Originally Posted by
mikaztro
I hope this helps:
First impressions
This doesn't mean you can get away with droning on about your passion for bird watching or your stamp collection indefinitely, however content is crucial later on, but it does mean you need to get the body language right immediately or they won't bother to stick around to find out how fascinating you are.
If you're not feeling self-conscious by now, you should be. To make you completely paranoid, here's another frightening thought. Before you've even spoken to the person you've got your eye on, the way you've walked and stood is more than 80% of their first impression of you!
We make what seems like outrageous snap judgments about people but the fact is, almost every facet of our personality is evident from our appearance, posture and the way we move.
So, how do we tell if our body is sending the right signals - and (more importantly) how to read theirs? Let your body do the talking by learning to recognize:
The 5 secret ***ual signals that someone is flirting with you
1. The flirting triangle
When we look at people we're not close to (in a business situation for instance), our eyes make a zigzag motion: we look from eye to eye and across the bridge of the nose.
With friends, the look drops below eye level and moves into a triangle shape: we look from eye to eye but also look down to include the nose and mouth.
Once we start flirting, the triangle gets even bigger - it widens at the bottom to include the the body. The more intense the flirting, the more intensely we'll look from one eye to eye - and the more time we'll spend looking at their mouth.
If someone is watching your mouth while you're talking to them, it's very, very ***y because you can't help but think I wonder if they're imagining what it would be like to kiss me. Which is usually exactly what they are thinking, if they're looking intently at your mouth!
2. Mirroring
This is what separates a good flirt from a great flirt: nothing will bond you more instantly or effectively than mirroring someone's behavior. This simply means you do whatever it is they do. If they lean forward to tell you something intimate, you lean in to meet them. If they sit back to take a sip of their drink and look you in the eye, you take a sip of your drink and do the same. They sit with their chin cupped in their hands, so do you.
The idea behind mirroring is that we like people who are like us. If someone is doing what we're doing, we feel they're on the same level as us and in the same mood as we are.
Two no-no's with this one though: only mirror positive body language; and secondly, capture the spirit rather than imitating them like a monkey at the zoo. As a general rule, wait around 50 seconds before following their gestures.
3. The eyebrow flash
When we first see someone we're attracted to, our eyebrows rise and fall. If they are equally attracted to us, they raise their eyebrows in return. Never noticed? It's not surprising since the whole thing lasts about a fifth of a second!
We're not consciously aware of doing it, but it's a gesture that is duplicated by every culture on earth. In fact, some experts claim it's the most instantly recognized non-verbal sign of friendly greeting in the world.
The trick is to watch for it when you meet someone new you are interested in. Even better, tell them you're interested on a subconscious level by extending your eyebrow flash for up to one second - deliberately raise them while catching their eye for full impact.
4. Pointing
Sneak a peek at what their feet and hands are doing - we tend to point toward the person we're interested in. If we find someone attractive, we'll often point at them subconsciously with our hands arms, feet, legs, toes.
Again, it's an unconscious indicator to make our intentions known. Unconsciously, this is often picked up by the other person, without them really knowing why.
So if you've got your eye on the individual in the corner, point your body in their direction - even if you don't make eye contact, they'll get the hint you're interested.
5. Blinking
If someone likes what they see, their pupil size increases and so does their blink rate. If you want to up the odds in your favor, try increasing the blink rate of the person you're talking to, by blinking more yourself. If the person likes you, they'll unconsciously try to match your blink rate to keep in sync with you, which in turn, makes you both feel more attracted to each other!
Now, one final word before you go rushing off to the nearest bar to practice all this. Before you go, you must understand...
The golden rule of body language
Don't ever judge on one thing alone. Sitting with your arms crossed often means you're protecting yourself emotionally and shutting out the other person. But it might also mean you're freezing cold, you're having a fat day or just spilt coffee all over your top!
Don't jump to conclusions; instead look for clusters of behavior. If someone has their arms crossed and they're frowning and leaning backward to create as much space between you as possible and their lips are pursed disapprovingly, it's a fairly safe bet they are on the defensive.
Most body language experts favor the 'Rule of Four' which means look for at least four body language signals saying the same thing before totally believing it.
=============================
Secrets of the Opposite ***
Many jokes, problems, and conversations revolve around the communications differences between men and women. Women are often teased for "gabbing," "nagging," and "chattering on about nothing." Men are often accused of "not listening," "not paying attention," or "dominating conversation" when conversing with a woman. These problems occur because neither gender is reading the others nonverbal and verbal listening cues correctly.
During conversation, women tend to give nonverbal communications feedback such as nodding and smiling as well as verbal feedback like "I know what you mean" or "uh, huh" or "right...exactly" which lets the speaker know he or she is making sense. Men, on the other hand, tend to stay silent when listening and don't give much nonverbal feedback to the speaker because they are concentrating on what the speaker is saying and feel they are being polite. These differences in listening styles often cause difficulty in communications between men and women.
When a man is speaking with a woman, he often misreads the woman's listening cues to mean he should continue speaking, not that he is simply making sense and therefore men continue talking and often dominate conversation. Women, in turn, often misread the quiet listening cues of the man to mean that he is bored with the conversation or that she is not making sense. Therefore, women often cut their part of the conversation short, repeat things they already stated, or ask the man they are speaking with if he understands what is being said. This causes many men to feel that they are being nagged or that the woman is unsure of herself and what she is saying.
To help make mixed gender conversations work more smoothly, men should try to give more nonverbal or verbal listening feedback to female speakers. Men should also realize that the verbal and nonverbal listen cues given to them by the women the are speaking with mean only that the woman understands what is being said, not that the man should continue talking and dominate the conversation. Women should learn not to be concerned if the men they are talking to aren't giving the listening cues they are accustomed to. Usually, if the male listener is quite, he is listening. So, ladies, don't ask him if he understands what is being said.