Gesturesincreasethevalueofourmessageby 60%!

Gestures

Thereareallkindsofstandardisedhandmovementsthatpeopleusewithouttheuseofspeechfromclappingtosignifyapprovaltothosethatareinsulting. Infact,

· You’reborntospeakwithyourhands. Britishresearchershavefoundthatinfantswhousemorehandgesturesat 18-months oldhavegreaterlanguageabilitieslateron.

· Handgesturesmakepeoplelistentoyou. Gesturesmakepeoplepayattentiontotheacousticsofspeech.

· Wecan’thelpit. Handgesturescometousnaturally. Spencerevenfoundthatblindpeopleusehandgestureswhenspeakingwithotherblindpeople.

· Gesturinghelpsyouaccessmemories. Usinghandgestureswhileyouspeaknotonlyhelpsothersrememberwhatyousay, italsohelps youspeakmorequicklyandeffectively!

· Nonverbalexplanationshelpyouunderstandmore. Onestudyfoundthatforcingchildrentogesturewhiletheyexplainedhowtosolvemathproblemsactuallyhelpedthemlearnnewproblem-solvingstrategies.

Gesturesincreasethevalueofourmessageby 60%!

That’swhyitisnotenoughjusttoknowandspeaklanguageasgestureshave a greatsense, a hugeculturalmeaning.

TheBritisharehardlyfamousforusingtheirbodymuchduringcommunication. Manyofthegesturesareborrowedfromotherplacesandorwidelyusedinothercountries.

I wouldliketostartwithoneperhapsthemosttroublesomeandfamousBritishgesturewhichiscalled i “the V sign”

MISUNDRSTANDINGS

Gesturescancreateproblemsbecausethey, likelanguages, arenotuniversallyacceptedandwhenusedabroadmaycausemisunderstandings.

1. Firstly, whenRussianpeopleknowthisgesturelike a signoftirednesswhichcanbedescribedlike “I havehadenough’’. InGreatBritainitsays “Itwentovermyhead”. Itmeansthatsomethingwastoocomplextounderstand, itexceedsyourabilities. Forexamplewhenyoudidn’tget a joke, youcouldsaythatitwentoveryourhead.

2. Secondly, inRussiawecanunderstandthisgestureasthe“thinkers’pose”, whileBritishpeoplesay “Youarelyingtome” bythisgesture.

3. Thirdly, Bowingisusuallyanironiccommentonthecontrastbetweenthosekindsofsituationsandwhatyouaredoingnow.
Forexample, ifyougetwhatseemsliketoomuchapplauseafter a presentationandareembarrassedbyit (Britishpeopleoftenbeingembarrassedbypraise), youcanbowtomean “Really? Don’tyouthinkthat’s a bittoomuch? Youcanalsodothesamethingifyouhavefailedatsomethingoronlymanagedtodosomethingridiculous.

4. Finally, aboutblinking. IftheEnglishmanoftenblinkswhileyousaysomething, thismeanslisteningcarefully. Atthesametime, a personcanevenlooktotheside - itisnotcustomarytolookdirectlyintotheeyesfor a longtime. SuchfacialexpressionsreplacetheRussianhabitofnodding, listeningandagreeingwiththeinterlocutor.

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