the mind appears to have a consistent way of organizing an event that defies the order in which subjects, verbs, and objects typically appear in languages, according to research at the university of chicago.

"not surprisingly, speakers of different languages describe events using the word orders prescribed by their language. the surprise is that when the same speakers are asked to 'speak' with their hands and not their mouths, they ignore these orders – they all use exactly the same order when they gesture," said susan goldin-meadow, the bearsdley rum distinguished service professor in psychology[...]

for the study described in the paper, the team tested 40 speakers of four different languages: 10 english, 10 mandarin chinese, 10 spanish and 10 turkish speakers. they showed them simple video sequences of activities and asked them to describe the action first in speech and a second time using only gestures.

they also gave another 40 speakers of the same languages transparencies to assemble after watching the video sequences. some of the videos portrayed real people and others animated toys that represented a variety of sentence types: a girl waves, a duck moves to a wheelbarrow, a woman twists a knob and a girl gives a flower to man.

when asked to describe the scenes in speech, the speakers used the word orders typical of their respective languages. english, spanish, and chinese speakers first produced the subject, followed by the verb, and then the object (woman twists knob). turkish speakers first produced the subject, followed by the object, and then the verb (woman knob twists).

but when asked to describe the same scenes using only their hands, all of the adults, no matter what language they spoke, produced the same order –– subject, object, verb (woman knob twists). when asked to assemble the transparencies after watching the video sequences (another nonverbal task, but one that is not communicative), people also tended to follow the subject, object, verb ordering found in the gestures produced without speech.

so it appears that human beings will always follow a subject-object-verb structure when "speaking" in gestures, which seems to suggest that humans think in a subject-object-verb frame. the cross-cultural results have some fascinating things to say about the unity of human thought despite language barriers. the full article, and links to the research, can be found here.

United States:

It's a hand gesture normally associated with sporting events and Bud Lite commercials. But on Tuesday night, millions of people witnessed Michelle Obama daintily knocking knuckles with her husband as the Illinois Senator took the stage to claim the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The Washington Post called it "the fist bump heard 'round the world."

The origins of the bump are murky, though most communication experts agree on a basic — if fuzzy — evolutionary timeline: the hand shake (which itself dates back to ancient times) begat the "gimme-five" palm slap that later evolved into the now universal "high-five" and, finally, the fist bump.

Some claim the act of knuckle-bumping began in the 1970s with NBA players like Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others claim the fist bump's national debut occurred off the court, citing the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon The Superfriends, who famously touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!' before morphing into animals or ice sculptures. One might also credit germaphobics for the fist bump's popularity. Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel reportedly adopted the gesture as a friendly way to avoid his contestants' germs.

Even the terminology used to describe the manual move is under dispute. On reporting Obama's speech, The New York Times described it stuffily as a "closed-fisted high-five" while Human Events racily suggested it was closer to "Hezbollah-style fist-jabbing," (the phrase was later removed from the article). One Internet poster even referred to it as "the fist bump of hope." Other terms for the move include "power five," "fist pound," "knuckle bump," "Quarter Pounder" and "dap."

The fist bump's precursor, the low- and high-fives, originated in the 1950s, again mostly among athletes, who deemed handshakes too muted and formal for celebrating teamwork and triumph.

The 1980s are generally regarded as the heyday of the high-five, though the gesture has enjoyed a revival of sorts in recent years — especially among Gen-X parents and their offspring. Modern-day high-five enthusiasts have even created a cellphone version: Callers high-five their phones (slap the speakers) or simultaneously type "5."

The problem with the high-five is that it can occasionally be hard to pull off. Just ask Tiger Woods and his caddie, who botched a high-five on national TV during the 2005 U.S. Masters Golf Tournament. Perhaps this is what makes the fist bump so unique. Though simple in motion, its meaning is far more complicated. In any other context, a clenched fist would be perceived as hostile.

Ambiguities aside, most pundits and observers alike had complimentary words for the Obama family's fist bump, seeing it as a rare moment of spontaneity and playfulness that a race already in its 17th month sorely needed.

"Gestures, particularly ones that are recent, haven't been studied that much," says David Givens, director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane, Wash. "For me, it's ironic because we all noticed that fist bump. I thought it was very touching. It was an elegant little non-verbal moment and it gave us a view into their relationship."

