Tag Archive for Postures

Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::U::

by Christopher Philip • March 28, 2010 • 0 Comments

Did we forget a nonverbal term? Suggest it in the comment box or e-mail it direct, and we’ll be ecstatic to add it! With well over 500 terms, the BLP dictionary is growing to be the largest free nonverbal dictionary in the world! Brought to you exclusively by The Body Language Project! Visit our homepage for more free learning.

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Unblinking eye: Research shows us that a steady stare of more than ten seconds creates anxiety and discomfort especially in subordinates making it a dominant signal. When done by two equally dominant individuals it can lead to feelings of aggression and in extreme cases, even physical altercations.

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Uncommitted (liars): The subconscious mind limbic mind of liars doesn’t allow them to motion or carry on with enthusiasm. Liars will us duller motions and use less commitment to them. This is part of the fight or flight response.

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Undershaker handshake: A handshake that happens so quickly, that it’s actually offensive. Indicates indifference and suspicion.

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Undivided attention (nonverbal): When the entire body is directed at a speaker including toes, legs, torso, hands, arms, head and eyes. It is a rare cue that happens when the body shows no signs of a desire to exit and is totally immersed. It is most frequently found in lovers, but can also happen when being particularly moved through an extraordinary experience. Other times, attention is usually being competed for and is visible through various inattention cues such as scanning the room, pointing the feet toward an exit and so forth.

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Unemotional or flat voice: A voice that lacks emotional characteristics. This voice trait can indicate boredom, anger, resentment, frustration, depression or a physical ailment.

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Uneven smile: This is associated with tongue-in-cheek humour or sarcasm and happens when only one side of the face sports a smile and the other side does not. The opposite side may even be down turned or frowning indicated the presence of opposite or conflicting emotions. The uneven smile would accompany cheeky humour amongst friends.

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Unintentional gestures: Body movements that happen out of conscious awareness. These gestures are usually more honest than other gestures since they happen naturally and are not the result of planned impression management.

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Universal facial expressions: There are six main facial expressions that are found throughout the world. They are happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger and disgust.

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Universal gestures: These are nonverbal postures and positions that have meaning across cultures and include smiles, frowns, grimace, grief as well as shoulder shrugs, hiding the face for embarrassment, pointing and beckoning.

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Universal tells: Gestures and postures that are the same across culture that are the most reliable in reading other people. An example of a ‘universal tell’ is compressed lips which indicating that a person is holding a negative thought.

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Unmatched face: A facial expression that is uneven across each side of the face. In other words, it is stronger on one side than the other, but otherwise shows the same expression. Unmatched or asymmetrical expressions give clues to deceptive expressions.

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Unvoiced laughs: Includes laughs such as snorts, grunt and pants rather then song like laughs such as the characteristics “ha, ha, ha”. These types of laughs seen as less attractive.

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Unwavering gaze: In most animal species unwavering gaze is used to display dominance and aggression when it happens between members of the same species. When it happens across species it indicates that a prey has been centered out and the stalk has begun.

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Up nonverbals or upwardness: A term that encompasses body language such as toes aimed upward while standing (heel down, weight on opposite foot), thumbs up, chin up, raised arms, etc. These “up” nonverbals are gravity defying body language because they are difficult to do and require effort and commitment. This makes these cues honest and ones that a nonverbalist can rely on.

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Upper arm grip: A posture where the arm is wrap in behind the back to reach to wrist are upper arm. This indicates an attempt at self-control as a result of negative thoughts.

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Upper arm grip handshake (the): An intimate political-type handshake where the hands meet and the opposite hand reaches up to grasp the upper left arm just above the elbow. In the wrong context, this handshake will seem insincere and off-putting so should only be used with extreme caution.

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Upper lip bite: When the lower teeth bite at the upper lip. This is a signal of true anxiety or when done routinely a pacifying gestures aimed at calming a person.

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Upper smile: In this smile the upper lid is raised to expose only the top row of teeth, but the true significance is that the lower teeth remain hidden. The jaw and teeth remain closed and the message conveyed is of medium pleasure and from those who are insecure. Used car salesman, who beam light from their teeth in this way, will seem to have a hidden agenda.

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The Body Language Project is the result of a decade of personal research including a thorough review of over 60 primary scientific research journal articles. Learning body language forms the perfect foundation for success in ALL your communication.

If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::K::

by Christopher Philip • March 24, 2010 • 0 Comments

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King Arthur’s round table: As an aim to equalize authority amongst his knights, King Arthur swapped a conventional rectangular table round table for a round table. His efforts had another unforeseen effect. Instead of equalizing all members, power trickled-down from his left and right such that those closer held the greatest amount of power until the furthest person away faced him head on in a competitive arrangement.

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Kinesics: The interpretation of body language including facial expressions, gestures and postures, with direct respect to its movement. The term was first used in 1952 by anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell.

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Kinesthetic learners or kinesthetic communicators: Represent 40% of the population and are those who prefer to learn by touch rather then by simply watching. They prefer to jump right in. Kinesthetic learners can be restless or hyperactive when under-stimulated physically. These types of learner will prefer dioramas, physical models, role-playing, or reenactments. Kinesthetic communicators use phrases such as: This feel right. Can you grasp the concept? Have you lost your motivation? Let’s touch on this subject. Here’s a rough draft. Get a grip on yourself. I think things went smoothly. Let’s let him/her cool off. Can you feel the excitement? This decision carries a lot of weight.

