{"id":5,"date":"2013-05-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/what-does-your-body-language-say-about-you\/"},"modified":"2013-05-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T00:00:00","slug":"what-does-your-body-language-say-about-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/what-does-your-body-language-say-about-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What does your body language say About you"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sitting around the table for the first time with a new client, Jane Snell found herself getting more and more frustrated. Although she owns her Coconut Creek, Fla., construction company, JS-1 Construction, the half-dozen men seated around the table were addressing their questions and comments to her male assistant. It wasn\u2019t until days later that she discovered where she had gone wrong: her smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I was grinning said \u2018administrative assistant,\u2019 not \u2018owner,\u2019\u201d Snell said.<\/p>\n

Our posture, our facial expressions, even the placement of our legs can speak volumes about what we\u2019re conveying in the workplace. We can put in hours networking or working late and then blow our image as confident experts by sending a different message with something as simple as a smile.<\/p>\n

Sharon Sayler, body language expert and owner of Competitive Edge Communications, educates women and men about the hidden nonverbal statements in business that can ruin a deal, diminish credibility, even create doubt about capability. In workplaces with increasing diversity, age differences and cultural peculiarities, what you\u2019re saying with your eyes, feet and hands could be as game-changing as what comes out of your mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of nuances to what\u2019s being sent unintentionally,\u201d Sayler said. \u201cWe need to understand messages we\u2019re sending and be strategic. When you\u2019re not getting the response you want, you need to think about why.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, women are too quick to smile, she said. \u201cExecutives rarely smile, so if a male executive sees you smiling like a joker, he will think you must be the assistant.\u201d Instead, she advises being strategic. \u201cWhen someone introduces himself and says his name, that\u2019s when you smile and say, \u2018Happy to meet you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Inez Romaguera, a South Florida employee benefits broker, recently learned she, too, was sending the wrong message with her body language. Romaguera, owner of Strategic Benefits, wears heels as part of her work attire. Locked in a conversation with a shorter male, she typically would shift her feet to appear less intimidating. \u201cIt was taking away my power and making me seem less confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Romaguera said she now stands with her feet apart and firmly planted as she networks and makes presentations. \u201cThere are subtle things we don\u2019t notice we\u2019re doing that apply to business owners because we do so much networking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sayler said the worst gaffes usually involve our chins and feet. In workplace situations where there are height differences, keep your chin parallel to the ground, she advises. It may require taking a step back. Tilting your chin up or down could cause you to come across as snooty or timid, she said: \u201cEither way, it does not say leadership.\u201d Also, a head tilt, even to make eye contact, creates a shrill voice pattern, which could make someone come across as a whiner and diminishes authority.<\/p>\n

Anything other than a stance with both feet firmly on the floor could send the message you\u2019re off-balance, personally or professionally, she said. And, if you want someone to know you\u2019re interested and listening, make sure feet are pointed toward them. If you\u2019re the speaker and someone\u2019s feet are pointed toward the door, it\u2019s a message they\u2019re ready to make an exit, she said.<\/p>\n

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Sayler said one client was exacerbating the rough patch he hit in business. Slouched shoulders, shuffling feet and tucked-down chin gave the appearance to others of being beaten down: \u201cIt was affecting how his clients saw him, and it was affecting how he saw himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Dorr of Dorr Asset Management of Miami said personal coaching brought his unintended messages to the fore. He hadn\u2019t realized he was racing through financial presentations to clients without taking breaths, sending the message he wasn\u2019t speaking with authority. \u201cI was telling them about how they should invest, but I was losing their attention because I wasn\u2019t giving them time to digest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorr began to watch the body language of others he felt had a powerful presence. \u201cNine out of 10 times they were breathing between sentences. It\u2019s something small, but it might have changed a deal or cost me an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, more attuned to body language, Dorr finds himself watching the small cues others give him when he speaks. \u201cI watch the way they shift their feet or eyes and I think, \u2018Maybe I shouldn\u2019t waste more time here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Body language expert Carol Kinsey Goman said that even leaders have to be careful with what they might inadvertently be saying through posture. Goman, author of \u201cThe Silent Language of Leaders,\u201d said a leader\u2019s natural sitting position \u2014 expanding with hands behind head, elbows wide and legs loosely crossed \u2014 could undermine his efforts in leading collaborative teams. \u201cIf you\u2019re sending the message that you\u2019re the boss who has all the answers, why would anyone else need \u2014 or dare \u2014 to contribute?\u201d<\/p>\n

Goman said most people don\u2019t realize \u201cone small nonverbal signal can change the dynamics of an entire business interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sitting around the table for the first time with a new client, Jane Snell found herself getting more and more frustrated. Although she owns her Coconut Creek, Fla., construction company, JS-1 Construction, the half-dozen men seated around the table were addressing their questions and comments to her male assistant. It wasn\u2019t until days later that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3238,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benefits","category-change","category-empower-network","category-freedom","category-hard-work","category-make-money-blogging","category-purpose","category-purposepatty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/purposepatty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}