Hello my friends,

Recently I have had the pleasure of reading a new book on body language and presentation skills that I found most interesting and useful for improving my client’s professional communications.

Many leaders know the feeling of talking yet no one is listening! Often, it is not the actual words causing the audience to tune out, but the way the words are being communicated.

Last week I sat down over a coffee with the author, Mark Bowden, and we discussed the need for effective communication skills and specifically some of the main points in his book. Mark is a world-renowned body language expert and the creator of TruthPlane, a unique communication and presentation training used by Fortune 50 companies, CEOs and G8 Leaders. His new book Winning Body Language explains how we mainly rely on nonverbal communication to determine what we think someone else’s intentions are when they communicate to us.

Here are the top three techniques from Mark’s book on presenting body language that will help you make your intentions clear, and gain trust and attention when you speak.

#1
PUT YOUR BODY ON DISPLAY
When speaking, step away from the podium; when sitting at a meeting, pull your chair back from the table to display more of your body. Your audience’s instinctual “Reptilian” brain and emotional “limbic” brain need to see your body to make a decision about what your intentions and feeling may be towards them. The less information they see, the more they simply make those feelings and intentions up, and tend to default towards the negative. Simply speaking, being open indicates honestly and trust. Hiding parts of your body indicate deception and danger to the primitive brain.

#2
SPEAK FROM YOUR BELLY
Place your hands in the “TruthPlane”, the horizontal plane that extends 180 degrees out of your navel area, to display that you can be trusted. This is a very vulnerable area of your body so to bring an audiences’ unconscious attention to it makes them (and you!) feel like you are very confident. This is a simple technique that you can incorporate right now to enhance your meetings and presentations.

#3
GET THEM IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
Show your palms open with nothing in your hands, to let others know that you mean no harm and are speaking for their benefit. This gesture is universally recognized across the world as “friendly”. So, when someone else is speaking keep your hands in the TruthPlane so that they understand you are open to what they are saying too.

For more information on Mark Bowden, TruthPlane and his new book Winning Body Language, I have attached his contact information below:

Mark Bowden
Web: http://www.truthplane.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/truthplane

Enjoy!!
– Coach Ric