For his part, Obama, who once likened himself to NBA star LeBron James, said the fist bump reflects a marriage that keeps him grounded. "It captures what I love about my wife," he later explained to NBC's Brian Williams. "That for all the hoopla I'm her husband and sometimes we'll do silly things."

Though National High-Five Day already exists — the third Thursday in April every year — the fist bump has yet to claim its own day on the calendar. June 3rd might be a good candidate.

SOURCE

History of the fist bump

My first and only long-term relationship has its moments. It proved to me that I could be a romantic bastard if I set my mind to it. Today I shared a romance filled story from my past with a couple of female co-workers and B3. I kept record of every day I kissed my ex (when things really went downhill I stopped doing that). It was pretty nice: we would be making out and all of a sudden I'd say: "85". That would rock her world. When we arrived at the 100th day, I got a bunch of Hershey's kisses and tried to spell a 100. That has been one of my most romantic moments. The girls I shared the story with got all teary-eyed, so I'm guessing I'm not alone when I say: "I was a romantic bastard".

Cerebral refers to the affected area of the brain, the cerebrum (however the centers have not been perfectly localised and the disease most likely involves connections between the cortex and other parts of the brain such as the cerebellum) and palsy refers to disorder of movement.
The incidence of cerebral palsy is about 2 per 1000 live births. The incidence is higher in males than in females.

All types of CP are characterised by abnormal muscle tone, posture (i.e. slouching over while sitting), reflexes, or motor development and coordination. There can be joint and bone deformities and contractures (permanently fixed, tight muscles and joints). The classical symptoms are spasticity, spasms, other involuntary movements (e.g. facial gestures), unsteady gait, problems with balance, and/or soft tissue findings consisting largely of decreased muscle mass.

Babies born with severe CP often have an irregular posture; their bodies may be either very floppy or very stiff. Birth defects, such as spinal curvature, a small jawbone, or a small head sometimes occur along with CP. Symptoms may appear, change, or become more severe as a child gets older. Some babies born with CP do not show obvious signs right away.

There is no known cure for CP. Medical intervention is limited to the treatment and prevention of complications possible from CP's consequences.

We, www.lifechums.com/ are now going to provide a wealth of information of Famous People to send out a positive message to all Disabled People.

Alright, how do I politely express myself to Ms. E. D. Hill and Fox News? WHAT THE HELL! You know some people are just so square that it’s unreal. Hold up, let me use language even older than the term “square” so Ms. Hill and others may understand the luminous lexicon and creative expressions the rest of society uses and understands. Perhaps a reference to the words “corny”, “unsocialized”, “sheltered” may clarify the old slang term of “square” for Ms. Hill and friends.

Michelle & Barack was simply showing a socially accepted gesture of congratulations. It’s like a pat on the back or telling someone, “good job” or “proud of you”. You see it in sporting events all the time, whether it is a pat on the but in football, a high-five in basketball, a group hug on the field in soccer or even a fist pump when you make the putt that wins the golf tournament.

Perhaps I should try to explain it in Fox News terms. The gesture is the equivalent to you perpetuating the lies or exaggerations of your fellow commentators and ultra-conservative guests you often promote on your network. J I know you’ll have something to say about that one.

To characterize the gesture as a “terrorist fist jab” is ridiculous. You didn’t have to get a body language expert, (no disrespect to Janine Driver) to explain this. You could have asked anyone working at your local mall what it meant to get an accurate explanation. I wasn’t going to comment on this at first, but the more I thought about it the more I had to just say something about how ridiculous things are to come.

Click Here to Express Yourself

At the one-word stage children use gesture to supplement their speech ('eat'+point at cookie), and the onset of such supplementary gesture-speech combinations predicts the onset of two-word speech ('eat cookie'). Gesture thus signals a child's readiness to produce two-word constructions. The question we ask here is what happens when the child begins to flesh out these early skeletal two-word constructions with additional arguments. One possibility is that gesture continues to be a forerunner of linguistic change as children flesh out their skeletal constructions by adding arguments. Alternatively, after serving as an opening wedge into language, gesture could cease its role as a forerunner of linguistic change. Our analysis of 40 children - from 14 to 34 months - showed that children relied on gesture to produce the first instance of a variety of constructions. However, once each construction was established in their repertoire, the children did not use gesture to flesh out the construction. Gesture thus acts as a harbinger of linguistic steps only when those steps involve new constructions, not when the steps merely flesh out existing constructions.

