By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nonverbal communication includes the conscious or subconscious display of facial, hand, and body movements that reveal positive or negative feelings. Communications experts say up to 90% of communication is relayed without words, and for the average person, emotions are clearly displayed and readable.

Trained people can successfully hide their emotions, and experts can successfully interpret body language. Some of our characters grasp the ability to deceive others for positive or negative reasons. Writers who understand body language have the upper hand when creating any story genre.

Before humans developed language, they needed a means to communicate. Thus, the birth of body language. For a culture to flourish and survive, certain gestures had to be established. And I venture to say dear writer, you have a natural propensity to gravitate toward reading others’ emotions.

Body movement

Our bodies respond to various stimuli. We are wired to respond to opposing and supporting forces. The concluding reactions are one or more of the seven universal emotions: surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, happiness, and contempt. While emotions are the same globally, culture determines the use and expression of body language.

Character

Every technique for quality fiction originates in character—which means what a character says, along with body language, demonstrates who he/she is. A character who stutters or uses flamboyant gestures or curses provides the reader with a glimpse into the life of a story player.

Dialogue

The character’s brain works hard to communicate—to process and form an audible response, but the brain works harder to translate body language from others. When a character has a solid comprehension of nonverbal cues, they can compose effective dialogue that uses nonverbal communication to express or restrain feelings. Sometimes it takes more courage to stand and fight than to walk away. Effective body language can relay emotions in terms where words are powerless.

Fear

I will show in my body language that my fear is real. If I am successful in relating this fear, the reader and any other characters in the scene will experience the same emotion.

Lies

A character may lie to others, but they won’t lie to themselves about what they are feeling – an exception being one who has mental issues. This opens a light-filled path for writers to show their character’s true feelings and how body language is used to convey them. We are always communicating, even when we try desperately not to.

Silence

Gestures and body language are effective tools in relating what the silent character is internalizing. What counts isn’t what’s said, but the effect of what’s meant. Rigidity demonstrates a powerful statement.

According to our personality, we study others and analyze how best to speak effectively. Introverts find nonverbal communication easier to read than extroverts. Makes sense. The one who is quiet and reflective reads body language better.

All instances of female and male body language have nonverbal differences.

Women

A woman uses both sides of her brain to receive and process information. The ability allows her to read and understand the body’s response to what’s happening around them more easily than men. Women value feelings and nurturing relationships. If another woman is in distress, she will most generally offer support. A woman will lean into another woman while speaking, but she will increase her personal space with a stranger, male or female. She will nod when she agrees with the speaker, and she will smile as part of her nonverbal communication. For those who believe a woman is dramatic simply because she uses various vocal ranges, this aspect is characteristic of a woman. Her voice ranges reflect emotion.

Men

Men take in one message at a time. They focus on power and establishing their status. Their response to stress, tension, and conflict is usually confrontational. A man may have a wide-leg stance, stiffer posture, and/or stand with more personal space when with other men. In the communication arena, he will nod to show he’s listening to another speaker, and he’s better at hiding his emotions than a woman. His vocal range is consistent, although he has no problem using his voice to show power and control.

Men and women react with body language according to their culture, personalities, past experiences, and individual preferences.

The proceeding examples are general responses and offered as aids to help writers note distinctions.

“Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body.” Irene Claremont de Castillejo

Experts focus on a character’s nonverbal communication to differentiate truth and falsehood. The ability to read body language is a skill to master. Not only does it help the writer deepen characterization, but it also adds another layer to the plot. Our story players use nonverbal cues to speak to us from the face through their eyes, nose, lips, mouth, and chin.

When nonverbal communication pushes the plot toward the finish line, the writer receives the satisfaction of a job well done. I encourage you to study body language and add another level of expertise to your story.

Tonya Reiman refers to the face as the “billboard to the soul.” The body wields unspoken emotions through head, hand, neck, shoulder, posture, and combinations.

Have you incorporated body language in your writing?

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards, the Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, an active member of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. DiAnn continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, BookBub, YouTube, LinkedIn. or her website: diannmills.com