We all acknowledge that body language plays a big role in the way we communicate with other people. At moments we are very aware of our body language. However, we tend to make two kinds of mistakes. First, we do not consider the signals we are sending to the listeners. Second, we do not read or misinterpret the signals sent by others.
In my opinion, many times we are unaware of the body language we exhibit to other people. In our inability to make an abstraction of the current situation, we stick to a very narrow self-centered view of a situation. We only think about ourselves and our own opinion. This tends to be true most certainly in situations were you are deeply involved in the conversation. We are so busy in the heat of the battle that we are not conscious about how we act. This is a very unfortunate thing because it is exactly in those situations were good control of body language can make a huge impact on how the conversations evolves.
Another thing is that we miss out on the body language of other people. Again, when you have attention for the body language of another person you attain an awful lot of informal information. By not focusing to much on the words spoken but on the gestures and movements made, you gain a whole array of very valuable information. But there is warning point: put yourself in the shoes of the other person in order to get a correct perspective on his body language. Misinterpretation can be a very bad guide.
To conclude, body language is a very powerful aspect of daily conversations. First, be aware of the signals you send to other people. Second, pay attention to the body language of the other and make a good interpretation of it. By avoiding those two pitfalls you get access to conversations that are very richer.
