Body Language Group Formations and Pointers:
At some occasion or the other we feel that the person we are talking to is least interested in the
conversation. How do you ascertain if your observation is correct or not? Well just look around you’ll find that
the other person is gazing at some other object or has quietly shifted his body to an angle such that he could
easily escape the conversation.
As opposed to the above mentioned circumstance you’ll notice that if a person is interested in talking to or is
interested in your conversation quietly moves his body towards you. The physical distance between people is
directly related to their level of intimacy. Also the angle at which people face each other can also give many
clues about their attitudes and relationships.
Open Group Conversations:
Also during most of the conversations we note that people stand such that in a group of
three they form a triangle so as to give equal importance to everyone. If the group becomes four they form a square
and in larger groups they form a circle. This kind of group formation is referred to as open group formations. Here
the signal is that ‘everyone is welcome to join in’.
Closed Group Conversations:
Sometimes we note that two people talking are standing straight in front of each other and looking straight at
each other. If this happens to be between a male and a female the situation changes a little. If the male starts
moving close to the female and the female does not change her body’s angle or moves a step behind or sideways then
it means she has allowed the male to enter her territory and thus shows an increased level of intimacy. But I must
caution you that two persons really hostile to each other can also be found in the same situation only difference
being that no permissions is asked for and none are given for breaking into each others territory.
Often we note that a conversation between three persons start when they are standing in an open triangular
formation such that there is equal distance between all of them and thus allowing space for another person to join
in and form a square formation. But in case two persons are having a closed group formation and a third person
joins in (or tries to join in) and the two persons keep on talking amongst themselves means that he/she is not
invited to join in. Also another signal for showing this could be that the two persons talking may just turn their
heads towards the new entrant without turning their bodies towards him/her.
Other pointers:
Other types of pointers could be the knee or foot pointing. Although knee pointing could be just a matter of
chance but on certain occasions can give an indication of whether the person you are sitting with is interested in
you or not. If two people are sitting with their knees pointing towards each other then it could be a sign of that
two of them are interested in talking or continuing their conversation with each other. A third person who wishes
to find a place for himself in such a conversation must seat himself in a way such that he forms a triangle with
the duo.
Although a very subtle indication but still it can be assumed that in a group the centre of attraction is the
person towards whom everyone’s feet are pointing.
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