2. Body language and professional image.

The class is aimed at the formation of a professional kinetic image. Conducted in the form of exercises and game situations. The concept of the kinetic image; professional body language; gestures of leadership, power and submission; head kinetics; psychology of the presentation of the "necessary" kinetics in business situations; admission and interview when applying for a job. Test exercises are conducted: “Your business image”, “Your system of values ​​and goals in a business sphere”, “Context value”, “Fulfillment of a role”.

Your business image is how you are seen from the outside. Even if it seems to you that you are deprived of a pronounced “face”, people will still make up their own ideas about you - and those with whom you work side by side, and those with whom you may not have exchanged a word. The fact is that a person inevitably inspires around him some thoughts about his person. Just as you yourself create impressions about others, so people perceive the signals that you give through your appearance, through your manner of walking and speaking, through your usual gestures. Problems and misunderstandings arise in the event that you are unaware of your impression or are mistaken about this.

As you should already be clear on the basis of the above, the impression you make on other people is largely created through your non-verbal behavior. By understanding the non-verbal signals you send and receive, you can control the impression you make in a business environment.

You will be able to manage your actions in order to send messages that meet your intentions, and, as far as possible, bring your appearance to self-perception and your attitudes. Although body language cannot be interpreted as “exact science” and it allows for different interpretations, you are able to reduce to a minimum the probability of producing a false impression of yourself.

Exercise 1. Your business image

What personal and professional qualities and motives would you like to communicate through your appearance, action and body language? Among the properties listed below in table 1, circle the corresponding number, which indicates the degree of importance of this property for you.

Table 1

Add properties that seem valuable to you.

Your value system and business goals

The properties and motives that you consider essential for your business image not only determine the peculiarity of the impressions you make on others - and which constitutes your goal - but also indicate your priorities in the business sphere. When it becomes clear to you what you want to achieve, you will be able to control your actions and the signals you send, so that they correspond to your goals and values.

Exercise 2. Goals and Values

What are the three aspects of work for you most important? You can select them from the list below (table 2.) or add your own ideas.

table 2

Having decided what is important to you from table 3, select one or more goals for your work activity. Think about the occupation where your demeanor and the impression you make on people would be most conducive to your success. Below you will find two examples.

table 3

What body language will be suitable for you

Improving body language, you will achieve full success in business communication and the implementation of all their intentions. You can change and control your behavior and influence the opinions of others about you, without having to sacrifice your personal convictions or pretend. Of course, sometimes we are forced to hide our true feelings, which does not mean that we are fake or cheat someone.

Always, in any situation, we can choose one or another mode of behavior that seems to us the most appropriate. We rarely behave completely naturally, rarely follow instinct; we have all subordinated our natural instinct to the requirements of society, and our behavior reflects those attitudes and the skills that we have acquired and developed. For example, you may be very worried when you get up to give a speech, but you would like to give the impression of a self-confident person, and confidence not only promises success to your performance, but in this case is simply necessary. If there is some kind of accident at the site you are in charge of, you may want to look calm, able to control the situation, even if you are afraid that you are hiding. In both these cases, your goal is to adjust to the situation and demonstrate your intention to deal with it. Take the example from the above exercise: one who would like to take the place of a manager will have more chances to achieve his goal if the body language he uses meets the requirements regarding the characteristics of character and attitudes that are desirable for the administrator of a certain company. You can learn to control your behavior so that the messages you send respond to your intention and your signals indicate your confidence and concentration.

What body language will not suit you

Do not think that you are well versed in body language - this is a sure way to mislead others about your true self, your true qualities and intentions, or that you yourself will unmistakably unravel the thoughts and intentions of other people based on non-verbal cues that you perceive.

Although non-verbal behavioral skills can be mastered and non-verbal behavior can be controlled, there is no guarantee that you will be able to disguise the discrepancy between your true feelings and the impression you want to make. When communicating, our behavior suggests some kind of information leakage. This concept, a leak, is introduced to denote the unconscious signals that we send, with which information about our true feelings and attitudes is leaking. Minor movements that you make unknowingly can detect such an emotion as anger and also tension and excitement. If you drum your fingers on the table, tap your foot, quickly blink, pull the tie or twist the bracelet on your hand, the ring on your finger, you can send a message that will contradict your words and other non-verbal signals. Such microzhesty often last just a moment, but if they are noticed, then allow another person to guess what is happening "behind the curtain." When we say that the sixth sense or intuition pushed us to certain conclusions about someone, it often comes down to what we subconsciously fixed and responded to such signals.