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Kino anchored motion inducement (KAMI): A term used in pick-up and the PUA community whereby touch is used to help lead women where a man wishes to move her. KAMI includes guiding women by their lower back, touching the upper arm to indicate where he would like her to stand, pushing lightly on the upper hip to have her sit, or by wrapping the hand around the wrist to lock the woman’s hand to the man’s. KAMI is not forceful, but rather a light leading and relies on the interpretation of the muscular reflexes of the women causing her to take the path or least resistance.

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Kino escalation: A term used to describe the use of touch from first touch to sex. The word escalation refers to the sequential progression from accidental touching straight up to full blow permitted sexual touching. The touch sequence begins first by touching nonsexual areas such as elbows, hands or shoulders or through playful pushes, high fives and up to the torso, legs, face and hair, and eventually to kissing, and so forth.

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Kino pinging: A term used by pick-up artists meant to describe light and brief casual touching, to whoever is around them (men and women) in a non-threatening, nonsexual manner as a prelude to possible kino escalation.

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Kino steps: A specific formula used by pick-up artists of which touch is sequentially dictated in order to yield a specific result. It is a way to simplify and code a kino escalation routine of various forms. For example, the “high five and spin her around” routine follows from a) initiate conversation b) touching her briefly c) requesting to hold her hand d) lifting her hand across her body, lift and spinning her around, followed lastly by e) exit from her company to create importance or social proof through absence i.e. having better things to do.

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Kino test: A pick-up artist term that describes the willingness of a woman to comply with increased touching or kino escalation. It is usually as simple as initiating touch, then waiting for it to be reciprocated.

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Kiss hello or welcome/departure kiss: A greeting or departure gesture done by direct kiss to the cheek or the air next to the cheek or sometimes by pressing cheek to cheek and making a kissing sound. Sometimes it involves just one kiss and others it is done up to three times from one side to the other.

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Kissing: A display of affection done by pressing the lips of one person against that of another’s. Kissing can be closed mouth, a “peck”, or open, “French kiss” or done mouth to cheek or even mouth kissing the air next to the cheek – a common greeting gesture. The open mouth kiss is an intimate form of kissing reserved for romantic couples whereas cheek kissing is used between family members such as a mother or father and their children.

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Knee knee leg cross or knee-knee cross: This is an informal and common sitting posture where the leg rests over the knee of the other leg. Women with short skirts will be found to reveal thigh in this posture. Men in formal situations will adopt this sitting posture, but it’s not as common as the ankle over knee sitting position (the figure-four).

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Kowtow position: A submissive posture that includes bending the torso forward at the waist. It stems from the Chinese bow serving to show respect for higher ranking individuals.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::I::

by Christopher Philip • March 24, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Idiosyncratic body language: Individual nonverbal cues that are person specific that are built into their character which are repeated as specific stimuli or emotions resurface. They provide the body language reader with reliable cues to underlying meaning in a particular person, but not necessarily any other.

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Illustrators: Gestures that we use while speaking that are directly linked to words. We use these gestures in cooperation with the verbal language to help emphases meaning. Examples of this is the motion of throwing whilst speaking of tossing a ball or using a punching motion to emphasize what happened during a fight, or by describing something, as in, “It was this wide”, then spreading the hands apart to show just how wide it was.

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Impatience: Nonverbal signals that indicate a desire to move to a task that includes fidgeting movements such as drumming the fingers, rocking from side to side, bouncing a leg or foot, slapping the thigh with the hand. These gestures are substitutes to the actual task a person wishes to perform.

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Impression management: The desire, motivation and knowledge to control, either consciously or subconsciously how one is perceived by others through the conveyance of information. It includes acting strong, submissive or muted when required, as exhibited through nonverbal means.

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Inbau, Fred E.: Born 1909, deceased 1998 Fred Inbau was a Professor of Law. In 1945 he joined the faculty of Northwestern University School of Law and later headed the Criminal Law department. As his career developed he became more and more fascinated with police interrogation and worked closely with police officers in their training. He wrote a very popular and influential book by the title “Criminal Interrogation and Confessions” as well as “Reid nine steps” which details various techniques useful in interrogating suspects.

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Inclusion and exclusion technique: Standing or sitting positions that either include or exclude others from conversations based on orientation. It is usually meant to describe a three person affair that have formed a triangle, but inclusion and exclusion can happen with just two people also based on orientation alone. When a third person arrives, the technique to exclude involves an orientation where the original two remain facing each other or, if not facing head-on will close the angle between them even further (from a ninety degree angle to zero, or head-on). This shows that the third person is not accepted. Usually only the head will turn toward the person who is not included. Therefore to exclude someone, the technique says that shoulders or torsos face away from the excluded and toward the included.

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Incomplete arm crossing or incomplete crossed arms: Where one arm crossed over the body to clasp the other arm or elbow. This posture represents a desire to create safety as one would have experienced when a parent held the arm.

