How to Read and Decode Body Language the Right Way

So, we’ve covered the body language of practically everything; all major body parts, body language in business, body language in attraction and many other areas of reading people. Hopefully, having read these articles you’re feeling very excited about reading people’s body language and can’t wait to get out there and read people. But let’s keep that excitement in check for a sec. There are a few things you need to know when reading people. Make sure to pay attention to these rules of reading people’s body language so you can start succeeding and start communicating more effectively.

Before you decode body language know that:

You will make mistakes. The body communicates in subtle ways and people are all different. Recognise that you are learning to read body language. You can’t be a master after reading one guide. It’s important to keep an open mind. When reading the body language of lying never let anyone know you’re doing it. If people think you’re reading their body language to judge whether they are lying, they’ll feel much less comfortable speaking to you and this will affect your relationships. When learning how to read people’s body language you should always look for clusters. Never think that a single body language gesture says a great deal, it’s when many different gestures say the same think that you make the read. When learning how to read the body language of attraction you will be tempted to only pay attention to positive body language gestures people show you. For instance, if a girl smiles at you while turning her body away, you’ll want to pay attention only to the smile, but to read the meaning of this gesture properly you need to pay attention to both the positive and the negative gestures.   When reading female body language a lot of guys think there is such a thing as a body language decoder. There isn’t. The idea that a system could be devised to decode female women’s body language is ridiculous. The human animal is a subtle one in which each person communicates in different ways. There is no decoder. To successfully read women, you need to know you’re A-Z of body language, which we’ve covered in previous articles, and look for clusters of body language gestures that reveal a person’s meaning. The same is true for men. There is no male body language decoder. Know what different gestures communicate, look for patterns, pay attention to everything a person communicates. No matter what pop / fad body language books or sites might say, this remains the only true way to successfully read a person.   Finally, know that if you are feeling emotional or have been drinking (let alone anything else) this will significantly effect your ability to read people’s body language. We guys are terrible at this. We get a few drinks in our system then try to work out if a girl’s interested in us. Our drink induced optimism make us focus on the fact that a girl is pointing her body at us, and we completely miss the fact that she’s frowning, has her eyebrows lowered and brought together to show anger, has her legs and her arms folded and oh wait, what’s this, her angry boyfriend is approaching us.   To read body language successfully you need to be in the right frame of mind: relaxed and mindful. If you truly want to get good at reading people’s body language, you need to practice this frame of mind as much as you revise the different gestures and their meanings.