Business Body Language Seminar Actions Speak Louder Than Words!

The Ultimate Body Language Seminar

Unlike many of the proverbs, sayings and dictums that litter the English language, this one conveys a major truth that can be proven, demonstrated and, more importantly, used to great effect by those in the know. Perhaps, like me, you have heard of body language. You may even have read a book or two on the topic a long time ago and yet you did little with the information. Perhaps, you have read about the way that humans communicate. Behavioral scientists tell us that only 7% of effective communication comes from the words that we use; 38% of the meaning is conveyed by the tonality with which the words are expressed and, a massive 55% from physiology which is the more accurate term for body language. That Crucial 55% If you were to focus on that 55% you would make all of your communication more effective; you would have a competitive edge in negotiations, you would create rapid rapport and your meanings and intentions would be understood with no risk of confusion. You would establish and sustain excellent relationships with your friends, family, staff, superiors, peers and subordinate colleagues. You would feel confident in any situation. At last, through enjoyable and informative seminars, you can benefit from my years of study which have allowed me to present a series of models incorporating practical examples and techniques that you can use whenever the need arises. Your results may be so amazing that you will begin to use these secrets of communication in your everyday life, at work, at home, and at play.
It Started from Why? and Grew to How?

I suspect that one of the first words that I uttered as a toddler was why? This quest for information and knowledge was no passing phase, it became a passion that is with me to this day. It is matched only by my determination to give the very best of myself for my clients. In combination, these two traits become a powerful motivator to share my accumulated awareness with others. The easy option would be to simply repackage the tabloid newspaper take on body language. Lean forward to show interest, fold your arms to show resistance and so on most of which is pretty self evident common sense. To gain a fuller understanding of why non-verbal communication elicits such powerful responses, you need to know how human physiology has evolved. Did you know, for example, that a shake of the head to

indicate No is observable in babies who are just a few weeks old? Have you ever considered how infant tongue movements carry forward into adult life to convey rejection, concentration or uncertainty? When you learn where many of our customary gestures and expressions come from, then you know why they are so effective and universally understood and why, in some cultures they mean the direct opposite! For the sake of completeness, we obviously discuss and explore the more obvious examples of non-verbal communication but then we move on to the even more interesting material that has formed the bulk of my extensive research.
Micro What?

Avoidance of jargon is always at the heart of my approach to information exchange, but sometimes it is unavoidable. A case in point is Micro Synchrony, a branch of the study of physiology which deals specifically with tiny, almost imperceptible changes in many parts of the body. Without looking in a mirror, do you know what your eyebrows are doing as you read this page? What about your lips toes finger tips trunk and the pupils of your eyes? More importantly, do you know what they reveal to someone who has the necessary awareness? Powerful Signals: By now you will have realised that we have moved on from the obvious conscious movements of your body to the subconscious mini-movements that send amazingly powerful signals, without you even being aware of them. When you observe them in others and learn how to read them, you can tell if someone is truly sincere, if they believe in what they are saying or, if they are deliberately being economical with the truth. You can even detect when they may think they are outwardly telling the truth as they believe it, but are inwardly seeking to deceive. More Discovery: You will discover the secret of non-verbal leakage. You will learn how to guide and lead a conversation with subtle mirroring, pacing and matching to gain the outcome or result that you desire and to evoke the feelings in the other party that they actually want to agree with you. You will have techniques to turn aggression into passive acceptance, criticism into praise and negativity into a positive attitude. You will know how to recognise and interpret the 50 or so different types of smiles and the tiny movements of over 80 facial muscles that reveal if a smile is true or fake. You will know when sustained eye contact is beneficial and when it is time to break away and gaze elsewhere and crucially, where that elsewhere should be.

The smallest indicators can be easy to observe. You can tell if a person is using their creative and emotional right brain or their calculating and analytical left brain. The midlevel signals, like hand to face, can show you an individuals comfort zone so that you know when it its limits are being broached. All top flight sports champions know the importance of obvious body language and the signals that their physiology sends to their opponents. Many games or matches are lost or won on this basis alone.
Time For Your Next Step

Politicians, judges, lawyers, clergy, television presenters, counsellors, sales people and therapists have all found that an understanding of body language can help them in their work to establish rapport and create satisfactory outcomes. Chief executives, functional managers, team leaders and personnel professionals have reported significant benefits in their management of change and achievement of productivity targets. I am totally convinced that this awareness can assist you too whatever your age, gender, ethnic or social background. It can help you in every area of your personal, social and working life. Now I invite you take the next step by participating in one of my Introduction To Body Language Analysis seminars. This seminar can be run for your company, event or organisation too. Contact me to find out how to bring me into your company. Contact Hypnotic Business today:

Communication Methods
Experts say that communication is composed of different methods: words, voice, tone and non-verbal clues. Of these, some are more effective in delivering a message than others. According to research, in a conversation or verbal exchange: Words are 7% effective Tone of voice is 38% effective Non-verbal clues are 55% effective. (see footnotes) Non-verbal clues include:

Body language (e.g., arms crossed, standing, sitting, relaxed, tense),

Emotion of the sender and receiver (e.g., yelling, speaking provocatively, enthusiastic) Other connections between the people (e.g., friends, enemies, professional similarities or differences, personal similarities or differences, age similarities or differences, philosophical similarities or differences, attitudes, expectations).

In other words, WHAT you say is not nearly as important as HOW you say it!

What does the graphic tell you about this speaker?

Distortion in Sending and Receiving Messages

Notice that between the sender and the receiver the path appears to be straight. However, this is rarely the case. There are many different ways to distort the message or to filter it (both in delivering the message and in receiving the message). All of the distortions can occur for both the listener and the receiver.

The Five Key Elements to Nonverbal Communication in Business

By Lee Hopkins Nonverbal communication in business There are five key elements...

...that can make or break your attempt at successful non-verbal business communication: Eye contact Gestures Movement Posture, and Written communication

Let's examine each nonverbal element in turn to see how we can maximise your potential to communicate effectively... Eye contact Good eye contact helps your audience develop trust in you, thereby helping you and your message appear credible. Poor eye contact does exactly the opposite. So what IS 'good' eye contact? People rely on visual clues to help them decide on whether to attend to a message or not. If they find that someone isn't 'looking' at them when they are being spoken to, they feel uneasy. So it is a wise business communicator that makes a point of attempting to engage every member of the audience by looking at them. Now, this is of course easy if the audience is just a handful of people, but in an auditorium it can be a much harder task. So balance your time between these three areas: slowly scanning the entire audience, focusing on particular areas of your audience (perhaps looking at the wall between two heads if you are still intimidated by public speaking), and looking at individual members of the audience for about five seconds per person. Looking at individual members of a large group can be 'tricky' to get right at first.

Equally, it can be a fine balancing act if your audience comprises of just one or two membersspend too much time looking them in the eyes and they will feel intimidated, stared at, 'hunted down'. So here's a useful tip: break your eye-to-eye contact down to four or five second chunks. That is, look at the other person in blocks that last four to five seconds, then look away. That way they won't feel intimidated. Practice this timing yourself, away from others. Just look at a spot on the wall, count to five, then look away. With practice you will be able to develop a 'feel' for how long you have been looking into your audience member's eyes and intuitively know when to look away and focus on another person or object. When focusing on individual members in a large meeting or auditorium, try and geographically spread your attention throughout the room. That is, don't just focus your personal gaze (as distinct from when you are scanning the room or looking at sections of the room) on selected individuals from just one part of the room. Unless you are specifically looking to interact with a particular person at that moment of your presentation, select your individual eye-contact audience members from the whole room. Gestures Most of us, when talking with our friends, use our hands and face to help us describe an event or objectpowerful nonverbal aids. We wave our arms about, turn our hands this way and that, roll our eyes, raise our eyebrows, and smile or frown. Yet many of us also, when presenting to others in a more formal setting, 'clam up'. Our audience of friends is no different from our business audiencethey all rely on our face and hands (and sometimes legs, feet and other parts of us!) to 'see' the bigger, fuller picture. It is totally understandable that our nervousness can cause us to 'freeze up', but is is in our and our communication's best interests if we manage that nervousness, manage our fear of public speaking, and use our body to help emphasise our point.

