Movement & Body Language
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Movement & Body Language
How you move and hold your body plays a significant role in the energy you transmit to other people.
ELEMENT 7.3: MOVEMENT AND BODY LANGUAGE
“Language is a more recent technology. Your body language, your eyes, your energy will come through to your audience before you even start speaking.”
–Peter Guber
YOUR BODY LANGUAGE
Now that you have learned about your internal energetic body, we’ll deepen your understanding of your external physical body, which also contains significant energetic power.
As a leader, you already know that your body language plays a significant role in how others perceive you. Through studying the nuances of movement and body language, you’ll revitalise the energy signals you transmit to others in three key ways.
1. Facial expressions
Our facial expressions–and especially our eyes–have a significant impact on how others feel about us. There are seven main facial expressions:
- Surprise
- Fear
- Disgust
- Anger
- Happiness
- Sadness
- Contempt
All seven are easy to read by focusing on the person’s eyes rather than their facial muscles. For example, someone who is genuinely happy smiles with their eyes as well as their mouth. Someone who appears to be sad but rolls their eyes is actually feeling contempt.
In telegraphing your presence, you’ll need to make sure your facial expression radiates genuine feeling. In order to do this, you must hold the feeling you want to convey (whether that be strength, calmness, or confidence) in your heart, fully associate with it, and then consciously widen your eyes a little as you hold your conversation partner’s gaze. By adopting an attitude of receiving rather than projecting, your can ensure your presence is felt as authentic and connected.
2. Posture, movement, breath, and speech
We constantly emit subliminal signals through our gestures, body movements, and even our breathing. Here are a few movements and postures to be aware of when you are interacting with others.
POSTURE
Movement/posture
Leaning in
Leaning back
Standing upright and centred
Mirroring body language of others
Crossed arms and legs
Arms and legs uncrossed
Maintain comfortable eye contact
Perceived meaning
Insecurity, aggression
Disinterest, arrogance
Confidence, strength
Attunement
Closed-off attitude
Openness
Honesty
MOVEMENT
Rapid hand gestures/head movements
Still head and hands
Slow, purposeful strides
Shuffling feet
Small, rapid strides
Walking in middle of corridor
Walking near walls
Anxiety
Authority, relaxation
Confidence
Insecurity
Stress
Confidence
Insecurity
BREATH
Taking slow, deep breaths
Shallow chest breaths
Relaxation, assurance
Nervousness
SPEECH
Speaking slowly and clearly
Speaking softly
Speaking loudly
Matching others’ tone, volume, and speed
Using similar vocabulary as audience
Authority
Passivity
Aggressiveness
Attunement
Warmth, relatability
In the exercises for this stage, you will practise all these body language techniques until they become second nature.
3. Presentation
The third facet of body language is the way you present yourself. Your presentation includes the clothes you wear, your hairstyle, your jewellery (watches, rings, etc.), and even the objects you keep in your office. All these factors contribute to your overall presentation and therefore your presence.
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