BODY LANGUAGE
How to read others' thoughts by their gestures
ALLAN PEASE is the managing director of a
management consultancy company based in
Sydney, Australia. He produces books, films, and
cassettes that are used by numerous organisa-
tions around the world to train personnel in
communication skills. He did ten years' study,
interviewing and research before writing BODY
LANGUAGE.
Overcoming Common Problems
BODY LANGUAGE
How to read others' thoughts by their gestures
Allan Pease
First published 1981 by Camel Publishing Company,
Box 1612, North Sydney, 2060, Australia
Copyright © Allan Pease 1981
First published March 1984 by Sheldon Press,
SPCK Building, Marylebone Road, London
NWl 4DU
Tenth impression 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Pease, Allan
Body language. - (Overcoming common problems)
1. Nonverbal communication
I. Title II. Series
001.56 P99.5
ISBN 0-85969-406-2
Printed in Great Britain
at the University Printing House, Oxford
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
A Framework for Understanding
Territories and Zones
Palm Gestures
Hand and Arm Gestures
Hand-to-Face Gestures
Arm Barriers
Leg Barriers
Other Popular Gestures and Actions
Eye Signals
Courtship Gestures and Signals
Cigars, Cigarettes, Pipes and Glasses
Territorial and Ownership Gestures
Carbon Copies and Mirror Images
Body Lowering and Status
Pointers
Desks, Tables and Seating Arrangements
Power Plays
Putting It All Together
References
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following people who have directly and indirectly contributed to this book: Noel Bishop, Raoul Boielle, Ty Boyd, Sue Brannigan, Matthew Braund, Doug Constable, John Cooke, Sharon Cooper, Chris Corck, Brett Davies, Dr Andre Davril, George Deveraux, Rob Edmonds, Iven Frangi, Rex Gamble, Dave Goodwin, Jan Goodwin, Paul Gresham, Gerry Hatton, John Hepworth, Bob Heussler, Gay Huber, Professor Phillip Hunsaker, Dianne Joss, Jacqueline Kent, Ian McKillop, Delia Mills, Desmond Morris, Virginia Moss, Wayne Mugridge, John Nevin, Peter Opie, Diana O'Sullivan, Richard Otton, Ray Pease, David Plenderleith, David Rose, Richard Salisbury, Kim Sheumack, Jan Smith, Tom Stratton, Ron Tacchi, Steve Tokoly, Keith Weber, Alan White, Rob Winch and the Australian Jaycees.
Introduction
When I first heard about 'body language' at a seminar in 1971, I became so excited about it that I wanted to learn more. The speaker told us about some of the research done by Professor Ray Birdwhistell at the University of Louisville, which had shown that more human communication took place by the use of gestures, postures, position and distances than by any other method. At that time I had been a commission salesman for several years and had undergone many long, intensive courses on selling techniques, but none of these courses had ever mentioned anything about the non-verbal aspects or implications of face-to-face encounters.
My own investigations showed that little useful information was available on body language and, although libraries and universities had records of the studies done on it, most of this information consisted of closely set manuscripts and theoretical assumptions compiled in an objective manner by people who had little or no practical experience in dealing with other human beings. This does not mean that their work was not important; simply that most of it was too technical to have any practical application or use by a layman like myself.
In writing this book, I have summarised many of the studies by the leading behavioural scientists and have combined them with similar research done by people in other professions - sociology, anthropology, zoology, education, psychiatry, family counseling, professional negotiating and selling.
The book also includes many 'how to' features developed from the countless reels of videotape and film made by myself and others throughout Australasia and overseas, plus some of the experiences and encounters that I have had with the thousands of people that I have interviewed, recruited, trained, managed and sold to over the past fifteen years.
This book is by no means the last word on body language, nor does it contain any of the magic formulae promised by some of the books in the bookstores. Its purpose is to make the reader more aware of his own nonverbal cues and signals and to demonstrate how people communicate with each other using this medium.