Communicate visibly to stand out from the rest

My recent conscious and earnest observation of the body language of young executives doing a variety of jobs across various industries persuaded me to compare and contrast the communication and negotiation skills our nation has, relative to the western world.

I have seen in the recent past, failures of great brains due to gaps in communication skills. I will focus on the importance of non-verbal communication in the hope that it will help many to do a self assessment and come up with a plan to improve the power of communication for greater success and to be admired and respected. It's all about visible communication for greater impact.

Judgement

Ask yourself; don't you pass judgments, form perceptions and make conclusions on people you regularly interact with on various physical attributes such as appearance, body structure, dress sense and communication style.

In the modern world, can you afford to have a lack of focus on any of these and expect to be differentiated and recognized? The definite answer is 'no'. Look around; the people who are successful and popular or perceived to be successful are the people who have the right body language. Be it a politician, business leader, sales person, teacher, doctor or any other professional who needs people's attention and positive response, effective body language is a competitive advantage to successfully encounter the ever mounting competition. Each one of us has our own unique body language; inherited or acquired and we get exposed to the body language of others in our daily activities.

Body language

As soon as we are in contact with others we communicate through non-verbal signals. We would like the non-verbal signals to be impressive. Most often in professional life, communication is all about negotiations, transactions, motivating and leading or following, and in social life it's comforting someone, entertaining, helping, assuring and confidence building. To be effective in any of these actions, you need to deliver the messages convincingly to achieve the desired outcome.

You know that body language occurs unconsciously. Yet the body language we use decides to a large extent the quality of our communication; enhances the intent and content of the message. The messages that your body sends out is an indispensable element in your social interaction. Sadly, in most people, the body is not saying what they want it to say. They think their body is doing one thing when in fact it is doing the opposite or they are totally ignorant about it. It is like singing a song without music. It just does not work.

Appropriate gestures

Since most of our communication is non-verbal, it's very important that we use every part of our body to make our point. Persuasive body language is crucial to sales or marketing people. However, it can be used in any social situation.

People will be much more apt to listen to and believe in what we have to say when we use confident and persuasive body language. We will come across with more credibility and reliability. We will learn to communicate much more effectively by combining appropriate body gestures with the words we choose and use.

Interaction

By learning how to interpret the body language of others and ourselves, we will have more meaningful interactions. It can also help you avoid misinterpretations, persuade others, attract members of the opposite sex and increase your performance or prospects.

The next time you are in a conversation, start analyzing your own body language. Pay attention to the unconscious signals you may be sending. Then analyze the facial expressions, movements and gestures made by others. You'll be surprised at how much more you can learn about yourself and others.

Mastering this skill will improve your meaningful interactions in all situations across all stakeholder groups. Use it correctly and achieve greater success in life.