Evaluation Gestures
Evaluation gesture
Evaluation of what you have to say/offer is typically shown by a closed hand on the cheek often with a finger pointed up. If you feel you are losing your audience you will notice the head will fall into the palm of the hand and become supported by the hand.
So how can you tell if you are losing your audience? Watch where they place their hands when it is on or near their face!
Chin Stroking
Going to be presenting an idea any time soon? If so then this little tip about chin stroking will help you in finding out what the other person is thinking.
Watch them closely whilst presenting your idea to them. Don’t be surprised if most if not all of your audience members bring their hand up to their face and start using evaluation gestures.
As you start to being your presentation to a close, and start to look for suggestions and comments from your members you will notice their evaluation gestures stop. One of their hands will now move to their chin and start a chin stroking action. This chin stroking movement is your signal to know that the person is making a decision.
If you are in sales and have just made a presentation and the chin stroking decision making action is taking place, don’t make the mistake of interrupting the audience. Leave them to decide. You can often guess right what the outcome will be by watching for their gestures after the chin stroking.
If they follow the chin stroking with a negative gesture like crossing their arms, then its a sure possibility the answer will not be in your favour. You could possibly take this signal and then try and restate your case.
If you are met with positive gestures, like sitting forward, open arms, then you may be in for a positive decision.
If someone is wearing glasses they may take off their glasses and use the arm of the glasses in their mouth instead of stroking their chin.
What does Covering the mouth mean?
Ever noticed someone covering their mouth either when they are talking or you are? They may cover the whole mouth or use a fist, or only a few fingers but essentially it all means the same thing – they are lying!
The idea behind this is that the brain is trying to subconsciously cover up the lie coming out of the mouth. The person may actually cough to try and hide this gesture.
If you are talking and you notice they cover their mouth whilst you are talking, it may mean they actually believe you are telling lies! It is wise at this point to spot the gesture and bring the objection out and ask your audience if they have any comments to make about what you have just said.
Putting fingers in the mouth
Ever noticed someone placing their fingers in their mouth? It is shown to be a sign of being under pressure or looking for reassurance or confirmation. The action stems back to when as a child we look for security in mother’s breast and as we grow older we substitute the breast for a thumb. Showing confirmation and reassurance will often result in the ending of the fingers in the mouth.