Body language is a non verbal means of communication. It could be called communication by gesture.
As a non verbal means of communication, it has the encoder or the originator of the communication
and the decoder i.e the receiver of the communication message, but it does not have a medium of
communication. Some times it entails feed back and the decoder may decide not to give feed back.
Body language is one of the means of communication.
In some places a thumb up signals means good, while thumbs down means bad and a shrug indicates
indifference. In a group of one hundred (100) people you will observe several forms of non verbal
messages; a wink, a shake, a nod, all are examples of how much people can do and express non verbally.
For example, when i was in School a girl who fell in love with me drew my attention by matching my leg;
though she apologized but she captured my attention and chatted with me through this gesture and we
became friends.
However, if we get carried away, it is very easy to misunderstand these gestures. For example women
naturally cross their arms more than men. It is just more comfortable for them to sit that way and we
can't interpret that gesture as a sign that we're being shut out of that woman,s mind any time she
crosses her arms.
We can make mistakes when we are dealing with people from other Nations and diverse culture. For
instance, in the Mainland of United States a nod of the head means yes and a shake means no, but to
the Eskimos exactly the opposite is true in negotiation.
In my Nation Nigeria the former Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala attributed the current
incessant recession in Nigeria to the "Body Language" of our current president, Gen. Muhamadu Buhari.
She further said that his body language drove investors and they folded there companies and left the
country.However, this implies that the body language of a leader/president can have adverse effect on
the economy of his Nation or State.
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