WO Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 29

BY: LIZ FLEMING Lifestyle SUCCESS STRIKE a – – SUPER POSE Think you’re sitting in silence? Wrong. Your mouth might be shut but your body is talking up a storm. Studies show that just seven percent of what we communicate is verbal – the rest is all about tone of voice, cadence and body language…so listen up! Your eyebrows, elbows, voice, shoulders, eyes, and fingertips have something to say. Television shows like “Lie To Me” suggest that if we all learned the basics of body language and the intricacies of micro-expressions (the small, barely perceptible but oh-so-telling eye crinkles, lip twitches and forehead creases that signal emotion and intention), we could be madly detecting everything from lying to secret affairs. The truth is, it’s not that simple. Learning to understand and read body language takes time and even the best in the business know that signals differ from one person to another, based on age, cultural background, physical health and personality. fall 2015 | wo magazine | 27