7 Body Language Tricks To Make Anyone Instantly Like You

 There's no question that body language is important.

And, according to Leil Lowndes in her book "How To Talk To Anyone," you can capture — and hold — anyone's attention without even saying a word.

We've selected the best body language techniques from the book and shared them below:

The Flooding Smile

"Don't flash an immediate smile when you greet someone," says Lowndes. If you do, it appears as if anyone in your line of sight would receive that same smile. 

Instead, pause and look at the other person's face for a second, and then let a "big, warm, responsive smile flood over your face and overflow into your eyes."

Even though the delay is less than a second, it will convince people your smile is sincere and personalized for them. According to Lowndes, a slower smile can add more richness and depth to how people perceive you.

Sticky Eyes

"Pretend your eyes are glued to your conversation partner's with sticky warm taffy," Lowndes advises. Even after they've finished speaking, don't break eye contact. "When you must look away, do it ever so slowly, reluctantly, stretching the gooey taffy until the tiny string finally breaks." This technique will help you appear more intelligent and insightful. 

You can also try counting your conversation partner's blinks. In a case study, subjects reported significantly higher feelings of respect and fondness for their colleagues who used this technique.

Epoxy Eyes

In a group of people, you should watch the person you are interested in, no matter who else is talking. If you concentrate on that person even when they are simply listening, you show that you are extremely interested in his or her reactions.  

The Big-Baby Pivot

People are very conscious of how you react to them. When you meet someone new, turn your body fully toward them and give them the same, undivided attention you would give a baby. Lowndes says, "Pivoting 100% towards the new person shouts, 'I think you are very, very special.'"

Limit the Fidget

If you want to appear credible, try not to move too much when your conversation really matters. "Do not fidget, twitch, wiggle, squirm, or scratch," Lowndes says. Frequent hand motions near your face can give your listener the feeling that you're lying or anxious. Instead, simply fix a constant gaze on the listener and show them that you're fully concentrated on the matter at hand.

Hang By Your Teeth

This visualization trick will help you look more confident with your posture, which Lowndes describes as "your biggest success barometer." To do this, visualize a leather bit hanging from the frame of every door you walk through. Pretend that you are taking a bite on the dental grip, and let it sweep your cheeks into a smile and lift you up. 

"When you hang by your teeth," Lowndes says, "every muscle is stretched into perfect posture position." Your head will be held high, shoulders back, torso out of your hips, and feet weightless.

This trick also works because of the frequency people walk through doorways. If you visualize anything often enough, it becomes a habit. "Habitual good posture is the first mark of a big winner."

Hello, Old Friend

When you first meet someone, imagine they're your old friend. According to Lowndes, this will cause a lot of subconscious reactions in your body, from the softening of your eyebrows to the positioning of your toes.

An added benefit to this technique is that when you act as though you like someone, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy — you might really start to like them. Lowndes says, "What it boils down to is love begets love, like begets like, respect begets respect."

By: Maggie Zhang 

Maggie Zhang is an Editorial Intern at Business Insider. She is an English Major from Princeton University. 

 http://www.businessinsider.com

Do You Know the Language of Your Face?

By Kathrin Tschiesche

Many social and behavioural scientists and communication experts accept the idea that, as mammals, we humans do transmit and receive non-verbal messages. The underlying basis of this position is that if properly trained we can be able to decipher received body language messages. The validity and the reliability of this theory have not been properly established and tested but the idea is still worth thinking about in more detail. In this article, Dr Georgios P. Piperopoulos, professor of communications and public relations will analyse the use of ‘non-verbal communication’ among humans by focusing on our face. Don’t miss this.

What our smiles are all about

Erwin Goffman (1969) coined and introduced the interesting concept of ‘public smiles’. In all human cultures, in what appears to exist at a universal level, the human smile expresses a good sense of humour. It is also commonly accepted that our smile often involves elements of apology, especially in cases where some act or some verbal statement on our part could be interpreted as an attack or insult to the receiver. In such cases we smile and, obviously, we do politely apologize without uttering any relevant words. Finally, as most of us know from experience, there are instances in everyday life where we smile despite being angry, we smile despite feeling bitter, and we even proceed to swallow our disappointments with a smile.

Our face carries specific meanings

In body language our mouth and lips, eyebrows and eyes each alone, or operating in combined fashion, dramatize their own role in the process of our communication with others. Thus, pulling the lip or focusing on one area of the mouth carries specific meanings and so do specific movements of the eyebrows along with contractions of our forehead. Furthermore, although our eyeballs are only organs which carry light from visual stimuli through the optic nerve to the brain, in body language our eyes, with the help of the general area of ​​the face around them, seem to be significant transmitters of specific and meaningful messages to others we are interacting with. This materializes and is conveyed through the intensity and persistence with which we look at the person or persons standing or sitting opposite to us.

The eyes as the mirror of the soul
It is already fairly well established, as a result of relevant psychological research, that when we see something delightful the pupils of our eyes dilate, apparently with the aim to collect as much as possible of the intensely pleasant stimulus, whereas when we see something unpleasant, the pupils of our eyes constrict minimizing the inflow of the unwanted stimulus. Indeed, it is a given in world literature that the human eyes are often presented as ‘the mirror of the soul’ and it is accepted that a specific look may reflect the feelings you are trying to convey to the person you are interacting with and vice versa. Our eyes can show that we stay aloof and cold to persons and situations, our glance may be shrilling or ironic, or it may reveal that we are full of understanding for what the person communicating with us is conveying.

