Body Language

Peter F. Drucker said “the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said” (Sarkis). What does this mean? First we have to understand the meaning of body language. Body language is a form of non verbal communication that supports verbal communication (Kasikci, 2003, p. 26). Non-verbal cues are as important as the verbal messages we communicate. Verbal messages reflect our thoughts, but non-verbal messages reflect more realistically the inner world of thoughts and feelings (Benzer). I believe it is important for one to have the correct body language when having a conversation with another individual. I also believe that in most cases a person’s body language towards others provides an accurate assessment of their personality. In this essay, I will explore the importance of certain gestures as well as the meaning behind the gestures, including those of different cultures. I will also research other exceptions to accurate assessments of people based on body language, like medical reasons.
Showing the right signs of body language will set a first impression with the person one is speaking with. The first impressions and bad views about a person created from non verbal cues are hard to change (Benzer). Cuceloglu believes that people, who have previously never seen each other, immediately gain an impression of each other when they meet for the first time. Impressions about whether a person is reliable, pleasant, ignorable, or compatible form in thirty to thirty five seconds, and these impressions rely on non-verbal cues versus the verbal cues(2002, p. 64). In verbal communication, speech has 7 %, tone and quality have 38 %, and body language has 55 % effect, meaning that body language is actually more important (Pease, 1988, p. 9-13; Bailey, 2001, p. 44; Kasikci, 2003, p.19-20; Kuhnke, 2007, p. 12; Feng, 2009). Exhibiting appropriate signals will also allow someone to develop a certain respect for you. The key gestures of respect that I am going to