The amount of weight non-verbal clues have in our daily interactions is staggering. In Your Psychology Voice – Coaching for Improvement Part One, the focus was on your voice. The way you use your voice during coaching greatly impacts the outcome. In addition to minding your voice whilst coaching for improvement, you need to mind your body language.
Body language deeply impacts how we communicate, and it quite accurately reflects what is happening on the inside. Body language isn’t just important in coaching. it is also important in every person-to-person interaction you have. It can indicate agreement with what is being said or heard. It can just as easily show disagreement.
5 Body Language Areas to Mind Whilst Coaching
Eye contact
Eye contact is an indication of focus and paying attention. Maintaining eye contact demonstrates you are paying attention and are really listening to what is being said. It also demonstrates confidence in what is being said as well as confirmation of understanding of what is being said.
Facial Expressions
The human face is extremely expressive. It can express countless emotions without saying a word. Facial expressions are also the only non-verbal communication that is universal across all cultures. Controlling your facial expressions is very difficult but can be done. Have you heard the term poker-face?
These Tips Will Help You with Minding Your Facial Expressions:
- Go neutral – This is your resting face. It is also known as RBF but you can look the meaning up yourself.
- Smile or grin more – Make the effort to acknowledge things with a smile, smirk, or grin.
- Poker face – There may be times when you have to be serious but aren’t as mad as you need to appear, use the neutral technique.
- Eyebrows, squinting, or eyes wide open – These all quickly communicate pleasure or displeasure. Practice using them wisely because the people you communicate with will pick up on them quickly.
Understanding when to control each of these facial expressions is a good starting point. Becoming mindful of and controlling them is the hard part.
Posture
After facial expressions, posture is another strong influencer in the overall importance of body language. The positioning of your arms, hands, or legs and proximity are all body language clues to be mindful of.
These Tips Will Help You with Minding Your Posture:
- Crossing your arms shows you are shut down. Instead, clasp your hands in front of you or behind you. Stay away from putting your hands in your pockets.
- Leaning in, out or away from the group. Choose lean in over out or away. Leaning in shows interest in the topic or person. It shows active listening and attention. Most of all it shows engagement.
- Legs crossed in or out. Keep your legs crossed toward the person or inner circle of the group. Doing so indicates that you are in agreement with what is being discussed.
- Slouching is an indication of disinterest. It means you aren’t listening with an open mind or heart. Sit up instead, this shows you care about what is being said and are paying attention. Sitting up also shows confidence and leadership.
Body Movements
Fidgeting, wringing your hands, constantly crossing of legs or arms are signs of being uncomfortable. If you suffer from fidgeting find ways to minimize it from being seen. Try hard to sit still by sitting on your hands.
Watch your shoulders too, shrugging them at different points in a conversation will have many different meanings. Shrugging while talking indicates you may not be confident in what you are saying. While doing so in response to someone indicates you aren’t convinced of what they saying.
Mannerisms
Mannerisms can be anything from tapping a pen on a desk, to talking over people to constantly checking a device. Be present at the moment by minimizing distractions. Understand what triggers those behaviors in you and work on reducing them. Enlist others to help you break these habits by admitting them and asking them to point out whenever you do them.
Keep in mind, body language goes both ways:
- Your own body language tells your truths about feelings and meanings to others.
- Other people’s body language tells their truths about feelings and meanings to you.
Body language is just as, if not more so, important than your voice when coaching for improvement. Become mindful by learning the language of the body to enable quality coaching.
Last updated on July 12th, 2020 at 06:47 am
