Hello, everyone! I continue to read the book “Body Language” by Allan Pease. On Flipgrid I have already told you about the purpose of the book, there is also some information about the author and what the first chapters of the book are about.
I have read some more chapters, one of them is about personal space. It claims that people, just like animals, need more personal space if they are used to living in a zone where the population is scarce. Let’s take a farmer from countryside: they probably will be more comfortable if you talk to them keeping quite a lot of space between each other. Or if we speak about a Japanese person, they are usually used to crowding, their personal space is smaller. This knowledge is efficiently applied in sales: it is easier to sell something to a person to whom you know how to approach, how to keep the right distance between each other. However, it can be important in daily life, because understanding of personal space of others makes you a better communicator.
Another chapter was about palm gestures as they are ones of the most powerful gestures we use (submissive palm position when you show your palms as if you’re begging; dominant palm position which is when your palm is turned to face downwards; and aggressive palm position when the palm is closed into a fist and the index finger is pointing at something/someone). You already know what all these gestures mean, however, palms also can be indicators of how open and honest the person is. If you are telling the truth, then it is most likely that your palms will be open, faced upwards or towards the person to whom you are talking; but if you want to use this indicator to deceive someone, other body signals will reveal that you lying (not looking into the eyes or looking into them constantly/looking through the person; shaking in the voice; sweating; etc.).
The author also discusses the topic of submissive and dominant handshakes. It is not only about the strength of the handshake but also about palm up (submissive) and palm down (dominant) positions of the hands. So what if someone’s handshake is weak? Maybe they have arthritis or play some musical instrument. However, if your palm is faced upwards in a handshake, then you are giving the control; faced downwards — you are taking the control; but when two dominant people shake hands, their palms usually end up in a vertical position as each person transmits a feeling of respect and rapport to the other.
I hope you found some information useful or interesting =) Have a good day.
