One of the topics we covered very early on in the face to face mastermind group was body language. We looked at some of the most common things you can look for to get an indication of what people are thinking.
Have a read of what we talked about, taken from the mastermind manual:
The Feet
When reading your customers body language, most people look at the upper body. Though there is lots of information to discover about what your customer is thinking, the most honest part of the body is the feet (thank you @navarrotells). If you want to know what your customer likes and/or what they want, pay attention to where the feet are pointing.
The Feet, Legs and Torso
When approaching your customer, if they only turn the top half of their body but not their feet, they don’t want to engage with you. However if they turn their feet along with their legs and torso you know they are open to communication.
Torso
When interacting with our customers their torso is going to lean towards what they want and away from what they don’t want. It is important to note which direction your customer is leaning, in relation to you r the product being shown.
Pupils
In addition to enabling you to notice internal changes in your customers, they eyes can tell you which products people like and dislike. Similar to aperture of a camera, when you want more light to come in you open the aperture, if you want less light you reduce the aperture. When you see dilated (large black of the eye) pupils your customer is interested in the product you are showing them. Conversely, if the pupils are constricted (small black of the eye) they are not interested in the product you are showing them.
Micro Expressions
The psychologist @PaulEkman has done some of the best research into ‘Micro Expressions’. His F.A.C.S or facial actions coding system delves deep into what micro expressions are and how they are ‘universal’ regardless of race or gender. A over simplification of what micro expressions are, is that they are contractions of certain muscles in our face that correspond to a fixed emotion. For example: Anger, fear, sadness, disgust, fear, happiness and surprise. Each of these emotions can be observed ‘flashing’ across peoples faces. This can be observed when there is a change in that persons thinking. The challenge is not so much noticing these minute changes, but realising you don’t know why someone’s state has changed.
Body language is well documented, so go out and check out some of the books referenced above.
Rock and Roll
Rob
PS. What’s the one thing you don’t do, that would cause the most positive change in your life?
PPS. Check out the real experts at www.paulekman.com, www.jnforensics.com, www.peaseinternational.com (@AllanPease)