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Incomplete gestures: Gestures such as half shrugs or partial smiles. These indicate that a person lacks true commitment to what is being said.

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Incongruent: A state or cluster of cues which are not consistent and when they come together formulate a mixed or confusing message. This state often happens in those who are trying to hide their true feelings. An example includes open postures with palms up, which is honest, but then return their hands to their pockets as if they are hiding something. At times, incongruent body language is legitimate including simply being unsure of a position. Incongruent body language is perceived in a negative light by others who are aware of it.

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Indecision or indecisive body language: Found in people caught between two or more options. Nonverbal cues of indecision include shifting back and forth in a chair, looking back and forth between objects, tilting the head from one side to the other, opening and closing the hands and opening and closing the mouth without saying anything.

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Independent and opposite position: A seating arrangement where two people face head-to-head across the table, but not directly – rather they are adjacent. We see this when people sit in busy places with other strangers or wish to work by themselves.

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Indicators of disinterest (IOD): Nonverbal cues or signals put out by men and women that show they aren’t interested in an interaction. They can occur in a dating context, business context, or any social context. Turning torsos away, crossing arms, avoiding eye contact, looking away, drumming the fingers in boredom, or picking imaginary lint are all body language cues showing a lack of interest.

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Indicators of sexual disinterest (IOsD): Nonverbal cues or signals put out by men and women that show they aren’t interested in a sexual relationship or interaction.

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Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI): Nonverbal cues or signals put out by men and women that show they are interested in a sexual relationship or interaction.

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Inebriation body language or drug use or alcohol use: Signals imparted by people who have been exposed acutely or chronically to various types of drugs. These include slurred speech, rapid speech, exaggerated behaviours such as loud talking, becoming to close or talking too quietly, red eyes, squinting eyes, glazed eyes, bags under the eyes, mood swings, loss of inhibition, shaking, red nose, odor, inconsistent behaviour, poor hygiene and a withdrawal from normal routines.

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Influential body language: Using body language to change opinions, create sales, build relationships that previously didn’t exist, display various strong attributes and reinforce messages while speaking as well as other constructive uses. This differs from manipulative body language since it does not induce someone into decisions that are damaging.

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Informal meeting environments: Locations where people come together to talk about business or to casually chat as friends. This type of setting includes round tables, sofas, coffee shops or park benches. They lack stuffiness and are therefore informal. These types of environments invite friendship, trust and openness and can serve to build rapport quickly.

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Inner self: That which influences of all nonverbal communication to produce the character that is seen by others. It is that part of the self that consistently and routinely controls body language patterns of which is nearly impossible to consciously control. The inner self is the aspect one is required to change in order to change nonverbal patterns to portray traits that are more desirable.

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Intensity: A measure of the amount of emphasis placed in a nonverbal message. It is a term that describes the amplitude to which, for example, the arms and legs reach and the strength of a smile or frown. It is an indication to the dept of the emotion that is felt and its accuracy to what is really felt.

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Intention movements, intention postures or intention cues: A position that indicates what someone wishes to do. Pointing toes toward or away, leaning or looking away and hands on legs in sprinter position are all intention movements since they tell where one wishes to go. Intention cues can also outline a gesture that a person wishes to do, but is otherwise holding themselves back from doing. For example, when children play-fight, they may gap their mouth in a play face signaling intention biting and at other times even follow through when brought to full anger. As adults shaking a fist or vigorously pointing a finger at someone is an intention to strike or spear a person.

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Interlacing fingers or interlocking fingers: Happens by locking the fingers together and rubbing them one inside the other as a means of pacifying. It indicates high stress and low confidence.

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Interlocking feet or interlocking legs: Where the legs are crossed at the ankles while sitting or standing. Usually indicates a hidden thought or emotion, but can also signify high comfort or a desire to stick around especially when standing. When sitting, it can be done by wrapping the legs around a chair showing anxiety, concern or discomfort.

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Internal radar: A filter that when triggered accepts or rejects people. For example men have an internal radar that accepts women’s hip to waist ratio to be seventy percent whereas women’s radar on the same characteristic is set to ninety percent. Women also have internal radars for height, income and intelligence whereas men have internal radar for large breasts, long legs and blonde hair. Internal radar is not just set for sexual cues, it spans all facets of life.

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Interpersonal distance: Refers to the ways in which people treat the space, or lack thereof between them and how they repel or are attracted to one another.

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Interpersonal communication: Refers to the ways in which people convey information to one another including through verbal and nonverbal channels.

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Interpersonal relationships: Refers to the social associations, connections or affiliations between two or more people.

Introverts: People that become easily affected from outside stimuli and seek refuge in quieter places. These types of people tend to freeze up more in public, but are loose when in their own element.

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Interrogators: Experts such as the FBI, CIA, military personnel, police and psychologists who specialize in interviewing suspects in order to reveal criminality versus innocence or to extract information by reading hidden messages in body language. They often focus on lying and lie detection and have been shown through research to be more effective at uncovering liars from truth tellers when compared to regular people. The goal of interrogators is to avoid false confessions by comparing the relaxed baseline of an individual against stimuli that creates stress to uncover leads for further investigation.

