Body Language and Eye Contact: What Your Eyes May Say

How Your Eyes Get Results

There are many forms of body language that are important to achieving the results you desire. As many of us know, our body language can portray a message without words ever being spoken. For some individuals, the body language may be a simple folding of the arms, to portray defensiveness, a clasping of the arms, to display reverence, or a waving of the hands and arms to wave good-bye or hello.

There is one aspect of body language, however, which may be more prevalent that all others; the body language eye contact. Human eyes are said to hold the key to the heart. In the professional world, as well as in the dating world, understanding how to convey messages through your eyes, as well as read the minds of others through interpretation of their body language eye contact, will go along way in interpreting what may not be said through verbal conversation.

The eyes, for example, when rolled in the middle of a business meeting may send a message of offense to the staff and to the individual who is speaking. For this reason, it is important to manage not only your own eye language but also to monitor the eye language of other individuals as most of us will not consciously move our eyes when we are pre-occupied with other activity. In other words, eye movement, because it often originates from subconscious level, can relay a large amount of information in a few seconds without our actively conscious input.

In addition to eye movement, there is research to show a change occurs in the eyes, in the glow and "light", when mood changes. In other words, for individuals who are happy and content, there is a certain glow in their eyes that can not be ignored. Conversely, for those who are depressed and saddened, the glow or "light" of the eyes tends to be faded from sight.

And then there are blank stares. What I like to call the "deer in the headlight" look. These are individuals who appear to be looking straight at you but you can tell, from the dilation of the pupils, they are not listening or engaged in the information you are sending to them; or, they may be engaged, but confused and not clearly following your verbal communication.