SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/356087
W ouldn't it be great if you could read your co-workers intentions? Wouldn't it be neat to know in advance if the next person approaching you is hostile? How would you like to know if people are interested in what you have to say? Wouldn't you like to know the next time someone may be deceiving you? Reading body language is a skill. Like any other skill in life to get good at, it requires practice. With practice you too can get good at reading body language, which can offer a multitude of advantages at work, at home, and elsewhere. It has been well established by researchers that those who can effectively read and interpret nonverbal communication, and manage how others perceive it, will enjoy greater success in life than individuals who lack this skill. HoW is reading body language defined? It is a means of transmitting information, just like the spoken word except that it is achieved through facial expressions, gestures, touch, physical movements, posture, embellishments (clothes, hairstyles, tattoos, etc.), and even the tone and volume of one's voice. It does require that one be observant to detect "tells" (clues that our bodies give off). Consequently, it is inadequate to simply see the tell, but one must also understand what the tell means for any advantage in using the tell. Consider this: the human body is capable of giving off thousands of tells. Which ones are most important and how do we decode them? The best place to start is to get baseline information about the person. Base lining in this context is defined as "observing a per- son's behavior when he or she is under normal, non-threatening circumstances." In other words, how does this person look, act and sound under normal conditions. This is valu- able information because when people go off their baseline, there are usually reasons for this and we can usually figure out those reasons. To accomplish base lining simply observe and make mental note of what you observe. This may happen at social functions, meeting in stores, or at the workplace. Take note how they normally stand or sit, facial expressions, hand gestures, where their eyes look when asked a question, where their eyes look when answering a question, eye blink rate, how they sound when speaking, speaking tone, words per minute, speaking cadence, etc. Any and all information you can establish as baseline for that person. WHere to look for trutH in body language? All parts of the body give off information. Consequently, all parts of the body should be examined for tells and what they mean. As a beginning point, most body language experts would start with what's called the limbic sys- tem. The limbic system is something we all have in our brains, and it consists of numer- ous parts. What is significant is not where the limbic system is located or the parts names, but rather what the limbic system does. In the non-verbal world, the limbic system is 28 SportsTurf | August 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Facility & Operations | By Jerry Balistreri USing bOdy langUage TO aSSiST yOUr wOrk Body Area Tells What It Means How It Can Help You Upper Torso Leaning away Disagreement If you're in a meeting and introduce a new concept, and people lean back – you now know what they think of your new idea. Hands Wringing hands Nervousness, When a co-work or client (like washing your anxious, stressed hand wrings, it would be hands without water) time to back off and allow the stress to dissipate. Face Tight lips Hesitancy and Tight lips suggest these secrecy people have more information to share, but are simply unwilling to share. Feet Direction of feet Intentions Where the feet point show the true intentions of the person, i.e., towards a door (wants to leave), towards a person (wants to connect with that person), etc. Legs/Feet Bouncing feet Happy, confident With a person in a sitting position and their leg crossed and the foot bouncing up and down indicates that person is feeling good about what they are hearing and seeing.