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Interruptions in speech: When a person cuts off another person mid-sentence. Sometimes this is due to good reason such as adding to the conversation or excitement, and other times is due to a desire to impatience, boredom, desire to control the topic or be persuasive or attention seeking.

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Intimate gaze or triangular gaze pattern: The eyes will travel continuously in a pattern from eye to eye then down to the mouth. They will also wander briefly to other parts of the face although the vast majority of time is spent looking at the eyes and mouth. When the eyes make forays to the rest of the body, they check out the clothing, overall build, jewelry and rings. The intimate gaze lasts around 4-5 seconds.

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Intimate space zone: A distance of 18 inches or closer which is reserved for only very close friends or romantic partners.

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Intimate touching: Touching aimed at creating or maintaining sexual connections including kissing, holding hands, rubbing the shoulders, touching intimate areas including the breasts and groin, etc.

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Intuition: Intuition includes the processing of information that we’ve obtained by observing people. When someone says they have a “bad” feeling about someone or they feel “uneasy” or the salesman was “slimy” they are using their intuition. Sometimes though, our intuition becomes clouded by preconceived notions and new information is tainted or distorted.

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Invisible lint picker (the): Shows a critical listener and indicates that what was being said is disliked, contempt and disapproval through eye contact avoidance and distraction.

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Inward lip roll: A similar meaning to compressed lips which is due to frustration and withholding of information or feelings. It is akin to bottling in the pressure and keeping everything inside. Sometimes the lip roll is due to intense concentration, but usually it is due to indecisiveness, nervousness and deception.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

Share and Enjoy:

Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::D::

by Christopher Philip • March 21, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Dart (the): A type of gait characterized by short, yet indecisive burst. It signifies indecision and lack of direction.

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Darwin, Charles R.: Born 1882, Darwin was an English naturalist who proposed the mechanism of natural selection within the theory of evolution. It stated that all species of life descended from a common ancestor through decent with modification. He explained his findings in his 1859 book “On the origins of species.” In 1872 he published a book titled “The Expression of the emotions in man and animals” that discussed how animals and humans express their instinctive behaviours. In his book, he covers how man and animals both express similar states of mind by the same movements. Darwin covered “low spirits” such as anxiety, grief, dejection and despair, “high spirits” such as joy, love, tender feelings and devotion, along with hatred, anger, disdain, contempt, disgust, guilt, pride, helplessness, patience, affirmation, surprise, astonishment, fear, horror, shame, shyness, modesty and blushing.

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Death grip handshake: A macho bone crushing grip indicating aggressive personalities who intend to try to dominant you from the start.

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Debbie downer: Term used to describe a person who drags other people down simply by portraying negative body language or topics. We say these people are pessimistic and they bring us down because all people tend to mirror those around them. Therefore their negative attitude produces negative feelings around them serving to drag others down as well. Even nonverbal language where no spoken words exist can spread from person to person.

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Decoding: The act of extracting useful and accurate information based on visual nonverbal cues emitted by another person or persons.

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Defensive body language or defensiveness: Defensive body language is a set of postures that make the body feel protected, secure and comfortable in awkward situations. Defensive body language is also similar to submissive body language in that the postures are aimed at protecting vulnerable parts of our bodies, or in size reduction turning our bodies into smaller targets. Examples include crossed arms, gripping crossed arms, partial arm crosses or masked arm crosses, leg crosses, ankle crosses and foot locking, clenching the teeth, jaws or lips, averting the eyes, hands on the hips, quick exhalation and exiting from a situation.

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Deliberate body language: Body language that is consciously emitted and controlled so as to create a desirable impression. When a person feigns politeness when they really feel anger, rage or dislike, they are using deliberate body language. Deliberate body language is usually used to maintain social norms, hide negative feelings and display confidence. Deliberate nonverbal language is less useful than spontaneous nonverbals because it represents the image a person wishes to convey rather than true underlying emotions. The nonverbalist will be careful to study these as well however, since they provide clues as to how a person wishes to be perceived by others.

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Democratic bosses: Democratic bosses are most often female and their most popular sentiment is to make others feel welcome and comfortable. They will try to build personal relationships and welcome new ideas and thoughts to the conversation. Their office will have informal meeting places and the door will ‘always be open’. Other signals of the democratic leader, is her desire to build rapport, she will use touch more often if possible. To work with this type of boss, mirror their language. Use open body language when she does, and feel free to chat with her when necessary.

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Depressive body language or depressed body language or depression: When the body is weighed down by gravity such as slumping the head and shoulders, it is an indication that a person does not feel well emotionally. Depressive body language also includes desire for isolation, poor concentration, inability to focus on tasks or plan ahead, low and quiet speech, relaxed or slack body, downcast eyes, poor grooming, dejected facial expressions and inexpressive eyes, slow and deliberate movements, change in appetite, forgetfulness. Those with negative feelings lack a characteristic bounce and enthusiasm in their body movements.

