So apparently reading body language accurately can improve relationships, careers and even save lives!
Dubai-based Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) trainer certified Mohammed Ali says 93 per cent of our communication is non-verbal, but most people only pay attention to words, which account for just 7pc of the process.
He says law enforcement agents and even criminals realise the power of reading, or holding back non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice.
“How many times do we think children are lying because they are looking away, not making eye contact with us?” says Mr Ali.
“It’s a big myth that if someone’s lying, he or she will not make eye contact. Eye contact has nothing to do with lying. A good liar will make more eye contact to convince you.”
He says a trained eye can also differentiate between a genuine smile and a fake or “social smile”.
“You might think it would be clever to smile, to play cool, but a real smuggler will rarely smile because he doesn’t want to draw attention or appear overly conscious. Immigration officials are especially trained to zero in on suspects just by looking at their body language,” according to the specialist.
Interestingly he says when we genuinely smile, certain muscles around the eyes will get engaged.
So if someone is really smiling or laughing, they would not be able to stop that from happening.
And even though, the forms and interpretations to body language can vary from one culture to another, certain aspects remain universal.
“Body language is for everyone. Mothers need to read their children; husbands, wives, sales teams, HR personnel, lawyers, judges, CEOs – body language is equally important for everyone.” says Mr Ali, who won’t get any arguments from me.
I continuously try to read my daughters’ facial expressions.
I am adamant to suss what they really mean, when their mouths says one thing and their faces another!
More so the younger one, who has mastered the art of a ‘poker face!