We All Do: 13 Body Language Mistakes That Make You Look Bad

Our body has a language of its own, but unfortunately, this language may not always be polite. Your body language is an integral part of your personality, so you may be jeopardizing your career with your reckless attitude. In fact, Deborah Tool has this to say on the subject:

“Body language is a very powerful tool. So much so that we learned to speak with our body language before we learned to speak with words. Therefore, it is clear that 80% of our speech becomes more intelligible with our body language, not with our words.”

A stronger body language communication is possible by paying attention to a few small details.

1) Exaggerated Hand-Arm Gestures

Such exaggerated hand-arm gestures can create the impression that you are avoiding telling the truth. So if you express what you want to say in smaller gestures, you can show that you have a solid self-confidence and you have nothing to hide.

2) Joining the Arms

Crossing your arms in front of you while speaking means that you are building a wall against the other person and closing yourself to everything the other person says. Even if you smile as if you are interested or listening, you can push the other party into thinking that you are not listening to them. Even if you feel comfortable doing this move, avoid crossing your arms in front of someone whose ideas you are interested in.

3) Inconsistency

The inconsistency between your speech and facial expressions starts to raise suspicions that something is wrong with the person in front of you. For example; Looking at you with a nervous smile while rejecting an offer won’t help you get what you want. On the contrary, the person in front of you may think that your purpose is different and may stay away from cooperating with you.

4) Keeping Yourself Away From People

If you isolate yourself from the person in front of you while in a dialogue, that person may think that you are not interested in the subject, that you are uncomfortable or even that you do not trust him. Instead, you can approach the person you are in a dialogue with more sincerely, and even show attitudes that show that you are listening by shaking your head from time to time and supporting the subjects he/she is talking about.

5) Humpback

It is a bad posture and also a sign of disrespect. Maybe verbally to your boss, “I don’t understand why I have to listen to you.” You may not be able to say, but listening to the meeting by slouching during a meeting can clearly indicate that you are not satisfied with where you are. Therefore, if you sit with your shoulders and back straight instead of slouching, you can display a stronger stance.

6) Avoiding Eye Contact

Averting your eyes from the person in front of you while in a dialogue means that you are hiding something from him. However, if you continue to talk without losing eye contact, you will more clearly show your self-confidence and interest to the other person.

7) Too Much Eye Contact

Like everything else, too much eye contact should be avoided. Making eye contact is one of the most basic things in a dialogue, but when this is overdone, it can become too oppressive for the other party. According to a study by Americans, the ideal time for eye contact varies between 7 and 10 seconds.

8) Constantly Looking at the Clock

When you are in a conversation with someone, constantly looking at a clock near you indicates that you disrespect the other person and even that you are an individual with a big ego. So much so that the other party may think that you have more important things to do other than listen to him and that you want to leave your place as soon as possible.

9) Exaggerated Nodding

Shaking your head exaggeratedly while showing that you want to approve a topic shared with you may go astray and create the impression that you are trying to seem like you do, even though you don’t understand the subject.

10) fidget

Constantly fidgeting or playing with your hair while speaking can give the impression that you are nervous, insecure, or distracted. In fact, the other person may think that you care more about your appearance than your career.

11) Frowning

If you are constantly putting on a face that looks angry or sad, you are sending a message to those around you that you are not happy to be with them. Frowning will push people away from you. However, smiling, on the contrary, draws people to you and reflects that you are a friendly and reliable person who is open to every idea.

12) Weak Handshake

Like eye contact, a handshake also has a certain proportion. Shaking the other person’s hand weakly may make you appear insecure, while a too strong handshake may mean that you have an aggressive attitude. Therefore, you can adapt the strength of your handshake according to the attitude and attitudes of the other person towards you.

13) Getting Too Close

Staying too close to the person you are having a conversation with may give rise to the impression that you do not respect the private space of the person or that you act unsympathetically. This can cause people around you to feel uncomfortable when they are around you.