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Designer labels: When a person tends toward wearing or carrying items that include prominent logos. These are clues to a person’s values and lifestyle and can outline a person’s hobbies or their desire to display wealth. The nonverbalist should make note of apparel because it is not randomly chosen, but is a reflection of a person’s character and goals. Prominent logos indicates image conscious who lacks confidence who is trying to buy credibility, souvenir t-shirts reveal a person who is trying to appear worldly, sports shirts indicate team affiliations. These themes are more meaningful when they are repeated from day-to-day.

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Dilated pupils: In body language dilated pupils indicate that a person is aroused, be it from fear or attraction. When the eyes view something stimulating, they dilate or open so as to allow more light to penetrate making seeing easier. Various studies show that our pupils also respond to positive stimuli by constricting when a person sees unpleasant or uninteresting stimuli. For example, pupils constrict when viewing nude images of the same sex but dilate when viewing images of the opposite sex.

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Diminutive movements: Movements motivated by submission which render the body less expansive and more compressed. Women are habitually seen performing this stance when trying to appear attractive to men and men will use the gesture to reduce punishment. It is performed by head lowering or bowing, pulling the arms in, crossing the legs instead of spreading them, lowered eyes and curling up. Gesturing is also reduced and when it happens, the limbs remain close to the body rather then form sweeping motions.

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Disappearing lips: When the lips are compressed tightly due to stress, anxiety and negative thought processes. It is opposite to full expressive lips that show contentment.

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Disapproval cues: Nonverbal signals that are culturally specific that serve to indicate that a behaviour is not permitted. These usually emanate from the face (“the look”), but can also stem from the body such as arm crossing, finger wagging, distancing behaviours, body orientation or ventral denial.

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Discomfort body language: Includes any body language that says that a person feels threatened. It includes body language such as ventral denial, reduced proximity, erecting barriers, freezing or reduced movement, lack of mirroring, increases in heart rate, breath rate, sweating, a change in normal colour in the face or neck, trembling or shaking in the hands lips, or elsewhere, compressing the lips, speech errors, unfriendliness, withdrawal, anger, nervousness, fidgeting, drumming the fingers and other repetitive behaviours.

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Disengagement: Body language that shows that a person wishes to exit a conversation or topic. It is usually signaled by orienting the body away from the speaker or by creating distance such as stepping away or leaning backward.

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Disguised gestures: A form of partial gesture that is incomplete and abbreviated yet hidden from view or stymied. For example, hands that rest of the lap can be turned palm upward signifying that ones doesn’t know or the shoulders might raise only a fraction of a degree to indicate that one is unsure.

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Disgust: One of the six main universal facial expressions characterized by eyebrows that are turned inward, raised upper lip, winkled nose and a raise in cheek muscles.

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Dislike (nonverbal): Nonverbal communication that shows a person lacks a connection and is in disagreement with another person. Dislike is conveyed through reduced or nonexistent eye contact, neutral facial expressions or scowling, polite smiles or non at all, ventral denial, head shaking, reduced proximity of leaning away, lack of touch or touch avoidance, hand withdrawal.

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Displacement behaviour: Displacement behaviours include actions set to preoccupy in order to dehumanize the outside world – especially in more crowded areas. The list of behaviours included nail biting, gum chewing, grooming, tapping the does, head scratching or playing with jewelry, but can also mean looking and acting ‘out of touch’ or closed off.

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Distancing or moving away: When the entire body, or part of the body moves away, rather than toward, someone or something. Distancing indicates that a person is not in tune with whatever it is they are being repelled by. In other words, arms or legs can be pulled away from people when there is a lack of agreement.

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Dodpi: Abbreviation for The Department Of Defense Polygraph Institute.

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Dominant body language: This is any body language that increases the area the body takes up. Shoulder up and back, head held high, arms out and relaxed, legs apart. The greater the area the body takes up, the more dominant the body language.

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Dominant male stance: A stance where the feet lie flat on the ground, weight is across both feet, the arms are placed to the side rather than in pockets and hands do not prop up against a wall or table. The hips are forced forward slight, with the legs just wider than shoulder width.

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Dominator (the): A type of client who makes strong eye contact, is suspicious of the salespersons motives, uses a firm voice, neutral or negative facial expressions, may be grabby and uses touch to influence the salesperson.

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Double arm hug or self hugging: Hugging ones self is both defensive and a closed body position. Hugging can be done by grabbing both arms across the body or by clasping one arm onto the arm on the opposite side. People who hold this posture exclaim that they are cold, but in reality, the cold sensation stems from feeling awkward.

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Double gripper politician handshake or double hander (the): Both hands are used to sandwich the other person’s hand. It is an intimate handshake but in the wrong company can be taken as insincere and create negative feelings.

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Doubt or disbelief body language: Nonverbal cues that signify that an idea or thought is being reject. Body language revealing disbelief includes looking down, away, or upward, rubbing the eyes or lightly touching the inside corner or the eye, eye rolling, looking askance, twitching the nose and grabbing the ears, head shaking, grimacing, turning the corners of the mouth and exhaling quickly through the teeth.

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Dowdiness or rumpled or unkempt: A nonverbal term referring to a persons dress that is wrinkled but otherwise fairly clean, shapeless, outdated, bland, messy, unflattering, out-of-date and well worn. It signifies a low socioeconomic background, that a person is artistic, intellectual, or is the absent minded professor, is preoccupied or is just outfight sloppy. This type of person is usually preoccupied with other passions and lacks the interest to put anything into their look. Other times they are just outright slobs and don’t care.

