swing during a business meeting or conference, one thing is sure the arm-swinger has but only one real thought in mind: to leave.

I’m not going to detail now what arm-swinging plus leaning back on your chair means. I’ll do it in one of my future entries. (A bit of suspense will not hurt.) But, if you are one of the new employees in a company where business meetings are held on regular basis, control your body language. You don’t want to boss to see your lack of interest in a particular discussion. As I told you in my second article, modern managers learn the secrets of good communications in training seminars. Body language is one of those secrets. So don’t believe that your boss will not know how to read the signs.

Body Language Related Article

Body Language in Business is a good article and it tells you from the start that body language accounts for over 90% of a conversation. The site has nice resources for online entrepreneurs, although the number of ads really distracts the reader.

Well, let me distract you too: you can purchase body language related books at the eWritings online store – an Amazon store. Please read the user reviews prior to making a purchase! Don’t forget to take a look at my last recommendation: Communicate Clearly by Robert Heller.

As usual, your comments and feedback are welcome! They help me improve this series and give you the answers you need. Thank you for reading.