I found that by joining a local Toastmasters International club http://hopkinsbusiness-communication-training.com/cgi-bin/site.pl?url=http%3A%2F %2Fwww.toastmastersa.org%2Fchampion%2Findex.html I was rapidly able to learn how to 'free up my body' when presenting to others. Movement Ever watch great presenters in actionmen and women who are alone on the stage yet make us laugh, cry and be swept along by their words and enthusiasm? Watch them carefully and you'll note that they don't stand rigidly in one spot. No, they bounce and run and stroll and glide all around the stage. Why do they do that? Because they know that we human beings, men in particular, are drawn to movement. As part of man's genetic heritage we are programmed to pay attention to movement. We instantly notice it, whether we want to or not, assessing the movement for any hint of a threat to us. This, of course, helps explain why many men are drawn to the TV and seem transfixed by it. It also helps explain why men in particular are almost 'glued' to the TV when there is any sport on. All that movement! But to get back to the stage and you on it... ensure that any movement you make is meaningful and not just nervous fidgetting, like rocking back and forth on your heels or moving two steps forward and back, or side to side. This is 'nervous movement' and your nervousness will transmit itself to your audience, significantly diluting the potency of your communication and message. So move about the stage when you cannot just to keep the men in the audience happy, but to help emphasise your message! Posture There are two kinds of 'posture' and it is the wise communicator that manages and utilizes both.

Posture 1 The first type of 'posture' is the one we think of intuitivelythe straight back versues the slumped shoulders; the feet-apart confident stance verses the feet together, hand-wringing of the nervous; the head up and smiling versus the head down and frowing. And every one of the positions we place the various elements of our body in tells a storya powerful, nonverbal story. For example, stand upright, shoulders straight, head up and eyes facing the front. Wear a big smile. Notice how you 'feel' emotionally. Nowslump your shoulders, look at the floor and slightly shuffle your feet. Again, take a note of your emotional state. Notice the difference? Your audience surely will, and react to you and your message accordingly. A strong, upright, positive body posture not only helps you breath easier (good for helping to calm nerves!) but also transmits a message of authority, confidence, trust and power. If you find yourself challenged to maintain such a posture, practice in front of a mirror, or better yet join a speaking club like Toastmasters International. Posture 2 The second type of 'posture' comes from your internal mental and emotional states. You can have great body posture but without internal mental and emotional posture your words will sound hollow to your audience. For example, the used car salesman at 'Dodgy Brothers Motors' might have great body posture and greet you with a firm handshake, a steady gaze and a friendly smile. But if in his heart he is seeing you as just another sucker then sooner or later his internal conflict between what he says and what he really thinks will cause him to 'trip up'.

His body will start betraying his real, underlying intentions and you'll start to feel uncomfortable around him, even if you can't figure out why. But, if that same used car salesman had a genuine desire to help you find the right car for you, and he puts your needs before his own, then his words and actions will remain congruent (in harmony) with his underlying intentions and you will trust him, even though you might not be able to identify why. I have seen some supposed 'self help' gurus who don't actually practice what they preach. Consequently their words ring hollow to me and their books, cds, dvds and training materials remain unpurchased. I have met salesmen and women who don't actually make the money they claim to make in their 'fabulous business opportunity', and while their words are practiced and polished, and their body posture is 'perfect', their words ooze like honeyed poison frm their lips and I remain unconvinced. This second type of 'posture' is fundamentally tied to truth and honesty. It is about 'walking the talk' and being who you say you are. It's about not trying to sell something you don't believe in or use yourself. It's about not trying to pass yourself off as an expert when all you've ever done is read a book on the subject. It's all about making sure that your words and your intentions are underpinned by truth and honesty. Because all of us, no matter how polished a presenter we might be, are at the mercy of our body and its ability to 'tell the truth' in spite of what our lips might utter. Nonverbal clues rule! Written communication I could spend a lifetime writing about the art of written communication. There is an art (and also a science) that can be learnt with diligence and practice. To write too formally; to write too informally; to write too briefly; to write too lengthily..

LISTEN UP
Why Good Communication Is Good Business By Marty Blalock

Why is communication important to business? Couldnt we just produce graduates skilled at crunching numbers? Good communication matters because business organizations are made up of people. As Robert Kent, former dean of Harvard Business School has said, In business, communication is everything. Research spanning several decades has consistently ranked communication skills as crucial for managers. Typically, managers spend 75 to 80 percent of their time engaged in some form of written or oral communication. Although often termed a soft skill, communication in a business organization provides the critical link between core functions. Lets examine three reasons why good communication is important to individuals and their organizations. Reason 1. Ineffective communication is very expensive.