When our gestures correspond to our words and our intentions, we demonstrate consistency, that is, everything fits together and there is no significant contradiction between the components of our message. Let me give an example: you have probably come across people who, welcoming you, smile and firmly shake your hand, but look around the room (they may be looking for someone who is more interested to them and with whom it is more important for them to talk than with you!). With such a controversial message that a person gives, based on body language, the person receiving the signals will rather respond to that part of them, which implies the absence of real interest.

Do not interpret body language signals in isolation. If you try to use empirical experience, assuming that a gesture, a facial expression or a pose always have some definite meaning, you will most likely misunderstand the behavior of people. The non-verbal signals we give do not exist separately - they are always combined into bundles, or groups. In order to understand each signal, it must be considered in conjunction with other signals surrounding it; similarly, words of oral or written language derive their meaning in the particular context in which they are used. Signals of body language should be considered in their relationship and in the context of the act of communication. In the end, you will not understand what the person wanted to say if you hear only one or two words from the sentence he uttered. In addition, some actions are merely “pure” physiological reactions, devoid of any psychological significance. For example, a change in posture can be caused simply by the desire to settle down comfortably in a chair, in a chair, and frequent blinking can be a way to remove the eyelash that has fallen into the eye. Do not give too much importance to the actions of a person before you do not fully appreciate the situation and the style of communication inherent in this person.

Exercise3. Context value

a) Some non-verbal gestures are often associated with certain messages. Arms crossed on the chest are considered to be a sign of isolation - a sign that a person is building a barrier between himself and you. Yawning is considered a sign of boredom. Scratching in the head is sometimes interpreted as an indication of the stress experienced. What values ​​are given in table 4, in your opinion, can be at the listed gestures in the stipulated situations?

table 4

Do not underestimate or completely ignore the power of words. As you know, words themselves do not create messages, but in most business situations, this is important. Body language accompanies and complements speech.

Do not rush to draw conclusions based only on a non-verbal message, and do not try to express yourself using only body language. All non-verbal signals are part of an integrated communication process and should be considered along with other actions and the context to which they belong.

Compliance and how to achieve it

The more your behavior matches your inner state, the more convincing your body language will be. To control self-esteem and to inspire others with the desired impression, the main thing is to maintain a positive self-image.

If you perceive yourself to be negative, your body language will report a lack of confidence and low self-esteem. So, there is a vicious circle: people react to your negative self-perception and their reaction, which you notice from others, confirms your low self-esteem.

One way to break this vicious circle and learn to instill a positive self-image is to “enter into the image” of a person with a certain state of mind. Your mind will follow your body.

For example, if you want to feel alive and full of energy, mentally imagine how your body behaves when you are experiencing a revival and a surge of strength. Remember how you stand, remember your gait, as well as facial expression and turn of the head. Imagine the desired state of the body, accept it in the physical plane. Follow the movements inherent in your body, behave as usual when you are aware of a surge of energy - and you will experience the corresponding feeling.

So, if you want to make an impression of a reputable person, master it and use a body language that reports authority.

People will react to the “weight” you instill and thus will increase your self-confidence. As a result, you will begin to feel your increased authority. The way you behave reflects on your sense of self and on others' attitudes toward you, which in turn affects your self-esteem. The vicious circle can be replaced by a "circle of honor."

Exercise 4. The role.

Choose a colleague whose body language you would like to own yourself. Perhaps this is a man who seems confident in himself; or another, whose non-verbal signals make it clear that he knows how to listen. Focus on some points in the behavior of these people (for example, on their gestures, gait, manner of sitting, tone of their voice) and try to behave in this way. List cases where you resorted to this type of body language. Use the following table 5 as a means of inspiration to continue the experiment started.

table 5