How Fast Can We Understand Spoken Words?

The Research says….

• Humans can mentally process speech at rates of about 600 words per minute. However, most of us speak only 100 to 150 words per minute. (Adler, Proctor, & Towne, p. 256)

Our brains only need about one second of every minute we’re listening to understand the words that are spoken, which means are brains are busy doing other things while “listening” to others. Setting aside the fact that all this spare time provides ample opportunity to be carried away by distractions, what are we doing with all that time when we are “listening” to others?

Much of our time is spent examining and processing the non-verbal elements of someone’s communication, which can include tone of voice, pitch, other vocalizations besides words (er, hum, uh), body language, and most importantly, facial expressions.

How Important Is Non-Verbal Communication in Getting Across Your Message?

The Research says…

• 93% of the emotional impact of a message comes from nonverbal sources (Adlelr, Protor, & Town, p. 211).

• Human faces can make 10,000 distinct facial expressions [as measured by Paul Ekman and Wally Friesen’s Facial Action Coding System] (Ekman, p. 14)*

• A “micro-expression” can move across a person’s face in less than one-fifth of a second, and is “an important source of leakage, revealing an emotion a person is trying to conceal.” (Ekman, p. 15)

The ability to accurately read other's non-verbal behavior is an essential competency of emotional intelligence, which most social scientists now believe to be a more accurate predictor of success in work and relationships than traditional IQ.

• "In tests with over 7,000 people in the United States and 18 other countries, the benefits of being able to read feelings from non-verbal cues included being better adjusted emotionally, more popular, more outgoing, and -- perhaps not surprisingly -- more sensitive...and had better relationships with people of the opposite sex." (Goleman, p. 97)

What about cultural differences in nonverbal cues?

Basic facial expressions and the core emotions they communicate are universal across all cultures, even those most remote from other societies. This conclusion is now commonly accepted by communication scholars around the world, contrary to popular notions that non-verbal behavior is learned in, and distinct among our social and cultural groups. Ekman explains cultural differences in superficial interpretations of facial expressions to differences in “display rules” that cultures dicate.

The Research says…

• An interesting experiment by Ekman showed that when Japanese and Americans were alone while watching gory films, they automatically made the same facial expressions. A change occurred when the research subjects saw the films in the company of scientists, with the Japanese more frequently “masking” their automatic fearful expressions with a smile. (p.4)

Doesn't everyone try to cover up their feelings? We can't talk about our true feelings in most situations!

It's true that one sign of emotional intelligence is being able to "manage" our emotions, say some psychologists. Today there is much debate about the degree to which we actually can control or manage our feelings. A key point here is that we should at least understand the power of emotions in communicating the actual, rather than just the intended message when we, or others speak. We need to "decode" the emotion underlying the words of others, and we need to be aware, as speakers, of the emotion we may inadvertently be communicating.

The Research says…

• “Words are representations of emotions, not the emotions themselves. Emotion is a process, a particular kind of automatic appraisal influenced by our evolutionary and personal past, in which we sense that something important to our welfare is occurring, and a set of physiological changes and emotional behaviors begins to deal with the situation. Words are only one way to deal with our emotions, and we do use worlds when emotional, but we can not reduce emotion to words" (Ekman, p. 13).

• "When our automatic appraisal process is triggered by a potential threat, emotions take over our entire body system “in milliseconds, directing what we do and say and think” – without conscious thought! This is obvious when facing life-threatening situations such as a violent attacker, fire, or car accident.

Ekman gives a great example of an impending car accident. We automatically hit the brake and take evasive action. Heart pumping, sweating, blood rushing to our legs, a vivid expression of fear contorts our face – even if alone in the car.

“These responses occur because over the course of evolution it has been useful for others to know when we sense danger, and it has similarly been useful to be prepared to run when afraid.” (p. 20

Sensing danger and communicating emotional reactions that may be out of place

Instinctual, automatic responses of the emotional brain explain much about our reactions in the face of real danger, but today, humans are not in constant need of detecting threats to life and limb. However, these evolutionary reactions explain a lot of what happens during modern interpersonal communication exchanges.

