1.4 Body language
Your body language is very important for both listening and speaking. It gives a lot of information to others about how you are feeling, if you are concentrating and if you are interested, among other things. Non-verbal communication can make up a high proportion of what you communicate. Clearly body language is something you should be very aware of when you are speaking to other people. You will look at this in more detail later.
Activity 11 Read the body language
Allow about 5 minutes
What does the body language, expressions or gestures in each of these pictures tell you?
Discussion
See if you agree with the ideas below on the messages that each person’s body language sends.
This person looks very relaxed and at ease, with their feet on the table and their hands behind their head.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
She seems to be concentrating hard and is focused on what she is doing.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
He is leaning forward and looks interested and engaged.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
She looks angry and frustrated.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
He looks shocked and dismayed by something that’s just happened - possibly because the other side have just scored!
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
She looks rather fed up and annoyed.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
He looks nervous and anxious.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
She looks tired and rather worried.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––--
He looks full of energy and happy.
OpenLearn - Everyday English 1
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.