Today’s Topics (280714)

•Gestures

•Expressions

•Facial Language

•Eye Contact

•Shake Hands

•Posture

•Distance

Gestures

Definition:

A movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning.

• May be in isolation

• May run parallel to speech

Facial Expressions

• Muscles on the face convey emotions

• Humans as well as non-humans (especially mammals) have them

• Voluntary or involuntary

• Eyes important in expressions

• Cultural differences regarding social propriety of maintaining eye contact or not

• Scientific controversy whether facial expressions universal or socially conditioned

• Exhaustion• Fear • Anger • Sadness• Happiness• Shame• Confusion • Surprise • Seduction • Focus

Eye Contact

• Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and important sign of confidence and social communication.

• Eye contact occurs when "two people look at each other's eyes at the same time."(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

• Has a large influence on social behaviour

Eye Contact … Cont’d

• The customs and significance of eye contact vary widely between cultures, with religious and social differences often altering its meaning greatly.

• Eye contact and facial expressions provide important social and emotional information. People, perhaps without consciously doing so, probe each other's eyes and faces for positive or negative mood signs. In some contexts, the meeting of eyes arouses strong emotions.

• Eye contact is also an important element in flirting, where it may serve to establish and gauge the other's interest in some situations.

• Mutual eye contact that signals attraction initially begins as a brief glance and progresses into a repeated volleying of eye contact.

• In the process of civil inattention, strangers in close proximity, such as a crowd, avoid eye contact in order to help maintain their privacy.

Shaking Hands (Handshake)

• A handshake is a short ritual in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up and down movement of the grasped hands.

• When making a bet and confirming the bet with a handshake, it is usually held that the instant the two hands touch willingly, the bet becomes official.

• Using the right hand is generally considered proper etiquette.

• For those cultures that value the handshake, much meaning is transferred by the manner in which you proffer your hand and the method with which you shake the other person's hand.

• Some people make instant judgments about your character as a result of your handshake, so it pays to make sure it's conveying what you want it to.

Posture

• The way in which your body is positioned when you are sitting or standing.

• Conveys your mood and personality.

• Communicates your feelings or attitude towards someone.

• Must be conscious of your posture in social situations.

Distance

• Use of Space to communicate

• Depends on genders, relationships, social situation. Depends a lot on culture

• Can be used to define power & status

• Proxemics

Good Links

• http://www.toastmasters.org/201-Gestures

• http://psychology.about.com/od/nonverbalcommunication/ss/understanding-body-language_2.htm

• http://listverse.com/2013/07/05/ten-compelling-origins-of-our-facial-expressions/

• http://www.wikihow.com/Have-an-Effective-Handshake