A simple comment by a co-worker could be interpreted as a threat to our job, to our livelihood, and security. It feels life-threatening. In milliseconds our emotional brain has taken over with its own evaluative process, the autonomic nervous system has kicked in and we are speaking and acting without conscious thought. Malcolm Gladwell wrote an entire book (Blink, a best-seller) on this kind of “rapid cognition” that is used to assess nearly every aspect of our daily encounters.

• He cites a study by psychologist Nalini Ambady, in which students were able to accurately rate a teacher’s effectiveness by watching just two seconds of a video clip – without the sound. Although Gladwell asserts that we can usually trust our lightening fast instincts, and often make good decisions within seconds, he also devotes considerable time discussing the reasons why, and how “our instincts betray us” (p. 14).

“When our powers of rapid cognition go awry, the go awry for a very specific and consistent set of reasons, and those reasons can be identified and understood. It is possible to learn when to listen to that powerful onboard computer and when to be wary of it, says Gladwell." (p. 15.)

How? Tune in next time!

(*For a truly fascinating read about non-verbal communication, see Paul Ekman’s book, Emotion’s Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life. Ekman is an adviser to movie studios who make those incredible animated movies that have fish and elephants displaying intricate facial and body language that communicates an emotional repertoire equal to humans! Ekman also consults with law enforcement agencies around the world, such as the FBI and CIA, to help predict whether people are lying. )

References

Adler R. B., Proctor R. F., & N. Towne. (2005). Looking Out, Looking In. Thomson Wadsworth.

Ekman, P., (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life. New York: Henry Holt and Companies.

Gladwell, M., (2005). Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. Back Bay Books / Little Brown and Company.

"The mind apparently has a consistent way of ordering an event that defies the order in which subjects, verbs, and objects typically appear in languages, according to research at the University of Chicago. . . ."

The Macarthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) have been used widely to document early communicative development. The paper reports on a large community sample of 1,447 children recruited from low, middle and high socioeconomic (SES) areas across metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which communicative behaviours reported at 0 ; 8 and 1 ; 0 predicted vocabulary development at 1 ; 0 and 2 ; 0. In support of previous findings with smaller, often less representative samples, gesture and object use at 1 ; 0 were better predictors of 2 ; 0 vocabulary than were gesture and object use at 0 ; 8. At 1 ; 0, children from the lower SES groups were reported to understand more words than children from the higher SES groups, but there were no SES differences for words produced at 1 ; 0 or 2 ; 0. The findings add to our understanding of the variability in the development of early communicative behaviours.

Upstairs over the panda, in a small brown "sock monkey fabric" style box.  Buy for ZERO linden :)

It's a Sock Monkey Song!

One of my very first attempts with Audacity.  I have another sock monkey sound file I made, just of the words "sock monkey" with echo.  It's not in a gesture yet, I'll get it in a box later on though.

Steps

• Get your confidence up. This can mean doing things such as getting a new haircut, new clothes, losing weight, or just reminding yourself of your great qualities. You need to make the man like you before you can make a move.
• Use a seductive tone of voice. Not too nasal, not too high -- throaty and soft is most appealing.
• Wear clothing that is fashionable and shows just enough skin to make men want to see more. But don't overdo the skin thing. DO NOT BE VERY TOUCHY-FEELY! It may seduce them at first but in the long run, who wants to be with the girl who has been touched by everybody else?
• Learn to dance. Dancing is one of the most seductive things a girl can do. Learn different styles and tecniques of dancing.
• Learn to walk like a model: strong, confident, with a good swagger and with excellent posture.
• Wait until you can tell he is interested. The signs may not be obvious, but sometimes you have to go out on a limb; remember, most men find attention from women quite flattering.
• Be flirty with your target. Let him know that you're interested, possibly by glancing or winking at him. When you talk to him, lean in and show some cleavage--even if you don't have much. The point is to show that you're happy with your body and you don't mind that he gets a preview.
• Hint at your target's weak points. If he works too much, suggest that he is missing out on a lot of fun. If he is a party animal, suggest that he will never get a girl unless he makes money.
• Ignore him for a little while. Give him the space and time to forget about the things that may have turned him off and fantasize about the good things. Never reveal too much of yourself because you almost certainly will turn him off. Another idea is to cancel plans you made with him and give a sincere, heartfelt apology.
• Touch him, perhaps on the hand or wrist. This will subtly demonstrate that you are interested.
• Offer him a massage to help break down physical barriers or say that you are sleepy and put your head on his shoulder. If he is shy, back off or leave the room for a while to let him get over his shyness and fantasize about where it could have gone from there.
• Get in close. Talk to him, and let him know you like him. Guys like to hear that they are wanted just as much as girls do. If he has a slim or medium build, say how strong he is. If he is not so smart, tell him how smart he is (at the right time). Say that it feels good when he holds you. Also, just listen to him.
• Make eye contact with your target. The eyes are said to be windows to the soul, and you want to make sure he knows you're trying to get inside his soul. When you are locked in a loving glance, talk about small stuff like the weather, the movie you just saw, or dinner and use short simple words. Talk only about the present moment.
• Be a little mysterious. Try simple makeup, a scarf, shades, ...
• It's up to you whether to take it to the next level or not. If he thinks of you as a conquest, tell him that and leave. He will fall in love with you eventually. If you feel he genuinely adores you, take it all the way.

