Excellent body language resource

A link to the table of contents, rather than the 5th chapter: http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_langu....

I'll save this to read for later - the topic fascinates me. I was reading Gladwell's recent collection, What The Dog Saw, and found the article on The Dog Whisperer very interesting because of its discussions on body language.

Yeah sorry I felt this chapter was probably a good intro to the resource and probably most easily applicable to the majority US audience in a business setting. However I did supply a blurb, where has that gone?

I think this was the excerpt/teaser I chose:

>In Japan it can mean 'money'; if you're doing business in Japan and you make this sign for 'OK' a Japanese may think you're asking them for a bribe. In some Mediterranean countries it's an orifice signal, often used to infer that a man is homosexual. Show a Greek man the OK signal and he may thinkyou're inferring you or he is gay, while a Turk might thinkyou're calling him an 'arsehole'. It's rare in Arab countries where it is used as either a threat signal or as an obscenity.

>In the 1950s, before he became President, Richard Nixon visited Latin America on a goodwill tour to try to patch up strained relations with the locals. As he stepped out of his plane he showed the waiting crowds the American 'OK' signal and was stunned as they began booing and hissing at him Being unaware of local body language customs, Nixon's OK signal had been read as 'You're all a bunch of arseholes.'

I think the lesson to learn is that when you are in other countries, just don't use hand gestures at all unless you are completely sure they are good.

that woul be true for most non verbal human communications, I'm afraid. My latest experience is with Norwegians, who seem to make an aspirated "uh!" sound for the equivalent of the conversational "mh-mh, keep going". I thought for a while they were perpetually stupefied people.

Then you will never get your chance to talk in Italy, according to the book anyway.

From the article:

Here's a picture of George W Bush using the signature gesture of the Texas Longhorn football team, of which he is a supporter. The index finger and little finger represent the horns of the bull and this football gesture is recognized by most Americans.

In Italy this gesture is known as the 'Cuckold' and is used to tell a man that other men are screwing his wife. In 1985, five Americans were arrested in Rome for jubilantly dancing and using this gesture outside the Vatican following the news of a major Longhorns win in the USA.

That was my second choice for an excerpt.

I like this one for holding up your index and middle finger in a V formation:

"Ancient Rome: Julius Caesar ordering five beers"

I will be very impressed if the collective mind of HN stopped voting this comment up/down when it hit 5. :)

This is a copy of, or at least heavily-based on: http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/05538...

How do I know? I've read it. It's a good, light-hearted, book although there may be better on the subject.

I find it strange, perhaps ironic, that an association devoted to learning how to best present oneself has such horrible web design. It isn't just this link; the front page (http://westsidetoastmasters.com/) is actually much worse.

I took a look at Chapter 6 (about thumbs) and noticed something that I get a very different signal from. There's a picture of a woman with her hands in her pockets with the thumbs exposed. The writer suggests this is a sign of authority, but to me it feels either like a flirty signal or a sign of readiness or expectancy (which obviously can go hand in hand). It kind of gives me the same vibe as the 'face platter', but in this case the woman is showing off her figure instead of her face.

Such simplifications are always nice. After reading the explanations for the hand signs I don't know anymore where I live.

From the selected examples in the article it looks like the biggest mistakes one could make would be in Greece and the Mediterranean. Many of the hand gestures which are innocuous in the West are quite vulgar in the Mediterranean area.

As a Greek I can assure you that only G is an insult. Judging from this I would guess there are more mistakes there.

Yes, in the part about the 'v sign':

* Winston Churchill probably used the palm inwards version until it was explained to him that it was a rude gesture.

* The 'archers' explanation is very likely wrong.

* You hardly ever see it in England nowadays, it's been replaced by the single middle finger.

As you say, it makes you wonder how reliable the rest of the article is.

It's certainly in need of a second version and some editorial oversight but I think the core is good. For example under the "what do these hand signs mean" part I was expecting the OK sign to also say "wanker" as with movement and orientation this is a UK version. OK is definetly out of use here (as a hand sign) and thumbs up is quite childish/dated (like saying "fab").

As far as the 'thumbs up sign' goes, it's still common enough that it's hard for novice scuba divers to remember that it means 'ascend now' rather than 'everything's OK'.

Oh yeah, it's used (it's the BSL sign for "good", I use it quite a lot) but it's kinda cringe-inducing.

I guess it was probably written by an American. Also the meaning of hand gestures changes over time, so some of them might have been rude in the past, but are safe now.

I think this is just old. Some obvious missing ones for the U.S. (any background I've provided is personal conjecture):

* The palm-outward vee has meant "peace" since at least the 1960's, and was associated with anti-Vietnam protests and the Hippie movement.

* The vee palm-in and tilted to the side also means "peace" or likely "peace out" or "see you later". Around since probably the mid-to-late 1990's and associated with hip-hop culture.

* The index and pinky outstretched is the "rock horns" (symbolizing demons or the devil), which you would use to mean "awesome" or "bad-ass". Around since the rise of heavy metal music (late 70's, early 80's).

This has been covered in the excellent documentary, The Human Animal. See it in 4 parts:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=The+Human+Animal

Reading through this book, I got the feeling that there was a lot of excellent information alongside a lot of very questionable or dated information, and it can be hard to tell the difference.

Vulcan never gets any love.