how important is body language in communication?

Question

a lecturer who is passionate about his subject would probably get his thoughts across better than one who isn't- that's pretty much a given. but what about the guy that acts like a drunk, but says things that make perfect sense? wouldn't his body language then be a distraction, rather than a help? if so, wouldn't non face to face communication (like writing) be more effective? how important is body language in trying to communicate effectively?

Answer 1

This is simple to understand with one extremely good example. "Adolf Hitler" He started of with his Political party and the people thought he was just another guy trying to get office. No big deal and no one listened.
He then was tutored on public speaking and how to SHOW emphasis and excitement in his speaches. His body language and arm movements were carefully honed to perfection and he had the German nation in his hand.
The body language and facial expressions made all the difference.
:O)

Answer 2

Strange body language tends to be associated with nervousness, even great speakers make weird hand gestures and have certain uncontrollable twitches. Some speakers feel more comfortable moving around when then talk, others are perfectly still and almost robotic. I prefer the former because animation is more memorable -you can remember I statement better when it's presented with large hand gestures than without. With non-face to face communication sometimes you may not get the full gist of what the orator is trying to say, for example: a sarcastic remark may not be understood without the facial expressions or the body language that goes with it. Degrees of anger are misunderstood as well, how many exclamation points after a sentence does it take to convey anger?

Answer 3

I think body language is very important. That is how I decide if that person is telling the truth, is open and honest, a nice person a person I would not want to spend any time with.
We don't realize how we give ourselves away with a simple gesture. Example, arms folded and held against the body close, means , I hear you, but I am not listening, you have nothing to say i want to here, i done talking to you.
Never truly looking you in the eye when talking, casting eyes down and away when asked a question, means you are hiding something.
Alot of big companies are using these techniques to hire new employees. If you read up on this subject, you'd be surprised how accurate it is in most cases.

Answer 4

I would guess it depends on the listener. Of course you don't always have to look at the person giving the lecture. There may be some people out there who understand ideas more efficiently when someone is speaking to them and using their body language as an aid in comprehending the ideas being communicated. In my case I have a harder time visualizing more complex ideas when face to face with the person expressing them, than i do if i were to just read them or listen to someone describe these ideas.

Answer 5

I would think very!, even if you don’t know the first thing about body language most people can still tell when someone looks shy/uncomfortable/self conscious when they talk!
I would imagine most people would have more respect and pay more attention to the people that look more confident in there body language!
I think when people are drunk we don’t tend to pay much attention to there body language, we make allowances for them because there drunk!

Answer 6

hi paula, body language can be a very big asset or a very big annoyance. unless he was teaching about body language and the "drunk" part was just an act to see what would get your attention most, his words or his body language. what a profound challenge that would be. and apparently you heard his message beyond his bodily distractions. and the written word will never beat face to face dialogue. with hearing the emphasis on the words or segments of the dialogue. put body language or body english in your search engine and you will find many examples of it being an asset or annoyance to it's audience. interesting question.. thank you!
i hope my point of view helped! :)

Answer 7

body language is very important. for instance you can tell if some one is lying to you or if they are nervous or worried just by lookin at the body language... yes body language is important in a conversation

Answer 8

body language is very important especially for the ones who cannot hear... its their only way of communication... so be thankful

Answer 9

The most true part is eyes, no matter how one is acting, He can't escape from eyes, His eyes will tell you truth. body language is non verbal communicative object, If someone is frustrated his body can speak correctly, but if he is able to control his emotions, His eyes will speak truth,

Answer 10

body language is important can be proved by the fact that people like telivision more than the radio, coz they can see what they are hearing.
communication invloves all our senses - hearing, viewing, feeling, and is incomplete even if 1 is absent.