Tuesday, June 20, 2023

How to Read Body Language: Part Five

Be an Effective Speaker

Face the person you are addressing. Sitting at an angle or facing away from someone suggests you are not interested. It may also make you look rude.

Use a conversational tone. Change the pace at which you speak occasionally to maintain interest. Place emphasis on certain words and phrases to underscore important points you are making. Use pitch and volume to your advantage. And don’t race through what you have to say. You will appear nervous.


Stand about two feet away from the person you are talking to. It’s a distance you should both feel comfortable with. Standing closer will make the other person feel as though you are encroaching on their space which triggers defensiveness. Standing further away is awkward and will make the other person question how you feel about them.

Use gestures to emphasize the points you make but limit the space in which you make them. Avoid pointing at anything or anyone -- especially the person you are talking to. It is not only bad manners, it’s aggressive and will not be well received. The experts have conducted many studies that demonstrate the importance of nonverbal communication. Being aware of what their research indicates is just one more way you can be sure to communicate to the best of your ability.

Lon Chaney Sr. was one of the most famous actors from the silent film era. He was known as ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’ because of his ability to not only transform himself through creative makeup but also project different personalities and feelings without the use of words. Chaney was raised by parents who could not hear or speak, which forced him to cultivate his nonverbal skills. By addressing this need he inadvertently trained himself to understand and convey deep feelings without talking.

He became a master of body language. Early Hollywood recognized his talent and took advantage of it by casting him in hundreds of roles. While the silent film era is long over but a command of body language remains important. You can improve your personal and professional relationships by cultivating your ability to understand nonverbal communication.

When talented actors play roles, they recognize it is imperative to provide many believable cues to be convincing. This entails providing verbal and nonverbal communication that conveys what the character is feeling. Just speaking with expression is not enough. Just having certain facial responses is not enough. Just having telling mannerisms is not enough. All different aspects of the performance have to work together. #nonverbal #nonverbalcommunication #bodylanguage

Flirting with becoming a film angel? Let me know and I’ll keep you in the loop with future developments about Bernhardt on Broadway, the movie musical I’m producing about Sarah Bernhardt. 😊 #musicals #moviemusicals #musicalfilms #musicalfeaturefilms

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