Human beings have the ability to produce over 7,00,000 body language signs and 5000 different hand gestures. They can make approximately 2,50,000 face expressions and over 1,000 different postures. Apart from the words people speak, reading body language of their enables us to communicate more effectively with them. The way we talk, we walk and we sit, reveal our status and standards. Our body postures reflect what is inside us. Your subtle body language makes you in a better position to have effective communication and a better understanding of others. Following mentioned are few secrets of body language at work people have to know.
Apart from the words we speak, it is our eyes which communicate in a most responsive manner. Whether what we are saying is true or not can be revealed through our eyes. And people only remember communication which is oral plus virtual. Within few seconds of you meeting a person, you can make out his nature and honesty. In a corporate world, body language plays a major role in different aspects when you meet with a client, when you have to make a presentation or when you have to take charge of a team. Here are some “how to…” tips which will help you in presenting yourself perfectly in a corporate world.
While Making Presentation on a Pitch:
1. Start in the right way:
When you enter the podium for presenting your speech, you need to have a first two minutes of power posing. i.e. standing straight and looking towards the audience with a confident face. This will increase your level of confidence. This is important because you know that while delivering a speech you intend to get nervous. Your upright stand up will boost your confidence and makes you calm before you start.
2. Move towards the audience:
One should understand the importance of projecting confidence during meetings, job interviews and presenting speeches. Recall a time when you were the audience and what were your expectations from the speaker. You need to make the audience sense confidence in you. Only then will they believe in what you say.
3. Avoid looking at the speech page or computer:
Never be tentative or shuffle with averted eyes. Maintain solid eye contact. Don’t look at the computer and communicate with the audience will feel boring. You have to prepare yourself beforehand to deliver your speech without looking at the computer. You should be confident that whatever you mention without looking at the system, the people stick to look at you rather than your presentation.
4. Focus on the audience:
You have to keep the audience engaged. You need to convince them with your actions rather than words. Appear relaxed. Make your hand gestures wide and flowing with the conversation. Involve people from the audience. Keep your voice tone moderate. Audience will understand from your body language whether you are speaking facts or assumptions.
5. Make your muscles flexible:
Don’t be stiff. At work, your body shall be flowing with your conversation. Your stiffness implies that you are nervous. It is scientifically proven that holding your body in expansive powers produces hormones which raise your confidence level and lowers the stress level. When you contract yourself physically, like chunking your shoulders, looking down etc, it makes you look defensive and decrease your confidence level.
6. Keep a smiling face:
A smiling face can make a difficult task seem easier. No matter what the task is when you are doing it with a frown or grief, you are sending a message to your brain that your task is difficult. The brain then sends some stress chemicals to your body which makes you more stressed. Conversely, when you smile, your brain sends a message that you are able to manage your task and then the brain will help you move forward.
Secrets of Body Language While Meeting a Client:
1. Remember the handshake:
Your handshake is the first connection you will make with the clients. The firm the handshake, the confident you are. It equalizes the gap between you and your client. An after effect of a handshake depends upon the type of handshake. Practice shaking hands while having eye contact as well to make the other person feel at ease.
2. Mirror the client behavior:
Parties reach an agreement at the time of negotiation when they nod their head or smile. One should understand when the party would enter into an agreement and only negotiating for a chance. Open gestures and smiling will surely yield positive results whether the initial process was not as impressive as it should be.
3. Be open and confident and consider making a new friend:
Your non-verbal strategy shows power authority and status you hold in your company. Your office space and arrangements and the way you treat clients at your office shows the friendly behavior you want to deliver to clients. Status and authority with clients show your importance and the clients will always want to deal with the high officials of the company who can create an impression that they will not be disappointed due to bad services.
4. Don’t back away at the time of conversation:
Conversation is interactive and spontaneous communication between two or more people. Conversation can be difficult when you are unable to express yourself freely. Conversation at social sites is totally different from conversation done face to face. You should ask questions related to the topic so that the person feels that you want to get equally involved. Don’t give signals so that the other person detects that you are uncomfortable. Converse in such a way that your body language and your words agree.
5. Stay at a standard distance:
There are certain zones which should be maintained while we converse with others on corporate levels. Say, a distance of 1m to 1.5m falls in the comfort zone when two people are communicating with each other. This closeness makes the conversation more direct and it is a standard distance for people who are talking in earnest about something. People sitting on chairs or inside a room with some other members should maintain a distance of say up to 3m.
6. Nod in support of what they say:
Nodding is a gesture to display acceptance, agreement or acknowledgment of the fact the other person says. The person who is speaking will have the impression that you are hearing his statements and thinking upon it. Nodding makes your discussion purposeful. Make your nodding random and repetitive.
7. Keep your face in the same direction:
Well, it is weird to concentrate on their eyes or lips and it makes the other person uncomfortable and distorted. It emits the wrong impression of the listener. However, gazing on their whole face shows that you are interested in listening when the person talks. While having business discussions, it is better to concentrate on the forehead of the person creating a serious atmosphere and making the other person feel that you want a business.
While Addressing as a Team Leader:
1. Breathe through your mouth:
Just before entering the hall or meeting room, take a deep breath and exhale through mouth making an “ahh” sound. Make sure that your action is not noticeable. Such action will make you aggressive and release the tension in your neck and jaws. This will keep your shoulders back and straight which is necessary for a leader.
2. Gesture by palms down:
To look decisive, make gestures while your palms are down. This reflects your decision is almost done. There is no place for negotiation. Palms up indicate open and willing offer to negotiate. As a leader, after you have given chance to your team members for discussions, your final decision should be firm and this firmness should be expressed by your body language also. Palms give a definite gesture of authority when you put your hands on the conference table.
3. Speak clear and loud:
If you want to be taken seriously, you should speak clearly without laughing and signaling to other aspects. Make sure that you speak loudly and directly to the point. Your speech will be the one that holds the audience to their places.
4. Lean backward when you are done:
People often signal by moving backward when they have completed expressing their viewpoint. It reflects that they want others to speak now. Then they search for someone who is ready to rise on the same points. The person ending the conversation will certainly move back into his chair or take away his hands from the table.
5. Move then pause:
It is human nature to get attention through movements. If you walk when you talk, you will get attention. When you want to highlight a key point, you can move towards the audience and vice versa when you want to signal a break you can move away. The mid space can also be used to reinforce your ideas. But, at the times of making critical comments, you should not move. You should stand still at your place.
So, we can see that our body language speaks volumes. Our body actions control us. Simple body gestures, good body postures and signs may create a dramatic effect on how you feel, think or want to convey. Each step is designed to master your communication skills. It is simple-If you just be you, no one can be better than you. Your skills will evolve you as a leader which you are capable of being. The next time you address yourself in your workplace, apply some above formulas as a winning combination which you need to achieve as a next breakthrough.