Communication in a business organization provides the critical link between core functions.
The National Commission on Writing estimates that American businesses spend $3.1 billion annually just training people to write. The Commission surveyed 120 human resource directors in companies affiliated with the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers from U.S. corporations. According to the report of the National Commission on Writing:

People who cannot write and communicate clearly will not be hired, and if already working, are unlikely to last long enough to be considered for promotion. Eighty percent or more of the companies in the services and the finance, insurance and real estate sectorsthe corporations with greatest employment growth potentialassess writing during hiring. Two-thirds of salaried employees in large American companies have some writing responsibility. More than 40 percent of responding firms offer or require training for salaried employees with writing deficiencies.

Tips for Communication Whether writing or speaking, consider your objectives. What do you want your listeners or readers to remember or do? To achieve an objective, you need to be able to articulate it.

 Consider your audience. How receptive will it be? If you anticipate positive reception of your message, you can be more direct. Consider your credibility in relation to your audience. Also, consider the organizational environment. Is it thick or flat, centralized or decentralized? Each will have communication implications. How can you motivate others? Benefits are always your best bet. And if you can establish common ground, especially at the opening of a message, you can often make your audience more receptive. Think carefully about channel choice, about the advantages and disadvantages of your choice, and the preferred channels of your audience. If you want to have a permanent record or need to convey complex information, use a channel that involves writing. If your message is sensitive, email may not be the best choice; the immediacy of face-to-face communication can be preferable, especially when you would prefer not to have a written record. Adapted from research on communication strategy by Mary Munter of the Tuck School at Dartmouth and Jane Thomas of the University of Michigan.
In a New York Times article about the Commissions findings, Bob Kerrey, president of New School University in New York and chair of the National Commission on Writing, put it this way: Writing is both a marker of high-skill, high-wage, professional work and a gatekeeper with clear equity implications. People unable to express themselves clearly in writing limit their opportunities for professional, salaried employment. The ability to communicate was rated as the most important factor in making a manager promotable by subscribers to Harvard Business Review.

Reason 2. The changing environment and increasing complexity of the 21st century workplace make communication even more important. Flatter organizations, a more diverse employee base and greater use of teams have all made communication essential to organizational success. Flatter organizations mean managers must communicate with many people over whom they may have no formal control. Even with their own employees, the days when a manager can just order people around are finished. The autocratic management model of past generations is increasingly being replaced by participatory management in which communication is the key to build trust, promote understanding and empower and motivate others. Because the domestic workforce is growing more diverse, an organization can no longer assume its employee constituencies are homogeneous. Employees reflect differences in age, ethnic heritage, race, physical abilities, gender and sexual orientation. Diversity is not just a matter of social responsibility; it is also an economic issue. Companies are realizing the advantage of making full use of the creativity, talents, experiences and perspectives of a diverse employee base.

Teams are the modus operandi in the 21st century workplace. In a recent survey of Fortune 1000 companies, 83 percent reported that their firms use teams; teams are all about communication. The collaboration that allows organizations to capitalize on the creative potential of a diverse workforce depends on communication. Reason 3. The worlds economy is becoming increasingly global. By the end of the 20th century, 80 percent of U.S. products were competing in international markets. The direct investment of foreign-based companies grew from $9 trillion in 1966 to more than $300 trillion in 2002. Many products we assume are American, such as Purina Dog Chow and KitKat candy bars, are made overseas. Brands we may think are international, Grey Poupon mustard, Michelin tires and Evian water, are made in the United States.

What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate Does business language have to be dull? And full of jargon? And generally mindnumbing? Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway and Joan Warshawsky dont think so. In 2003, the three former consultants at Deloitte Consulting released a software program called Bullfighter. It includes a jargon database and Bull Composite Index calculator that allow you to measure just how bad your writing is. Better yet, it has a feature that allows you to copy and paste any awful office memo that crosses your electronic inbox, rate it for readabilityor lack thereofand email the rating anonymously to the transgressor. Now the light-hearted trio has a new book on the same subject which is winning excellent reviews: Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighters Guide (176 pages, Free Press, New York) The book attributes failures in business communication to four common missteps: the obscurity trap, the anonymity trap, the hard-sell trap and the tedium trap. In fact, they maintain jargon, wordiness and evasiveness are the active ingredients of modern business speak. But fear not: The book uses humor to help you devise ways to communicate your message in a sales pitch, a web page, even an annual reportand avoid corporatespeak. Lari Fanlund

