Laughing

What place does laughter have in body language? People either find something amusing and they laugh at it, or they don’t. How can you read into that, other than to say that some people have a more developed (or more immature) sense of humor than others?

A person with a great laugh is generally perceived to be a friendly sort. He’s often the hit of any gathering, simply because people love to hear his chuckle – it makes them feel good because it makes them laugh, too. Now, there’s the crux of laughter – the way it spreads. And it doesn’t spread the way a fad does – people don’t simply copy one another’s laugh attacks, they actually experience real amusement at watching someone else guffaw. Everyone’s experienced this sort of thing, and usually at the absolute worst time.

Perhaps in your fourth-grade classroom, your teacher sat down in her chair and it made a most unflattering squeaking sound. You did your best to ignore it, but then you saw your best friend trying to stifle his own laughter. Pretty soon, the two of you were watching each other trying not to laugh and finding it more difficult to keep a straight face. At this point, the laughter was as much about the laughter itself as it was about the teacher’s indignity. (If only you’d been able to articulate this to the principle).

A person doesn’t laugh often is thought of as being uptight, even if she merely happens to have a very reserved sense of humor. Just as boisterous laughter makes a person appear sociable, a complete absence of laughter can make people think you’re a humorless hermit type. If you don’t laugh much, at least learn to smile at the appropriate times – and make sure that smile appears genuine!

The moral of the story: When people want to know what’s on your mind, they’ll look to your mouth, so give your public what they’re looking for. It’s hard to mistake authentic movements of the mouth, so don’t be surprised if people are suddenly reading your communications a lot more clearly. It’s not that you’ve become a great orator – you’ve just learned to put your message where your mouth is.