What happens when our eyes are crossing other eyes

You may already have encountered, or will encounter in literature, references to eyes that are sunk in melancholy or others full of laughter and beaming, or eyes reflecting the fact that they are full of light. For the noted Spanish writer Jose Ortega Y Gasset (1957) the human eyes, in conjunction with eyelids and eyebrows, constitute a theatrical stage where dramas and comedies can be carried out. It would be worthwhile for you, the readers of this book, to take a moment to reflect and remember what happens when our eyes are crossing other eyes in enclosed spaces ranging from lecture halls to buses, trains, coffee-shops, restaurants and so on.

When asked by a researcher conducting relevant research, most persons would confess that when their eyes cross the eyes of another person they feel a bit of embarrassment and they avoid direct eye contact by raising their eyes to read the advertisements on the walls, lowering their eyes to read the textbook or the newspaper they hold or, if sitting in a café or restaurant, focusing their eyes in reading their menu again and again. In close encounters and such cases of eye-contact, what seems to follow, naturally, is a brief cross glance with the other persons and a hurried return to previous activities. Most people consciously will avoid being ‘pinned’ in the eyes of persons standing or sitting across them in enclosed spaces.

Certainly a look, a glance of its own, although it may carry a message, it cannot reveal and betray to others everything that we may be harbouring in our minds. Research findings indicate that a look, descriptive and full of meaning as it may be, resembles more of a word in a sentence rather than a full phrase or sentence. We need, no doubt, many more details beyond a glance to guess what happens in the mind of persons sitting or standing opposite us.

7 Things Your Body Language Is Telling Your Boss

By:  Holly Ellyatt

Thinking about wearing that red tie to a meeting with the managing director today? You might want to think again.

Body language and nonverbal communication can have a big impact on your professional life and can ultimately make or break a deal, business relationship or even your financial success, according to a legion of body language books.

"In business, one of the most important things is the impression you give people," Eliot Hoppe, an author and expert on body language, told CNBC.

Body language encompasses body movements, facial expressions and gestures as well as the tone of your voice. Here are Hoppe's top tips to optimize your chances of business success.


1) Posture: People make up their minds about others in just the first four seconds, Hoppe said. "In business, you've got to remember that when you walk into a boardroom, people have already made a decision about you by the time you sit down."

To ensure you go into business meetings as equals walk in with a good posture. "Stand upright, have a brisk walk, you want to convey that you want to be there and are confident," Hoppe said. "If you slump your shoulders--what message will that give?"

We all have "fronts" but you have to make that outward appearance of confidence believable--people can see through it easier than you think.

2) Handshake: Touch can be a big part of body language, get it wrong and you can end up with a black eye or dismissal--get it right and you can literally gain the "upper hand" in a business transaction.

"For most parts of the world, a handshake in business is the norm and just from that you can get an idea if the person is being dominant and aggressive or passive," Hoppe said.
One word of warning: Watch out for the "power play" that can take place.

Simple observations such as a limp or firm handshake are easy. Watch out if when shaking someone's hand the other person tries to turn the handshake so that their hand is on top. "This is a power play," Hoppe said. Most handshake power plays are sub-conscious but occasionally you will find that in order to appear submissive someone will willingly give you "the upper hand."
Also watch what the "free" hand does in a handshake. Does the other person use the second hand to shake your hand or to pat your other arm?

"The higher up [your shoulder] the free hand goes, the bigger the power play," Hoppe said.
George Bush and Tony Blair were a classic case of touch power play, for instance. "Who would pat the other's arm higher up or who would enter a door first was always an issue," Hoppe said.

Just one more thing to remember. Don't hold a drink in the hand you use to greet people. "All people will feel is a cold, wet hand," Hoppe said. "That won't give a good impression."

3) Touch: Never touch your face. It conveys deceit, insincerity and mistrust, according to Hoppe, while touching one's lips can indicate a lack of agreement.

"When you see someone touch their face you instantly distrust them or feel uneasy about them."

4) Tonality: The tone of your voice make up a large part of nonverbal communication.

"If you're trying to convince someone of something pay attention to your tonality. When you're making a statement, command or directive, your voice goes down at the end of the sentence. So if you're trying to convince someone of something, make sure it goes down."

Also, watch out: A person who is trying to deceive someone will tend to raise the voice at the end of a sentence--trying to convince either himself or you.

5) Dress: Red and yellow are power colors. Be careful when choosing them. They can either convey confidence or come across as arrogant to your boss.

6) Feeling vulnerable: Look at items such as a your colleague or client's pen or glasses--are they chewed at the ends? How do they hold a book or briefcase? Scrutinizing these behaviors indicates how that person approaches negotiations, as well as his thought processes and business confidence.

"When we feel vulnerable we protect our neck area. When another person feels vulnerable too they will try to protect themselves--holding a book or papers over their chest or touching their neck--these are all self-assurance techniques," Hoppe said.

7) Standing position: If you want to have the best face-to-face rapport with someone, take a small step to your left so that your right eye is directly facing your colleague's right eye. Hoppe said 75 percent of people surveyed feel more comfortable than when standing to someone's right.