You must have heard the idiom, “Your eyes don’t lie” right? Well, what about your belly button?
An article in the Winnipeg Free Press delineates what body language expert Janine Driver purports, that body language can give a person the upper hand in professional interactions.
Driver claims that the belly button plays a significant role in body language and is an accurate indicator for reading and influencing others.
In her book, You Say More Than You Think, Driver writes, “the direction our naval faces reflects our attitude and reveals our emotional state. When we suddenly turn our navel toward a door or exit, or simply away from someone, we subconsciously send the signal that we want out of the conversation and perhaps even out of the interaction.”
Most of our communication with others is non-verbal. Learning how to interpret that body language can be crucial to success in personal and business endeavors. However, Driver is quick to comment that being able to read body language does not make you a mind reader.
The article goes on to point out that a person needs to understand another person’s baseline before making any truth judgments. For example, evasive eye contact can mean a nervous liar or simply be reflecting an honest person’s shyness.
A suggestion from Driver to make yourself look more powerful at work is to stand inside the door frame with your hands up, one on each side of the door. So, next time you want to ask your boss for something or need a little respect when delivering news, go to your boss’s office and stand inside the door frame. Tip: Tilt your hip to add casual charm and likability.
“We face our belly button toward people we like, admire and trust,” says Driver.
What do you think from your personal experience? Do you think that what Driver suggests is true?