Allan Pease - Body Language | Page 7

receiver tends not to believe what he hears.
The human mind seems to possess a fail-safe m echanism that registers ‘tilt’ when it
receives a series of incongruent non-verbal messages. There are, however, some cases
in which body language is deliberately fake d to gain certain advantages. Take, for
example, the Miss World or Miss Universe co ntest, in which each contestant uses
studiously learned body movements to give th e impression of warmth and sincerity. To
the extent that each contestant can convey these signals, she will score points from the
judges, but even the experts can only fake body language for a short period of time and
eventually the body will emit signals that are independent of conscious actions. Many
politicians are experts in faking body language in order to get the voters to believe what
they are saying and the politician who can successfully do this is said to have
‘charisma’.
The face is used more often than any othe r part of the body to cover up lies. We use
smiles, nods and winks in an attempt to cover up, but unfortunately for us, our body
signals tell the truth and there is a lack of congruence between our body gestures and
facial signals. The study of facial signals is an art in itself. Little space is devoted to it in
this book and for more information about it I recommend Face Language by Robert L.
Whiteside.
In summary, it is difficult to fake body language for a long period of t\
ime but, as we
shall discuss, it is good to learn and to use positive open gestures to communicate with
others and to eliminate gestures that may gi ve negative signals. This can make it more
comfortable to be with people and can make you more acceptable to them.
How To Tell Lies Successfully
The difficulty with lying is that the subconscious mind acts automatically and
independently of our verbal lie, so our body language gives us away. This is why
people who rarely tell lies are easily caught, regardless of how convincing they may
sound. The moment they begin to lie, the body sends out contradictory signals, and
these give us our feeling that they are not telling the truth. During the lie, the
subconscious mind sends out nervous energy that appears as a gesture that can
contradict what the person said. Some pe ople whose jobs involve lying, such as
politicians, lawyers, actors and television announcers, have refined their body gestures
to the point where it is difficult to ‘see’ the lie, and people fall for it, hook, line and
sinker.
They refine their gestures in one of two wa ys. First, they practise what ‘feel’ like the
right gestures when they tell the lie, but this is only successful when they have practised
telling numerous lies over long periods of time. Second, they can eliminate most
gestures so that they do’ not use any positive or negative gestures while lying, but this is
also very difficult to do.
Try this simple test when an occasion pr esents itself. Tell a deliberate lie to an
acquaintance and make a conscious effort to suppress all body gestures while your body
is in full view of the other person. Even wh en your major body gestures are consciously
suppressed, numerous microgestures will stil l be transmitted. These include facial

muscular twitching, expansion and contraction of pupils, sweating at the brow, flushing
of the cheeks, increased rate of eye blinki ng and numerous other minute gestures that
signal deceit. Research using slow motion cameras shows that these microgestures can
occur within a split second and it is only people such as professional interviewers, sales
people and those whom we call perceptive who can consciously see them during a
conversation or negotiation. The best intervie wers and sales people are those who have
developed the unconscious ability to read the microgestures during face-to-face
encounters.
It is obvious, then, that to be able to lie successfully, you must have your body
hidden or out of sight. This is why police interrogation involves placing the suspect on
a chair in the open or placi ng him under lights with his body in full view of the
interrogators; his lies are much easier to see under those circumstances. Naturally,
telling lies is easier if you are sitting behind a desk wh ere your body is partially hidden,
or while peering over a fence or behind a closed door. The best way to l\
ie is over the
telephone!
HOW TO LEARN BODY LANGUAGE
Set aside at least fifteen minutes a day to study and read