For managers, having international experience is rapidly moving from desirable to essential. A study by the Columbia University School of Business reported that successful executives must have multi-environment and multinational experience to become CEOs in the 21st century. The ability to compete in the global economy is the single greatest challenge facing business today. Organizations will want to negotiate, buy and sell overseas, consider joint ventures, market and adapt products for an international market and improve their expatriates success rate. All of this involves communication. Products have failed overseas sometimes simply because a name may take on unanticipated meanings in translation: the Olympic copier Roto in Chile (roto in Spanish means broken); the Chevy Nova in Puerto Rico (no va means doesnt go); the Randan in Japan (randan means idiot); Parker Pens Jotter pen (jockstrap in some Latin American markets). This type of mishap is not an American monopoly: A successful European chocolate and fruit product was introduced into the U.S. with the unfortunate name Zit. Naming a product is communication at its simplest level. The overall implications of intercultural communication for global business are enormous. Take the case of EuroDisney, later renamed Disneyland Paris. For the year 1993, the theme park lost approximately US $1 billion. Losses were still at US $1 million a day in 1994-95. There were many reasons for this, including a recession in Europe, but intercultural insensitivity was also a very important factor. No attention was paid to the European context or to cultural differences in management practice, labor relations, or even such simple matters as preferred dining hours or availability of alcohol and tobacco. EuroDisney signals the danger for business practitioners immersed in financial forecasting, market studies and management models when they overlook how culture affects behavior. Few things are more important to conducting business on a global scale than skill in intercultural communication. Improve Your Skills Executive Education offers a three-day course in Improving Communication Skills. The program looks at ways to strengthen interpersonal communications skills, resolve conflicts and communicate with confidence. For all these reasons, communication is crucial to business. Specialized business knowledge is important, but not enough to guarantee success. Communication skills are vital. Gary Lessuisse, the new assistant dean for masters programs at the School of Business, who recruited UW students for many years for Ford Motor Company, found effective communication in the workplace to be essential. His advice? Think before you communicate. Be an active listener. Be focused on your audience in your response. Be brief and be gone.

Marty Blalock is a senior lecturer and coordinator of professional communication at the School of Business. This fall, she taught a new undergraduate course, Intercultural Communication in Business. Another new undergraduate business course, Business Presentations and Meetings, is also being taught this fall by Senior Lecturer Scott Troyan.
Its a fact: Effective interpersonal communications skills can give you the professional edge that business,
technical or law school cannot. Whether you need to:

Make presentations that close a deal or wow Wall Street Work with challenging clients or associates Make connections that pave the way to new business Create and lead motivated teams Enhance executive "presence"

Verbsal Communications Inc. will coach you on what to do and how to do it. You will develop personal strategies and gain skills you can immediately apply in order to produce results in your own business. For 40 years, Verbal Communications Inc. has coached thousands of clients to be more successful communicators. Clients have come from all areas of business and the professions, including:

Senior leadership and key management in major corporations Nationally known speakers Engineers, financial and high tech experts Federal judges and state Supreme Court justices Medical and legal professionals

What do these clearly successful professionals have in common? They choose Verbal Communications Inc. because they value quality. Quite simply, we get results. Our clients learn valuable skills and practice them in realistic situations. They are successful because they gain confidence in an environment of trust and support. We often hear comments like, "I delivered the presentation we worked on together and this time it really worked. We got the business!" "For the first time, our team understood how to pull together; it was amazing to see people change." "Your rifle-shot comments consistently hit the mark; you gave me an incredible amount of skills plus coached me on how to use them." Repeat business is a key indicator of client satisfaction. Many of Verbal Communications Inc.s early corporate clients send key executives year after year. Additionally, clients return for additional coaching at different times in their careers because they:

Were promoted and are now facing new challenges. Have created new teams. Want to polish an impending presentation. Realize that everyone needs a coach to keep his/her skills sharpened.

Verbal Communications Inc.s techniques have been featured in newspapers and magazines including Fortune, Harpers Bazaar, The Dallas Morning News, International Management and Successful Meetings. Based in Dallas, Texas, Verbal Communications Inc. coaches have worked with clients in the United States and globally, including Austria, Japan, Morocco, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada. Seminars and one-on-one coaching are offered in three separate practice areas:

Executive Impact - Programs for Business Executives - Effective Presentations - Leadership Skills - Team Effectiveness - Influencing Investors

Professional Connections Programs for attorneys, financial services and technical services professionals - Targeting for Success - Relationship Management for Business Development - Effective Presentations - Client Management Meeting and Convention Programs - Speak the Language of Success (Parts I and II) - Effective Presentations: How to be Consistently Successful - Team Building in Today's Challenging World