COMMUNICATION: How To Flirt, Start Conversations And Keep Them Going? In Depth Guide to Approaching, Flirting and Dating | Page 54

stroke her thigh – and face, and arms… She’ll turn her wrists towards you – displaying and thinking about her most
highly sensitised areas.
She’ll check your body. It began with your face. Now, if she’s really interested, you’ll see her gaze drifting lower.
You’ve past the first test and now she wants to see if you’re really hot.
She’ll get closer – and she’ll draw you in closer too. She’ll whisper, so that you’re obliged to draw close, and move
her face forwards into your intimate space.
She’ll push objects towards you. Again, she’s entering into your space. If she leaves her hand there, touch it.
She’ll preen her clothes and hair and lick her lips – looking her best for you.

Touch
Touching is a powerful, subtle and complex form of communication. In social situations, the language of touch can be
used to convey a surprising variety of messages. Different
touches can be used to express agreement, affection,
affiliation or attraction; to offer support; to emphasise a
point; to call for attention or participation; to guide and
direct; to greet; to congratulate; to establish or reinforce
power-relations and to negotiate levels of intimacy.
Even the most fleeting touch can have a dramatic influence
on our perceptions and relationships. Experiments have
shown that even a light, brief touch on the arm during a
brief social encounter between strangers has both
immediate and lasting positive effects. Polite requests for
help or directions, for example, produced much more
positive results when accompanied by a light touch on the
arm.
When flirting, it is therefore important to remember that the language of touch, if used correctly, can help to advance
the relationship, but that inappropriate use of this powerful tool could ruin your chances forever.
Although there are considerable differences between cultures in the levels of touching that are socially acceptable, and
different personalities welcome different levels of touching, we can provide a few basic rules-of-thumb for first
encounters with strangers of the opposite sex.
The first rule, for both sexes, is: touch, but be careful. Women are much less
comfortable about being touched by an opposite-sex stranger than men, so men
should take care to avoid any touches which may seem threatening or over-familiar.
Men are inclined to interpret women's friendly gestures as sexual invitations, so
women should be equally careful to avoid giving misleading signals with overfamiliar touches.
This does not mean 'don't touch', as appropriate touching will have positive benefits,
but touching should initially be restricted to universally acceptable areas and levels.
As a general rule, the arm is the safest place to touch an opposite-sex stranger.
(Back pats are equally non-sexual, but are often perceived as patronising or
overbearing.) A brief, light touch on the arm, to draw attention, express support or
emphasise a point, is lik