Is body language so instinctive that we can't help ourselves, even when no one is watching?
I ask because yesterday on the Metro I sat opposite to someone who was speaking to a friend on a hands-free telephone headset. He was making exactly the same kind of gestures that he would make if he were in a lively face-to-face conversation. It was fascinating to watch. As he said "look, this is how I see it" he had the arms apart, palms up gesture, as he said "I suppose" so he shrugged. He nodded and shook his head. He raised his eyes to the roof. At one stage he even pointed his finger at the imaginary chest of his unseen partner.
I have always thought that body language is at least partly feedback driven, we react according to how the people we are with react but it looks as if some people react whether or not there is anyone there to provide the feedback.
I wonder if anyone has ever done any research into this.

I've never seen any research but I do recall that, many years ago when I was attending a training course (before I became a trainer myself) and somehow the topic of gestures cropped up. The trainer said, "It has long been established that people tend to make the same gestures when they are speaking on the telephone as they would face-to-face".

Of ocurse, it is a long-established trainer ploy to claim that "...research has established that..." even when the trainer has absolutely no idea whether or not any research of any sort has ever been undertaken, so I'd not place too much credence on this assertion.

You might want to take a look at some of the books listed in this article (link). Or perhaps contact some of the authors.

Bob, we definitely have ESP! I had the exact same experience today and wondered the same thing. I saw this woman talking on her cell phone, and while I didn't remember all the details like you did, I was surprised at the gestures and facial expressions, as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
Of course, it is a long-established trainer ploy to claim that "...research has established that..." even when the trainer has absolutely no idea whether or not any research of any sort has ever been undertaken, so I'd not place too much credence on this assertion.

Of course, you'd never do that.

quote:

Originally posted by tinman:

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
Of course, it is a long-established trainer ploy to claim that "...research has established that..." even when the trainer has absolutely no idea whether or not any research of any sort has ever been undertaken, so I'd not place too much credence on this assertion.

Of course, you'd never do that.

Clearly you've never been on one of my training sessions (Although to be fair, I usually do try to check the sources of the facts that I use - it is very handy to be able to quote them when one gets a determinedly controversial delegate).

And since this is a thread about body language, albeit on the telephone, I will mention that I checked into the sources of the oft-quoted percentages about communication and understanding (7% being the words used; 38% the tone of voice; 55% body language) and discovered that they are largely fallacious.