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Downtime: Occurs roughly every three seconds whereby our minds ‘slip away’ and out of consciousness to give our minds time to relax and process information and to think about what we want to say next.

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Down-turned smile or reverse smile: Happens when the mouth is inverted into a down-facing “u” shape. It indicates high stress, unhappiness, anger, tension and depression.

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Downward gaze or eyes down: Eyes that are averted by looking down. Indicates submission, coyness, lack of certainty, defeat, guilt, shame or embarrassment.

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Dominance quotient: Abbreviated DQ is the relative desire to dominate situations and others. There are three types, they are a) low dominance and uncomfortable with power, b) accept power, but don’t go after it and resist it from others c) go after power whenever possible.

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Double wink: The double wink is done by blinking both eyes at the same time and holding them closed for a slightly longer period of time than that which is found in a natural blink. It is a less aggressive form of the single wink which some women find off-putting.

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Dressing for context: Consciously planning attire so as to carefully match or exceed (within limits) the dress of those in your immediate company so as to impress. It means avoiding clothing that is far too dressy or far to relaxed. This technique will yield the best possible results.

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Dressing for respect: Exceeding, or at least matching the fashion of those whom are in your immediate company so as to build authority. Wearing polished suites, shoes and being well groomed in the presents of more casual wear will yield leadership qualities whereas dressing similarly, like mirroring will help build rapport. Dressing for respect also says that wearing clothing that is stylish demonstrates respect for other people because it implies that one cares about the opinions of others.

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Dressing to impress or dress to impress: The act of consciously planning and coordinating attire to suit a given function such that it creates positive feelings in others. When done properly, dressing to impress commands respect and authority from others.

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Dry coughing: A nervousness becomes more intense a person can be heard dry-coughing. This is a limbic response to a reduction in salivation.

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Duchenne smile: This smile is called the honest smile and its giveaway is the appearance of crow’s feet at the corner of the eyes. It draws its name from the French researcher Guillaume Duchenne who used electrodiagnostics and electrical stimulation to istinguish between real and fake smiles.

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Duping delight: Paul Ekman coined the term “duping delight” to explain possible reasons for an increase in certain cues while lying was taking place. For example, fear and guilt associated with lying should decrease nonverbal cues such as eye contact and smiles, but the research shows us that eye contact usually increases during lying. Two possible explanations exist for an increase in eye contact and smiling. One is that smiling happens more often because the liar is experiencing pleasure with the act of lying which has been extensively proven through research on psychopaths, con-men and pathological liars, the second says that a smile is in fact due to stress and embarrassment which causes a stress smile.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::B::

by Christopher Philip • March 20, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Back channel signals: A set of body language that indicates that a speaker is being heard. They include noises such as “mhum” and “uh-huh”, gestures such as nodding and expressions such as smiling in agreement.

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Bandler, Richard, W.: Born February 24, 1950. Bandler is an American author on personal development and is best know for his work on NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) in association with John Grinder.

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Barriers: Postures, gestures or inanimate objects that are placed in front of someone which are used to block off other people. They are usually employed when someone is uncomfortable and wishes to control the space around them. Barriers function much like security blankets, as they have an emotionally protective feature.

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Baselining or baseline or norming: Probably one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of reading body language. It refers to the “normal” body motions that populate the repertoire of each person. “Normal” is defined as the body language that happens when a person is relaxed.

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Baton gestures or hand chop gesture: A motion done with the hands to emphasize points in speech. A baton or chop adds emotion to the words it is attached to. It is habitually done by powerful people who have the floor and are in charge.

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Beckoning: Using the index finger, hand, head and even the eyes to draw another person nearer.

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Becoming loud: An sudden increase in the volume of the voice. Becoming loud can be due to a variety of reasons including an attempt to be noticed, to dominate a room, to express anger, frustration, act out aggressively, berate, scorn, celebrate and show excitement, display enjoyment, or due to inebriation.

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Bedroom eyes: Eyes who’s pupils are large and fully dilated. Found in those who are reacting subconsciously to sexually stimulating imagery such as attractive mates.

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Beady little eyes or snake eyes: Eyes that are squinted or constricted who’s pupils are small and undilated. It indicates fear, aggression and dislike.

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Beards: Facial hair on the chin, cheeks and sometimes the neck. It is a nonverbal message signifying wisdom and is scholarly unless left to grow untrimmed. In this case, it is seen as unwieldy and primitive. Rarely does a beard indicate secretiveness, rather it is a cosmetic choice. Bears can mean that a man looks better that way, is trying to look older, is trying to hide age by covering wrinkles, is trying to conceal a facial flaw such as a weak chin or has a rebellious or artistic personality.

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Beauty dividend: A term referring to the profit aspect to appearances. Well studied this states that as a persons attractiveness increases so too does their earning power on a per unit basis. Good looking people tend to receive more raises, more often and also get hired for better positions. They’ve also been found to benefit their company with increased business and revenue over the long term.

