If you have not figured it out by now, I spend a great deal of time observing things and trying to figure out what led to specific decision or activity. So a book focused on body language is a no brainer great gift idea for me. My wife was kind enough to give me The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease. All in all, it is a pretty quick read and actually had some information I hope to validate in my future observations. Although, there is a downside to having read this book – you constantly make yourself aware of any body language signals YOU may be given off in a given situation. I’ll be sitting there talking to someone and check of things like… are my legs crossed, where are my hands, what part of the face am I staring at, are my palms down or up etc. It is pretty unnerving at first, but it gives some quick validation on some of the points in the book. I think there are some over-generalizations scattered about the book and I completely disagree with some bathroom statements/rules that were made, but overall, I place this informative book on the recommended reading list – especially for anyone who likes assess situations as much as I do. Here are some of the informative things that stuck with me after my initial read – I am reserving the right to read this again in a couple of years and see if my own assessments until then.
- Apparently Charles Darwin started the study of body language in a work he did back in 1872
- We are capable of recognizing around 250,000 facial expressions
- 55% of communication is non-verbal – I have read other related research that says this is probably closer to 60 to 65%
- Initial opinions are 60-80% done in 4 minutes
- When crossing your arms across your chest – 70% cross left arm over right arm – This fact I immediately tried out on myself and friends – I am in the minority, but 5 of 6 people I tested were in agreement. Oddly enough, every one of them had troubles consciously switching the order
- Assessing body language should be done in clusters – look at the whole before making an assessment
Continue reading Book Recollection: The Definitive Book of Body Language
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