If you teach yourself body language, you get to increase your awareness when communicating with others. You may be surprised to know that majority of actual conversation is composed of body language signs or non-verbal cues, so you need to be extra sensitive about these if you want to successfully get your message across.

Using and reading body language can definitely give you a tremendous edge than by just relying on verbal communication alone. Here's how to teach yourself body language.

What is Body Language?

Body language is a form of communication where you use gestures and body actions instead of sounds or regular words. It belongs to the paralanguage category, which is described as non-verbal human communication.

Are you aware that by knowing how to read body language, you may be proficient in spotting liars?

It is also important to note that you can independently use body language to convey a message or command. It is equally important to know the right body language or gestures to use together with verbal language for increased effectiveness.

People should know that their level of confidence affects body language, very much like how real words are pronounced and stressed. Each action, subtle or emphasized, should properly compliment the idea, whether or not you choose to use it with words. People will understand your body language only if you confidently present and project.

Positive Body Language

Positive body language is defined as showing gestures or facial expressions that convey an optimistic or positive response, or simply meaning "yes". The most obvious form of teaching yourself body language would be to simply nod your head in agreement. Other notable facial expressions would be smiling, brightening, or opening your eyes wider and showing enthusiasm and interest with a gaping mouth.

Open arms, an openly expressed torso and widely spaced legs are also known as positive forms of body language, which means that you are welcoming the thought or you are positively responding to the conversation. Mirroring is another technique where you tend to imitate at least one gesture that the other person is doing to show agreement.

Negative Body Language

Negative body language is the opposite, where you show disagreement or refute part or the entire idea of any given conversation. When you teach yourself body language, you can show negative responses without words by shaking your head, frowning, gritting your teeth, putting your eyebrows together, or raising them high. These are classic facial expressions that will immediately show your objection. You may use these when trying to counter ideas verbally.

When it comes to negating gestures, crossed arms and standing your ground with firm feet placement is a great way to express nonverbally. You may want to raise your index finger up when trying to emphasize an idea against the subject being raised. It is not advised to point directly at any individual, since you're particularly addressing the concept and are not being personal.

The idea between positive and negative body language is to show your response in a way that coincides with the words you're saying or are about to say.

There are so many gestures you can use to effectively teach yourself body language. Pacing, palm positioning and eye contact are also very important elements to achieve a greater impact when communicating. Hope these body language tips help you greatly in your daily communication with people.