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Becoming quiet: A sudden lowering in the volume of the voice. Becoming quiet can be due to a variety of reasons including trying to keep secrets and remain private, to create intimacy, to inhibit drawing attention to the self, to power play people into drawing them into personal space and forcing them to listen hard or due to shyness or timidity.

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Behaviourists: A school of psychology that limits its focus to observable and quantifiable aspects of behaviour excluding emotions and motives.

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Behaviourism: A term originating from the studies of John B. Watson in 1913. It says that behaviours can be measured, trained and changed. According to behaviourism responses to the environmental stimuli shape people’s behaviours according to various processes such as classical and operant conditioning and reinforcement schedules.

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Bent over posture or rump presentation: A submissive appeasement posture done by bending forward either facing toward or away. When done facing away can be taken as a sexual invitation. It says “I am offering myself in the passive female role” and is a request to be mounted. Young girls might be seen doing this while dancing in night clubs as they grind on men. Conversely the bow has origins in the same submissive bent over posture, however it is usually, but not always done facing whomever is being submitted.

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Bernieri, Frank: Professor of Psychology at Oregon State University. His primary focus of research is social perception and judgment, nonverbal behavior and communication, face-to-face interactions, multi-channel communication, interpersonal synchrony, empathy and research methodology and has published over 40 scientific articles and chapters.

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Beta males and females: Beta males and females are normally classified as anyone who does not fall into the “alpha” category, however in reality, beta is much less broad. Betas are second in command, and the term refers to contenders or subservient who’s purpose is to serve alpha’s. Beta’s can, at anytime, challenge the alpha for dominance and dethrone the alpha’s. Beta’s are identified by their body language. They can sometimes hold dominant language, but only when other alphas aren’t present. It is important to note that alpha and beta, in humans, is a floating concept as nearly everyone is alpha and beta at one time or another, as our company which includes our culture and sub-culture varies significantly. Beta body language includes leaning in while speaking, fidgeting, touching the face, taking on smaller body forms such as hunching the shoulders and pressing the legs together.

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Bipedalism: The human form of locomotion that involves two (bi), feet (pedal). Bipedalism in humans produced the condition that allow men and women to use their hands to manipulate tools and communicate. Because the feet where relegated to more rudimentary tasks, they hold more of the visceral reactions (such as running from predators, or being pulled under the table when in stressful negotiations) and so tend to be more honest. The hands and arms are more controlled by the conscious mind, rather than the primitive mind, and so tend to be more deceitful. In other words, bipedalism kept feet honest.

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Birdwhistell, Ray L.: American anthropologist who pioneered the study of kinesics. He utilized slow-motion replays to analyze the actions of people. He published a book called Introduction to Kinesics in 1952.

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Blade away or blade toward (blading): The turning of the body with only small degrees either toward or away from stimuli that a person agrees with or disagrees with. The turning away of the torso by degrees as an encounter becomes less and less enjoyable or to our liking. Think of a knife that is turned on an angle so as to slice more or less steeply. Blading away is to “turn the back on someone” when in dislike, or to blade toward so as to “face them head on” when liking is present.

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Blanching: When the surface of the body or face appears white. It is due to the presence of extremely fearful situations that creates a flight or fight response drawing blood from the periphery and diverting it to the major muscles in the core of the body. It is the body’s way to prepare to escape or mount an aggressive challenge.

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Blepharoplasty: A very popular surgery for Asian women is to create the double eyelid.

Asian people lack the fold or eyelid crease and so their eyes are narrowed and oval in appearance. The surgery adds a second fold or crease in the eyelid from an eyelid without a crease, producing a rounder westernized eye. It is proof of how important large eyes are in terms of creating attractiveness and neoteny.

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Blocking: A term used to describe when a person wishes to distance themselves from a distressing stimulus by erecting barriers. Blocking is a part of the fight or flight response, and takes the form of the flight element because it creates distance between things we wish to avoid. It includes crossing the arms or legs, turning a shoulder so the body faces away, rebuttoning jackets or pulling a jacket closed, pulling the feet and arms inward, or pointing the feet toward the doorway indicating a desire to leave.

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Blowing off steam or exhaling or blowing out air through the lips: Done by forcefully exhaling air through a compressed mouth and indicates frustration, disapproval, uncertainty and an attempt at pacifying.

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Blushing: Blushing is linked to the release of adrenaline and cortisol which courses through the body when people get excited, feel pressure or are nervous. The hormone also diverts blood flow from the digestive system and shunts it to major muscle groups giving them a burst of energy. As a side effect, our blood vessels that deliver blood to our faces dilate, meaning they relax or open, allowing more blood to reach the surface of our face causing them to turn red.

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Bodifications and tattoos: Conscious alterations of the body such as clothing, jewelry, tattoos, severely plucked eyebrows and false nails. More severe are the forms that are permanent such as breast implants, dramatic piercing, facelifts, liposuction, collagen insertion, etc. The type of tattoos and art it contains can be telling of a person’s character. Bodifications reveal a need to be different, rebelliousness, nonconformist, have an artistic nature, a desire to fit in or lower socioeconomic status (heavy tattoos).

