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Body Language and Micro Gestures

Tom was waiting for his turn at the dentist's office. He didn’t want anybody to know that he was afraid or anxious so he kept himself from moving or changing his posture.

If you looked at him you would find no signs of anxiety or fear but suddenly his left foot slipped forward a few centimeters. No one noticed this move except for one man who was watching him with interest, the man smiled because he knew that Tom was trying to hide his feelings.

Micro Gestures? What are they?

You can fool your parents, your best friend, your wife and even me :) but you can’t fool your subconscious mind. When your emotions become so intense you can hardly hide them. Even people who've mastered body language can make small mistakes; these mistakes are what we call micro gestures.

Micro gestures were called so because they can hardly be noticed. Some of them are not noticeable by the naked eye and require recording the body language of that person then reviewing it later. These micro gestures can take the form of a slight movement in the lips, eye brows or facial muscles.

Usage of Micro Gestures

The most famous thing micro gestures are used for is detecting liars during investigations. Videos are recorded of the people who are suspected to be guilty and are reviewed in slow motion to spot the micro gestures the person made during the interrogation. Micro gestures can be really tricky so take care when analyzing them. Learn to spot them on yourself first before you start judging other people.

very slight changes to your body language can have a big effect on your relationships with people. In my book, How to make someone fall in love with you i said that if you took one of the famous body language gestures of confidence you will appear more attractive and so increase the chance of making someone fall in love with you.

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