communication and, consequently, more aware of your own body language gives you an advantage in all walks of life, whether socialising, in a professional context, in matters of the heart, or even facing-off across the card table.
Body language may not be the exact science of the type Holmes most enjoyed but he was nonetheless extravagantly adept at it. After all, this was a man whose greatness lay in his almost superhuman ability to read signs. This ability was never more evident than in his off-the-cuff analyses of his prospective clients, in which he would draw conclusions long before they had muttered a word. Consider the evidence presented by Watson in ‘A Case of Identity’:
He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the bell.
‘I have seen those symptoms before,’ said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. ‘Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts.’
‘The Blanched Soldier’ contains another scene in which Holmes (narrating himself on this occasion) presents a character with an assertion about a rather delicate matter. Note Holmes’s close reading of his subject’s body language:
He stared at the writing with a face from which every expression save amazement had vanished.
‘How do you know?’ he gasped, sitting down heavily in his chair.
‘It is my business to know things. That is my trade.’
He sat in deep thought, his gaunt hand tugging at his straggling beard. Then he made a gesture of resignation.
The interpretation of body language is not something that may be learned overnight. It is a skill to be developed over a lifetime, your increasing experience of the world honing your abilities. Yet even after a lifetime, you cannot expect to be correct in your assumptions all of the time. In forming opinions of people, it is a tool that must only be used in conjunction with a great many other factors.
Let’s start with a few basic things to consider when reading body language:
Context
A sign can have a multitude of meanings. If a gent is chatting to a young lady in a bar and she is constantly playing with her hair, it might well be that her action is unconsciously flirtatious. If she does the same thing in a job interview, it is more likely a sign of nervousness. Similarly, crossing your arms tight against yourself can, in many contexts, give away your sense of defensiveness. But if you’re doing it in an igloo, it simply indicates that you’re cold.
Culture
Certain actions have different meanings in different parts of the world. For instance, in Bulgaria, a nod of the head means ‘no’ and a shake means ‘yes’, a reversal of the custom followed in most other places. Similarly, in many parts of the world, an innocent ‘thumbs-up’ gesture can get you into an awful lot of trouble (for reasons that will go unexplained here in the interests of good taste).
Clusters
Read body language in clusters of consistent
Body language may not be the exact science of the type Holmes most enjoyed but he was nonetheless extravagantly adept at it. After all, this was a man whose greatness lay in his almost superhuman ability to read signs. This ability was never more evident than in his off-the-cuff analyses of his prospective clients, in which he would draw conclusions long before they had muttered a word. Consider the evidence presented by Watson in ‘A Case of Identity’:
He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the bell.
‘I have seen those symptoms before,’ said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. ‘Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts.’
‘The Blanched Soldier’ contains another scene in which Holmes (narrating himself on this occasion) presents a character with an assertion about a rather delicate matter. Note Holmes’s close reading of his subject’s body language:
He stared at the writing with a face from which every expression save amazement had vanished.
‘How do you know?’ he gasped, sitting down heavily in his chair.
‘It is my business to know things. That is my trade.’
He sat in deep thought, his gaunt hand tugging at his straggling beard. Then he made a gesture of resignation.
The interpretation of body language is not something that may be learned overnight. It is a skill to be developed over a lifetime, your increasing experience of the world honing your abilities. Yet even after a lifetime, you cannot expect to be correct in your assumptions all of the time. In forming opinions of people, it is a tool that must only be used in conjunction with a great many other factors.
Let’s start with a few basic things to consider when reading body language:
Context
A sign can have a multitude of meanings. If a gent is chatting to a young lady in a bar and she is constantly playing with her hair, it might well be that her action is unconsciously flirtatious. If she does the same thing in a job interview, it is more likely a sign of nervousness. Similarly, crossing your arms tight against yourself can, in many contexts, give away your sense of defensiveness. But if you’re doing it in an igloo, it simply indicates that you’re cold.
Culture
Certain actions have different meanings in different parts of the world. For instance, in Bulgaria, a nod of the head means ‘no’ and a shake means ‘yes’, a reversal of the custom followed in most other places. Similarly, in many parts of the world, an innocent ‘thumbs-up’ gesture can get you into an awful lot of trouble (for reasons that will go unexplained here in the interests of good taste).
Clusters
Read body language in clusters of consistent
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