Body Language

Territory
❚ Intimate ❚ Social
❙ Touching ❙ Close 4-7 feet
❙ 6-18”
❙ Far - 7-12 feet
❚ Personal
❙ Close -1½ to 2½ ❚ Public
feet ❙ Close - 12-25
❙ Far - 2½ to 4 ½ feet
feet
❙ Far - 25 feet or
greater
 Different
Cultures ...
❚ A crowded
culture

❚ What is your
private
space?
 When you invade my
space
❚ Reactions to
an invasion of
your space
❙ Feel troubled
❙ Get defensive
❙ Become
aggressive
❙ Retaliate
Masks We Wear
❚ Public Masks
❙ Public smile
❙ Clothing
❙ Putting on my face
❚ Extended territory
❙ On the road
❙ At work
❚ Can we drop masks?
 Jockeying for
position
❚ Inclusive - Non-inclusive
❙ How you include/exclude others in a group
❚ Parallel body positions
❙ Will position yourselves to relate to each
other
❙ Side by side are neutral
❙ Facing means people are involved
❚ Congruence-incongruence
❙ Groups that imitate each other
 Looking
❚ How long do you look?
❙ Staring- dehumanizes or challenges
❙ Glances - socially acceptable timing
❙ Appraisal- may indicate interest
❚ Do you look when you talk?
❚ Do you look when you listen?
Actions Speak Louder than Words?

‘What often happens in any relationship is that

language itself becomes a mask and a means of
clouding and confusing the relationship. If the
spoken language is stripped away and the only
communication left is body language, the truth
will find some way of poling through. Spoken
language itself is a great obscurer”

Body Language,
Language Julius Fast, MJF books, 1970.
Misinterpretation =
Trouble??
❚ Lost business
❙ Lack of animation =
lack of interest?
❙ US tendency to get
right to business
 Troubles
❚ Conflict with
peers

• Different work styles

• Wrong assumptions
 Trouble….
❚ Misinterpretation
of signals
❙ Can be BIG trouble
❙ Legal trouble
❙ Do you know how
to act or are you
confused?
Do you know what you are
saying?