Tips

Most of the advice in the following column is not for making a guy fall in love with you, it's for making a guy fall in lust with you.

• Seduction works on the brain. It's the art of making a guy fall in love with you against his will. If he is attracted to you at first, that doesn't count as a seduction and you need more practice.
• A successful seduction does not necessarily end in the bedroom. If work, a girlfriend, a wife or family get in the way, a love affair can be maintained beneath the radar and without much contact. A faithful boyfriend or husband may need to ignore you to resist the temptation you present.
• Wear clothing which makes you feel and look sexy. Enhance your cleavage with a well-fitting bra, learn to put on makeup in the way that is most suitable to your features, and show skin. Better yet. Don't wear a bra.
• Always pay a good deal less attention to your target than he pays to you. For every three times you feel him glance at you, glance at him once. If he has not noticed you, do not visibly notice him. However, when your eyes meet, do not be the first to look away. This will give you seductive power.
• Don't be afraid to point out your target's weaknesses, ignore your target, or cancel a date IF your target is definitely interested in you. This will augment the interest to intrigue.
• When you sit, cross your legs and never rest your back on the seat.
• Balance out your masculine features with feminine ones. Your overall look should be 50-100% feminine. If you have small breasts and less curves or if you are not so pretty, wear a thin dress that shows lots of skin, wear makeup, and wear your hair long (e.g. Maria Sharapova). If you naturally look pretty and feminine, you have the option of cutting your hair short, wearing denim, or going out with less makeup (e.g. Halle Berry). Also make sure your personality is 50-100% feminine.
• Wear a light attractive scent. This means layering scents. Bathe in scented bath oils first. Then apply a light powder in the same scent. Finally spray the same scented perfume in front of you and walk into the mist. Do this about 45 minutes before you see him. If you overpower him with your scent, instead of wanting to edge a bit closer he will be running for the nearest exit.
• Candlelight and music set the scene for seduction. Soft lighting minimizes lines and wrinkles and gives your skin a bit of a glow. Keep candles handy or lamps that have adjustable lighting. In soft lighting you can be his dream woman and you can feel better about undressing in front of him.
• Don't agree with everything he says. Have a mind of your own and comment back. It is good to have a different point of view when you converse.
• Try different perfumes to find out what men like.
• Find things you have in common with him. If he is having troubles in his life, sympathize with him.
• The most important thing is to promise your target whatever it is that they are missing. If they have a hot, willing girlfriend, all the cleavage in the world won't help, but chances are she is neglecting him in other areas - maybe she doesn't listen or take care of him (we all know the surest way to a man's heart is his stomach, right?), so you need to offer whatever your competition cannot. Make him feel like a King, like someone important (but never let him walk all over you) and he will always come back for more. This is how you keep your man, too.
• Even though it may seem sexist, men love to see a woman with a nice body (nice breasts, curves, buttocks). Show off your body, make him crave it, but be careful. Men often feel guilty if they're attracted or dating a woman just for her body. If you have a nice, sexy body, also show that you are a smart, interesting woman who can perhaps be passionate about something artistic (painting, music, literature). If your body isn't a strong characteristic for you, try wearing clothes that make you seem sexier, more attractive. The for mentioned artistic qualities could also help strengthen your image in this situation.

