Gestures, facial expressions and postures mirror our thoughts and intentions. Read on to learn the hidden messages being conveyed by the person talking to you.

1. The steeple position
This hand position signals to your counterpart that you are listening intently and thinking hard about what to say next. According to communication researchers, hands positioned at chest height and meeting at the fingertips signal above all people with very precise thought patterns.
2. The woodcutter
In the open version of the steeple position, the hands are parallel and face inwards. It is often accompanied by brief chopping movements to underline important arguments and negotiating points. Here your opposite number is saying to you: “This is an extremely serious matter to me!“
3. Helping hands
The classical “open“ hand movement (see below) is intended to indicate that the speaker has no aggressive intentions. Anyone who extends upwards-facing open hands across the negotiating table to their counterpart, like an olive branch, wants to make peace and offer mutual support.
4. Treacherous pointing
We learn as children never to point at people, but researchers have actually discovered that our fingertips are directly linked with the speech centers in our brain so that their movements often transmit unconscious thoughts and opinions. When we are nervous, even if we don’t notice it, our fingers are constantly moving, rubbing together, on our arms and body or playing with objects (pens, paper).
5. Tongue games
In situations in which we are unsure or angry, like gorillas, humans too tend to hold their tongue briefly between their teeth so that the tip sticks out. This probably means that your counterpart does not share your opinion but does not want to say so either at all or yet.

Read on for pursed lips, head movements and cold shoulders!