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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