Warnings

• Not everyone can be seduced. Men who are secure with themselves and men who are happily in a relationship or married are practically impossible to seduce.
• Always make sure a friend knows where you are if you are meeting someone you don't know well.

Steps

• Meditate. The following advice is culturally relative. This list was made for Westerners, and is to be used in Western environments only. And then, it has its limitations, as charisma is an energetic thing, that can not be manipulated or changed with simple instructions. The only path to developing charisma that is truly effective is to meditate and to lighten up. Dropping seriousness and self-concern makes one more charismatic.
• Relax. Charisma is all about channeling your energy to other people. If you channel stress and anxiety, people will be repelled. If you channel relaxation and tranquility, people will be attracted to your calmness, and they'll want to be more like you.
• Look confident. Charisma isn't the same thing as confidence, but appearing confident can make you more charismatic because your confidence will put others at ease and inspire faith in your abilities.

• Improve your posture. Nothing conveys confidence like good posture. Stand or sit up straight, but not rigidly. When you meet someone, give a firm handshake and look the other person in the eye. Display positive body language while you're talking to someone and even when you're just waiting around. Sit facing the person or people you're talking to, uncross your legs and arms, and keep your hands away from your face. Look at ease, and don't fidget or convey nervousness.
• Be anyone's equal. No matter to whom you are talking, treat them as an equal. If you're talking to a potential employer, a group of wealthy donors, a child, a stranger, or an attractive guy or girl, for example, don't put them on a pedestal or talk down to them. Be respectful of other people, of course, but respect them as equals, and expect that they will accept you as such.
• Get in touch with your emotions. Research has shown that people who are generally believed to be charismatic feel emotions strongly, and they are also able to relate to what others are feeling. Ironically, in many societies, the suppression of emotion is considered desirable. Don't be afraid to feel anger, pain, sadness, or elation, and don't be afraid to communicate your emotions. Also be aware that there is a difference in suppressing your emotions and controlling how you express your emotions. It is this control which is truly desirable. Always be genuine - fake emotion rarely appeals to anyone.
• Match your body language to your speech. Perhaps the defining characteristic of charismatic people is the ability to use body language effectively when communicating. Gesturing is important, but good gestures aren't arbitrary.
  • Watch how other people gesture. Notice how some speakers' gestures appear fake or out of sync with their message. These people come off looking shifty or uncertain as a result. Other speakers use body language exceptionally well. These are generally the more effective communicators and appear more trustworthy and competent. These people are often successful actors, religious leaders, and pundits. Look for good and bad examples of the use of body language. Pay attention, and learn.
  • Think about your own gestures. When you speak, does your body language back you up, or do you look nervous, uncaring, or bored? If you're passionate about something, do your gestures communicate this, or do you play it cool?
  • Practice in a mirror. Watch yourself in the mirror and give a speech or even pretend to hold a conversation. What are your eyes doing? How about your hands? Do you look like the shifty politician or the charismatic one? Could someone know what emotion you're trying to convey even if they couldn't hear you? Practice regularly, and make note of what you need to improve.
• Think before you speak. Reduce the fluff and filler material in your daily communications. Try to make every word count, and think about how you're going to phrase something before you open your mouth. If you don't have something important to say, remain silent. With continuous effort, the right words will come to you more easily. It may seem surprising but limiting the amount you talk will make what you have to say more interesting.
• Speak with conviction. Like gesturing, the way you say something can be just as important as what you say. Say something important and say it with conviction. Speak at a relaxed pace and speak clearly. From this baseline, vary your tone, rhythm, volume, and pitch to emphasize your most important words and to keep your speech interesting. Record yourself speaking, and ensure that your phrasing complements your message.
• Treat people as they want to be treated. Make each person you meet feel as though he or she is truly important, regardless of your first impression or that person's reputation. If you make people feel good about themselves, they'll be drawn to you and hold a higher opinion of you.
  • Listen actively when others speak. Give someone your full attention when he or she is speaking to you. Make good eye contact, and nod in agreement or make brief interjections, such as "I see," or "Okay," to assure the person that you are listening and you're interested in what he or she has to say. A brief touch on the upper arm can emphasize your agreement or empathy with something someone says, and it can make the person feel connected to you.
  • Make people feel special. Learn and remember people's names, and address people by their names. Smile genuinely when you greet someone. Compliment people freely, but genuinely, and accept compliments graciously and without any fuss.

