Being able to read body language is a very useful skill. Not only does it allow you to understand someone’s words more accurately and effectively, but it also helps you to dig out someone’s true intentions.
Not everyone says what they mean. That makes communication ten times harder because you can’t always trust someone’s words at face value. Within a large contemporary office it’s likely that you’re going to be working with a wide range of different personalities and that means you need to not only understand them well, but you also need to be able to switch up your communication style to get the most out of the conversations and brainstorming sessions you have with them.
From collaboration around the modern boardroom tables to discussions in passing at your office chair, communication within the workplace is vital. That not only includes verbal communication but also nonverbal communication - body language included.
A key way to start to learn body language is to look for the most common and most obvious underhanded intention - lying.
Now, you should not simply assume that your colleague are lying when you see a few of these body language moves exhibited, but it’s useful to know that when combined, they could add up to someone not telling you the truth. This might be a colleague telling you that they’re “fine” when you can obvious tell they’re not and that they’re upset, or it could be a visitor to the reception area who is being a little secretive about a complaint. There are countless reasons why someone might not tell you the exact truth and it comes down to reading the nonverbal cues to understand what is really going on.
So, how can you tell is someone is lying by reading their body language and their verbal cues? Look for these key signs.
- Avoiding eye contact deliberately
- Standing very still rather than moving naturally - most people tend to move from foot to foot when they’re standing naturally
- Fidgeting with their sleeve, hair or something else - this is particularly telling when combined with eye contact avoidance
- Crossing their arms over their body
- Turning the subject or question back on you - this is a verbal sign, but it’s something to look for
- Repeating words or the same sentence more than a few times
- Giving a lot of information that isn’t really necessary
A person with good communication skills knows the importance of being body language aware. Whilst not every person who lies to you will be doing so maliciously, it’s interesting to be able to read the situation so that you can naturally delve a little deeper. If this is a colleague who is sitting in the office booths looking forlorn and you ask them what’s wrong, you can tell they’re lying when they say they’re okay by the way they speak and what their body is telling you. Then, you can offer further assistance or reassurance, helping them to overcome whatever is bothering them.
As you can see, understanding something as simple as body language allows you to solve problems and dig just a little bit deeper.