The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work (Bk Business) - Softcover

Goman, Carol Kinsey

 
9781576754924: The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work (Bk Business)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1576754928 ISBN 13: 9781576754924
Verlag: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

What are you saying when you’re not speaking? A top consultant “shows you how to use body language skills to build stronger professional relationships” (Robert L. Dilenschneider, author of The Ultimate Guide to Power and Influence).

How is the audience reacting to my presentation? Should I believe what my boss just told me? Is this person a potential buyer, or am I just wasting my time? How do I know if the CEO really supports my idea?

Studies show that ninety-three percent of the messages people receive from us—and that we receive from them—have nothing to do with the words that are said. Therefore, strong nonverbal communication skills are a huge professional advantage, but until now little information has been available about how to hone the ability to use and interpret body language on the job.

In The Nonverbal Advantage, Carol Kinsey Goman combines the latest research and her twenty-five years of practical experience as a consultant, coach, and therapist to offer a fun and practical guide to understanding what we and the people we work with are saying without speaking. While firmly grounded in recent discoveries in evolutionary psychology, neurobiology, sociology, criminology, anthropology, and communication studies, Goman’s book is written in an informal, conversational tone and illustrates her points with cartoons, photos, and entertaining anecdotes. She also includes a chapter on translating body language across different cultures, and dozens of simple, enlightening exercises you can practice on and off the job—to gain control over the message you’re sending.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, is president of Kinsey Consulting Services. She has worked with over 130 organizations in twenty-one countries. Her work has been featured on CNN, Bloomberg Television, and NBC News.

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Introduction

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.

—Peter F. Drucker

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED…

What kind of impression am I making?

Should I believe what my boss told me?

Am I dealing with a potential buyer, or am I just wasting my time?

Did my whole team understand what I said?

What did the customer mean by that?

How do I know if he really supports my idea?

Is the audience angry, frustrated, interested, or bored?

The answers to such questions are right before your eyes. That’s because people in professional settings are constantly telling each other exactly what they think and feel—and it often has nothing to do with the words they speak. Your boss may say that you’ll be considered for a promotion, but if she’s leaning back with crossed arms and a forced smile, she’s sending the opposite message. The customer may say he’s not interested in buying that new car, but if he keeps glancing at the contract on the table, he’s telling you that he is interested.

The silent signals of nonverbal communication tend to reveal underlying motives and emotions—fear, honesty, joy, indecision, frustration—and much more. The tiniest gestures, like the way your co-workers stand or enter a room, often speak volumes about their confidence, self-worth, and credibility. And the way you sit, stand, or look at others reveals more about your true intent than you may realize.

Body Language Expertise

I’ve been an expert at using body language from the day I was born. You may be surprised to learn that you have been, too. As infants we displayed a variety of facial expressions to signal our moods and needs, pointed at objects of interest, and bonded with our mothers through the power of eye contact. As children we assimilated those gestures and expressions that were appropriate in our families and in our cultures. Then, as we grew older, we learned to refine (and disguise) signals that were too obvious or unwelcome.

We did most of this unconsciously.

It wasn’t until I was in a master’s program in college, preparing to be a therapist, that I became aware of the nonverbal signals that I’d been sending and receiving all my life. Training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Ericksonian approaches to hypnosis and psychotherapy taught me how to observe people’s eye movements, facial expressions, and body postures to discover their inner motivation and resistance. When I began consulting to business organizations and speaking to national and then international audiences, I paid more attention to my own body language so that the gestures, postures, and expressions I used would accurately reflect the message I wanted to get across. I use these same insights and techniques with the executives and managers I now coach.

As I began doing research for this book, I learned of the most recent advances in the field. Scientists from evolutionary psychology, neurobiology, medicine, sociology, criminology, anthropology, and communication studies have all brought their methods and concepts to the field of nonverbal communication. The result is a deeper understanding of how and why body language is so powerful.

Body Language in the Workplace

A thorough understanding of the role that body language plays in our day-to-day business activities is vital. And yet I see it time and again: executives, managers, and salespeople who aren’t reading the clear signals of others or who don’t have a clue how their own nonverbal communication is sabotaging their efforts. At a time when it is widely recognized that professional success is achieved with or through other people, the power of, and the need for, good interpersonal skills couldn’t be greater. My goal with this book is to help you optimize the power of nonverbal communication in your professional life.

Image

“I take time to lick the customer’s face; I wag my tail when they talk; I jump up and down when they walk through the door. That’s what sets me apart from all the other salespeople!”

On the other hand, those who have mastered these skills—not only to accurately decode the silent signals of others but also to use body language that is aligned with the attitudes they want to project—gain a competitive advantage in business. And that applies to whatever business they are in!

If you are among America’s 2.3 million executives, 4.3 million salespeople, 6.8 million waiters, 735,000 lawyers, 567,000 doctors, 212,000 coaches, 842,000 police officers, 3.8 million teachers, 1 million security guards—or everyone else who deals with the public, makes presentations, or negotiates with or manages people—your professional success is tightly linked to your use and knowledge of body language.

The following are just a few examples of that link in action.

Leadership The effectiveness of command-and-control management tactics declined dramatically with the end of the Industrial Age. Today’s leaders, whether chief executives or first-line supervisors, must lead through influence rather than rely on the control (or the illusion of control) that a management position implies.

Influence relies on two things:

Image the ability to really understand the employee’s perspective, which in turn means listening to what’s being said and knowing how to read the messages that are being delivered nonverbally; and

Image the ability to communicate congruently, to align the spoken word with body language that supports, instead of sabotages, an intended message.

Education When it comes to motivating students to complete their work, nonverbal behavior is a prime factor in teacher effectiveness. Research studies with fifth-grade, high school, and college students found that learners at all levels reacted more favorably to teachers who used nonverbal immediacy cues: eye contact, affirmative head nodding, leaning forward, and smiling. Increasing immediacy behaviors dramatically improves students’ motivation, how much they like a class, and their willingness to follow the teacher’s or professor’s recommendation.

Sales The moment salespeople meet prospective customers, the customers are being judged by how they look and what they do. The process takes about seven seconds, but the impression lasts. Making or breaking a sale often depends on the nonverbal signals that are exchanged during this initial contact. Attire, body positions, expressions, facial movements, and eye contact are all factors to be understood and managed by the successful salesperson.

Negotiation Masterful negotiation results from being able to correctly read between the lines of what people are saying. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to acquire an understanding of body language. Effective negotiators recognize when they need to slow down or speed up the negotiation process. They know how to relieve anxiety and calm difficult situations. Rather than relying solely on verbal cues, however, the primary way they gauge what is happening is by watching for nonverbal behavior that signals someone’s unconscious, and therefore unmonitored, motivation.

Healthcare The relationship between physicians’ nonverbal communication skills and their patients’ satisfaction with medical care is substantial. Although the physicians’ nonverbal communication skills won’t affect patients’ ratings of the technical quality of care, doctors who are more sensitive to nonverbal cues and who express what the Medical College of Virginia calls “clinical empathy” create higher overall patient...

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Verlag
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Erscheinungsdatum
2008
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1576754928
ISBN 13 
9781576754924
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
216
Kontakt zum Hersteller
eucomply
hello@eucompliancepartner.com

Pärnu mnt 139b-14
Tallinn
11317
Estland

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