a. If you shout at someone they might get the impression that you don’t like them and if you look at your watch every two minutes you are likely to be bored.
However, there are many less obvious ways of using our bodies to communicate with the people around us. For example, did you know that standing with your arms crossed means you could be stubborn! Even with very clear body language like smiling, there are ways of telling if the smile is genuine or not. With smiles that aren’t real, your eyes don’t ‘smile’, and fake smiles last a lot longer than real ones.

b. Some of the most interesting body language happens when we tell lies. We all know that people often avoid eye contact when they lie, but not many people know that a sure sign of someone telling a small, white lie is when they continually rub their nose while talking to you. Although, there is the possibility that they just have an itchy nose! Another thing people often do when they lie is look up and to the right.

c. We also use body language when we are attracted to someone. Men might touch their ears, and women sometimes play with their hair when talking to someone they are attracted to. Both men and women often sit with their legs and feet pointing in the direction of the person they are attracted to. We probably show our feelings in this way because we are too embarrassed to tell people that we like them.

d. However, watch out! Body language can vary between countries. In many countries people stick up their thumb if they want to stop a car to ‘hitchhike’, but in Israel this gesture is extremely rude! On the other hand some facial expressions are universal, for example the face we make to show disgust. When we are disgusted we wrinkle up our noses and raise our top lip, this applies everywhere, from the Italy to South Africa.

Whatever country you are in, one thing is clear; actions often speak louder than words!