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Body cross: A posture whereby the arms connect in some way across the front of the body to produce a safety barrier.

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Body cutoff: An orienting reflex designed to end conversations. When people wish to exit they will cut their centerline off from the conversation as if leaving preliminarily. The greater the angle, the less interest or more dislike is present.

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Body language (a): A subset of nonverbal communication that includes body postures, gestures, facial expressions and eye movements.

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Body language or nonverbal communication (b): A method of conveying information through conscious and subconscious gestures, body movements, postures and facial expressions. Body language is used as conscious replacement of speech, to reinforce speech, and as an indicator of mood.

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Body language reader: A person who is receiving and decoding hidden meaning from nonverbal channels.

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Body language reader: A person who collects nonverbal language around them so as to study and interpret them.

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Body language sender: A person who is emitting nonverbal language which is being received by another person and interpreted.

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Body lowering: A technique whereby a person takes a lower position relative to another to show that they wish to submit. One such example is the curtsey which is done to show respect and taking a knee when interacting with someone else who is seated is another. Dropping the head can also be a form of body lowering.

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Body orientation or body angling: Refers to the angle at which people sit or stand in relation to one another. A subset of posture that is important in conveying information such as the desire to leave as when the body faces away or when weight is applied to one side over the other, disinterest when bodies lean away or liking when bodies create proximity. The purpose to meeting is also conveyed through orientation such as confrontation, bargaining, friendship, or even indifference.

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Body raising or elevation: Status and dominance are closely related to the relative height of a person which is why people are seen as leaders when they are taller. Height can be artificially raised as well with high heels or special footware for men, by using situation specific features such as staircases, using chairs which are taller or elevated platforms such as where the judge sits overlooking his courtroom.

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Body rocking: A technique used to show a desire to leave a conversation. It is also meant to indicate a nonverbal “time constraint.” It is a body language expression done by design to show others that one must be someplace else in order to appear more important. The body is rocked from weight forward to weight back, from side to side, or turning the shoulders slightly away as one does naturally when exiting conversations. This can tell people to warp up their conversation, or when done in dating, tease women inducing them to pursue.

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Body shifting: When a person rocks back and forth while sitting or standing. This indicates a moderate uneasiness or boredom and a desire to leave.

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Body size reduction: Whenever the body is less erect and less spread than normal. Happens by pulling the arms and legs inward, lowering the head, tucking the chin inward. Body size reduction shows submission, timidity and shyness.

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Bottom pinching: A sexually aggressive gesture when done by a man on an attractive woman especially when un-welcomed. It takes on three forms and has been an Italian pastime: the pizzicato which is a quick tweak with the thumb and middle finger, the vivace which is more vigorous and uses several fingers and done more than once and the sostenuto which is prolonged and heavy handed with a rotation.

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Boredom: An emotional state whereby an individual displays disinterest in the activities or the people around them. Boredom is indicated by fidgeting, tapping the fingers or toes, appearing to have no emotion on the face, supporting the head on the hand and leaning against walls, tables, slouching backwards, letting the eyes wonder, gazing into the distance, sighing heavily, yawning, crossing and recrossing the arms and legs, fiddling with pens, eyeglasses or papers, doodling, pointing the body away from the speaker, shifting the weight, moving the head from side to side, rolling the eyes, stretching and picking at the fingernails.

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Bounce (the): A type of gait usually found in teenage girls who walk with a springy step. It signifies health and optimism.

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Brain-body interplay: As it relates to body language, the brain-body interplay says that they are linked making it difficult to “untie” body expressions from the underlying emotions that compel them. For example, it is difficult to have a negative attitude while dancing spryly. The actions the body performs tends to bleed through into the mind and create positive or negative feelings as the case may be. Even laughing, done for no good reason, can put someone in a good mood because it helps release all sorts of positive hormones.

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Broad smile: In this smile the upper and lower teeth are made visible and the gaze is relaxed and the smile is intended to convey joy and pleasure. This is a true smile and not one that is easily faked because the corners of the eyes display crow’s feet.

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Broken window theory (the): Says that disorderly appearance of an area increases the incidence of crime and antisocial behaviour occurring in that area. Graffiti, trash and litter, and other items in disrepair tend to attract more damage and litter and also those types of people likely to inflict such detritus. In a well known city experiment, graffiti that was quickly removed tended to reduce the amount of crime occurring in the area.

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Buccinator muscles: Muscles located on the sides of the face that draw the lip corners toward the ears. It is activated during the sneer producing dimples in the cheeks.

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Business gaze: Eye contact in a business gaze that is held about 80-90% of the time to avoid feelings of discomfort. They eyes follow a pattern whereby they never leave the face and spend the majority of the time between the forehead and the eyes, never below.

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Buttock clasping: A sexual display of affection usually done during copulation. It is a firm grasping of the read end during pelvic thrusting.

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Buttress stance: A standing posture where the leg bearing the body’s weight is straight, while the other leg is extended forward and outward away from the body. It indicates a readiness to depart.

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Buy signals: These are nonverbal signals that indicate that a person is ready to commit to a sale. They include eye increased eye contact, moving in and shrinking distance, touching the chin and greater relaxation.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

Share and Enjoy: