Matriz de factores internos

1. Skim read the article below. As you read think about these questions:

 Why is body language important?

 How can it be used to your advantage?

Practical Psychology²⁷

Have you ever taken a dislike to someone for ‘no reason at all’? Or ever wondered why one particular plain, dull person is swamped by a vast circle of friends and a busy social calendar? According to some psychologists the answer is simple – it’s all down to body language.

Sheena Meredith explains some of the secrets of our ‘silent speech’. Body language, it seems, could be the key to all sorts of unsolved mysteries. Experts believe that our ‘silent speech’ – the way we move, small changes in appearance, postures and gestures – convey far more meaning than the words in any conversation. Body language can make or break any encounter, especially if you’re feeling uncomfortable.

 Learning the Language

If body language doesn’t match words, it makes us feel uncomfortable even if we can’t identify why. Dr. Desmond Morris, the world-famous animal and people watcher, calls these incongruities ‘non-verbal leakage’, the failure of our social ‘mask’, and being able to spot them can help us to make much more sense to our interactions.

Watching other people’s body language can also help your own self-image. ‘The main problem when people are insecure or lack self-esteem is that they imagine everyone else is secure’, he says. ‘If you spot the tricks someone is using to intimidate you, they seem less

27 Tricia Aspinall and Anette Capel, Advanced Masterclasss CAE Workbook, Oxford University Press, 2006, p.

34-35

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threatening’. Psychologist David Lewis concurs: ‘If you don’t feel good about yourself, it’s going to show. You can only fake it to an extent.’ He teaches people how to use body language to think themselves into a more confident manner.

 Walk Tall

Anyone who’s ever tried to change the way they move, say from being round-shouldered, knows that it takes a great deal of concentration – for a while. It can also become as much of a habit as a slouched posture. And walking tall increases and creates confidence.

 Echoes of Friendship

Consider how you feel with true friends. There is a sense of relaxation, of freedom of the tension, power plays and uncertainty experienced during encounters with strangers. The key there is that you are of equal status. Among friends, there is a similarity of posture and mimicry of movement, known as ‘postural echo’. It carries the message ‘I am like you’.

Popular people seem to have a natural ability with postural echo, and it is often used by successful salespeople. The synchrony is missing in people with serious mental disturbances, and many normal people have poor postural echo. Perhaps their parents were undemonstrative or unloving, they seem never to have absorbed the unconscious signals of co-operative movement.

 Minding your Language

People signal feelings and intent in body language. Jabbing a raised finger in conversation means power or anger. Turning the head, or crossing legs away from someone you’re talking to – however animatedly – shows you don’t want to be involved. Other ‘barrier signals’, like folded arms, may reveal a person’s hostility or insecurity. Submission gestures like nodding and bowing are ritualised socially. We all start to edge away slightly, or sit forward in our chair, when we’re too polite to say ‘I’d like to leave’, and most people will take the hint.

 Lies and Language

A whole new world opens up if you’re aware of contradictory signals. If a friend who seems to be listening raptly is tapping her toes as well, change the subject, she’s bored. No matter how charming the boss is being, those aggressive little foot kicks probably mean you’ll not to be given a pay raise. After a lovely evening, the man of your dreams says he’ll call soon, but he isn’t looking at you and his arms are folded – don’t bother to wait by the phone.

 Safe Space

The way we dominate space is an extension of body language. The more expansive we are, the more powerful, from the hands-behind-head, feet-on-desk pose, to the positioning of towels on a beach or books on a table. Furniture is often used to dominate, like the common ploy of forcing a visitor into a lowly position in the guise of having the most comfortable, squishy armchair. Encroachments into strangers’ territory, like placing your bag firmly on their desk or putting your coffee cup down near to theirs, make them nervous and increase your dominance in an encounter.

 Close Encounters

The first four minutes of any encounter are critical, Dr. Lewis says. When two people meeting make eye contact, both raise and lower their eyebrows in a flash greeting, which is known by experts as the ‘eyebrow flash’. This may signal ‘hello’, a query, approval, thanks, agreement, flirtation, emphasis or occasional disapproval. During a conversation direct gaze is needed for contact and to convey good intent, but it can also be threatening. Intense staring occurs at the heights of both intimacy and aggression. On the other hand, too short a gaze implies disinterest.

2. Reading comprehension:

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1) Low self-esteem can be improved by

A using body-language to hide what you really feel.

B using threats to make others feel small C recognising that everyone else feels secure.

D recognising that body language need not to be a threat 2) One of the ways to become more confident is to A relax more with friends

B imitate the facial expressions of others C alter the way you walk

D avoid direct contact with people

3) Some people have poor postural echo because they A do not co-operate with their parents.

B do not mix with people of equal status C have not received the proper training

D have not understood the signals in a relationship

4) How can you show that you want to end a conversation?

A cross your legs B move back a little

C make themselves more comfortable D hide their own nervousness

5) People dominate space in a meeting in order to A give themselves an advantage

B put other people at their ease C make themselves more comfortable D hide their own nervousness

6) What should you try not to do in a social encounter?

A fail to return an eyebrow flash

B glance away while talking to someone C look directly in someone’s eyes D appear too friendly and interested 3. Multiple choice: Select A, B or C.

1. This is information _________________, so I am not sure we can use it in the report.

A heard on the grapevine B off the record C at your fingertips 2. The bulletin will _________________ on recent arrivals of vintage stock.

A be at your fingertips B on the grapevine C keep you posted 3. ‘Why are you telling me now?’ ‘_________________ about Erica.’

A Off the record B To put you in the picture C At your fingertips 4. ‘Perhaps this should be _________________ but I don’t think it really matters anymore.’

A off the record B on the grapevine C at your fingertips 5. The participants in the discussion wanted answers _________________.

A on the grapevine B from the horse’s mouth C at their fingertips 6. As a journalist you need to _________________________ for any scoop.

A have your ear to the ground B keep you posted C put in the picture

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4. Discussion: JUST SAY NO

In some countries, people don't like to say no to a request. They avoid saying no by:

1 remaining silent

2 saying something vague or unclear 3 changing the topic

4 ending the conversation without answering the request 5 giving a false excuse

6 delaying a reply to the request 7 saying, "Yes, but…"

Do people in Romania use these ways of saying no? Which are the most common? How would you decline these requests without saying no?

- Could I borrow your car?

- Can you lend me $100?

- Could you please help me move to my new apartment on Sunday?

- Do you want to see a movie tonight?

5. All the verbs below describe different ways of looking. Choose the appropriate verb to complete each sentence.

glanced gazed peeped peered stared

1 He ………. intently at the piece of paper in front of him, wringing his hands in despair.

2 He stretched to his full height and ………. over the wall to see what Lady Thackeray-Smythe's daughter was doing.

3 We ……….through the fog, blinking, trying to catch a glimpse of a moving light.

4 She stopped fidgeting and fiddling with her dress. She just sat, absolutely still, and……….out of the window, miles away, just occasionally pursing her lips, then biting them hard.

5 The referee ……….at his watch again, made a sign to the linesmen, then blew the final whistle.

6. Put the words below in the correct form:

1) Automatic; 2) behaviour; 3) mean; 4) judge; 5) arm; 6) consistent; 7) approach; 8) consistent; 9) express; 10) consequence

On the receiving side of nonverbal communication, we take in, more or less

1)………, a complex array of appearance and 2)……… information from those

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around us. Usually we do not have to think about the 3) ……… of this input. It simply registers and leads to 4) ………. about the others. A friendly smile, for example, 5) ……… our suspicions, just as an angry glare alerts us to a threat.

However, there are times when the friendly smile is 6) ………. with the tense posture of the 7) ………….. stranger. And most people will realize the 8) ………

and act accordingly. Sometimes body language varies in meaning from one culture to another. For example, norms regarding touch, gaze, and 9) ……….. vary from

country to country. 10)………….. ,the impact of the same gesture may be quite different.