46. Speaking with Your Every Move (II)

Google Images: Light in Motion

Reading your thoughts

Well, a week has passed and it’s time to have another look at the previous post – for those of you who read it right after August 12^th; anyway, the exercises would be useless without going over the different extracts.

There are some suggested answers, too: you’ll have to ‘go on just one more page’!

Use the information in the text to complete the grid showing the messages which different postures send out. The first example has been done for you.

Posture/gesture	Message
smile	'I am keen to communicate'
arms/legs crossed
open posture
leaning forward
leaning back
warm handshake
nod of the head / eye contact

The five sections in the previous article are reflected here.

Look at the text about body language again. Read it quickly and match the most appropriate illustration A-E to each of the sections 1-5.

Now match one of the headings a-f to each of the five sections.

a Eye contact      d Stand close

b Forward lean   e Open posture

c Smile                  f Touch

In the text, find as many noun phrases (adjective + noun) as possible which describe different types of body language, e.g. pleasant/nice smile, phony face.

Collocate an adjective from list A with a noun from list B to produce as many phrases as possible. You can use the same noun with more than one adjective.

A	B
strong friendly open positive non-verbal conversational receptive defensive personal brief social outside first	indication space attitude situations problems periods signals step frame of mind contact

How many different adjectives can you find in the text which can collocate with the words 'way' and 'manner'?

And now the time is ripe for a slice of real life!

Eye contact

Suggested answers

Posture/gesture	Message
smile	'I am keen to communicate'
arms/legs crossed	‘I’m not in for conversation’
open posture	‘How interesting!’
leaning forward	‘Do go on: I’m all ears!’
leaning back	‘I don’t know about that!’
warm handshake	‘You’ve got a friend here’
nod of the head / eye contact	‘I’m listening attentively’

1.      C – 2. D – 3. B – 4. E – 5. A

Strong, (a/the) first	indication
Open, personal	space
Friendly, positive, non-verbal, receptive, defensive, social	attitude
Conversational, personal, social	situations
Personal, social	problems
Brief	periods
Strong, friendly, non-verbal, positive	signals
First, positive	step
Outside, conversational	frame of mind
Personal, social	contact

Friendly, positive way; positive, friendly manner (!)