Body Language and

First Impressions

 

Vocabulary

boss	imagine	around (2)
cave	club (2)	mammoth
chase	caveman	submissive
enemy	verdict	around us
based	instant	beyond recognition
halt	spaceship	fundamental
gather	whether	determine
brain	despite	judgment
initial	support	recognize
scan	brand (3)	treacherous
lens	honest	simply put
fault	overlook	conversely
trust	intention	suspicious
crucial	practical	regardless
predict	outcome	according to
facial	negotiate	interaction
evolve	attitude	bottom line
cite	posture	expression
touch	accuracy	stand his ground
tone	gesture	account for
primal	setting	in other words
voice	run away	mean the difference

 
 

Cavemen

Imagine your boss as a caveman.

He’s chasing a mammoth with a club. But then he spots you. He halts. Assuming a defensive position, his eyes carefully scan you: Are you a friend or enemy?

Should he fight you, stand his ground…or run away?

The verdict takes an instant. It has to because it can mean the difference between life and death.
And it’s based almost entirely on your body language.

The Modern World

Fast forward to the present. Although the world around us has changed beyond recognition since prehistory — people have remained essentially the same.

To this day, despite our all our supercomputers and spaceships, despite our business suits and office buildings, we still determine whether we like someone or not — in the first few seconds of meeting a person.

Afterward, our brains will be gathering information to support our initial judgment.

First Impressions

This means is that, once someone mentally brands you likeable or un-likeable, powerful or submissive, honest or treacherous…everything you do will be viewed through that lens.

Simply put, if someone likes you, he or she will see the best in you, overlooking your faults. Conversely if she doesn’t like or mistrusts you, she’ll be suspicious of all your actions, regardless of your intention.

Business and Personal Relationships

In practical terms, first impressions are crucial, whether in business or personal relationships, according to Carol Kinsey Goman, author of The Silent Language of Leader.

This is closely tied to body language. Research at MIT found that body language can predict the outcome of human interactions such as job interviews, dating, negotiations and sales with an accuracy of about 80%.

Body Language

It’s easy to forget that these forms of communication in very modern settings actually evolved among primal beings long before the development of language itself.

In an often cited study, Dr. Albert Mehrabian believes that body language — appearance, posture, gesture, touch, facial expression, eye contact, and tone of voice — accounts for 93% of the communication.

The actual words themselves meanwhile, make up only 7%.

Friends

In other words, body language is the main input which we communicate feelings, attitudes and judge others.
The bottom line is that if you really want someone to listen to you and trust you — you need to make them feel like you’re their friend.
 

   Questions

1. Describe the scene in prehistoric times. How is it similar to today? How is it different?

2. According to the article, it takes a long time to judge and evaluate someone. True or false?

3. Do people judge each other “fairly” or in a biased, partial manner?

4. Is it easy or very difficult to change a person’s attitude towards you and vice versa?

5. Are first impressions and body language important in daily life? Why are they important?

6. What do 93% and 7% refer to?

7. What is the main idea or message of this article?

A. What do people think of bosses? Is it generally positive, negative or neutral?
 
 
B. Are your first impressions of others usually “correct” or “wrong”, or does it depend?

C. Have you met people who you initially though was okay, but later you didn’t like them?

D. Have you met people who you though negatively at first who later turned out to be okay?
 
 

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