Tips

• Developing charisma is an art. The general guidelines above can help you be more charismatic, but your charisma must come from within you and must reflect you as an individual or it will appear fake. Fortunately, everyone has the ability to be charismatic, and it simply needs to be coaxed out. Practice and take note of what works and what needs improvement.
• Don't mimic others. People with well developed charisma have a remarkable ability not only to sway people's opinions but also to cause others to emulate their personalities and even gestures. At the same time, however, research has shown that charismatic people do not emulate other charismatic people. Their individuality sets them apart.
• Have a message. Don't be afraid to be controversial, to push the envelope. If you believe in something or feel strongly about it, communicate that in a respectful way. Your charisma will help people be accepting of your ideas.
• Take an acting class. Actors and charismatic people use the same techniques to captivate their audience and evoke emotion.
• Join a Toastmasters Club to develop communication and leadership skills with others who have similar interests.
• Put it all out there. People tend to hide thoughts and feelings from each other without any bad intentions, but everyone warms up to someone who is totally honest without being awkward or weird about it. Some things would be weird, but wording them right can be a bit charming. Of course, there are a few exceptions, don't say anything that will make people feel uncomfortable or want to leave and back away from you.

Warnings

• Consider your audience and be careful not to offend them. It can be good to be controversial, but being offensive can make people feel uncomfortable. Challenge, but do not offend.
• Don't try to fake charisma. You can learn charisma, but trying to be charismatic without practice can make you seem bizarre and untrustworthy.
• Success requires more than charisma. If you don't have the skills or dedication to do what you set out to do, you will eventually fail.

Thanks Wiki

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After the publication of Tim Russert?s number one New York Times bestseller about his father, Big Russ & Me, he received an avalanche of letters from daughters and sons who wanted to tell him about their own fathers, most of whom were not superdads or heroes but ordinary men who were remembered and cherished for some of their best moments?of advice, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity.

Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children.

This book is for all fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is the little gestures that can make the big difference for your child. For some in this book, the appreciation came later than they would have liked. But as Wisdom of Our Fathers reminds us, it is never too late to embrace it.

From the father who coached his daughter in sports (and life), attending every meet, game, performance, and tournament, to the daughter who, after a fifteen-year estrangement, learned to make peace with her difficult father just before he died, to the son who came, at last, to appreciate the silent way his father could show affection, Wisdom of Our Fathers shares rewarding lessons, immeasurable gifts, and lasting values.

Heartfelt, humorous, engaging, irresistibly readable, and bound to bring back memories of unforgettable moments with our own fathers, Tim Russert?s new book is not only a fitting companion to his own marvelous memoir, but also a celebration of the positive qualities passed down from generation to generation.

From the Hardcover edition.

Order Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons from Amazon for $7.96

Don't have Amazon Kindle? You can always purchase it from here
Or if you prefer to read the Print editions instead, you can get it from here

Other Kindle Books of Interest
The Greatest Generation
Dispatches from the Edge
A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland
The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections

What is a gesture?: A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication made with a part of the body, used instead of or in combination with verbal communication.

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First go to your Inventory, then go to the "Gestures" folder. Right click on the folder and choose "New Gesture". After a few seconds (or less!) you will get the gesture's window. Which will look like this:

(This is the default gesture, a wave and a sound).

After we've deleted all the default lines. We make a new gesture and we will start with "Animations".

What is an animation? Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. You can find your animations in your Inventory under the folder "Animations" - If you want to add an animation to the gesture it must have full permission (Copy/Modify/Transfer). You make animations of your own by using out-world tools, such as: QAvimator, Avimator, Poser.

Click on the "Add" button to add a new animation. Now you will get this slider:

You need to choose from your animation in your Inventory. I took for example the basic default "Laugh" animation that can be found in any Inventory.

Next will will add a sound to our gesture:

You can find your sounds in your Inventory under the "Sounds" folder. You can make your own sounds by using out-world tools such as: Audacity. The sound has to be full permission (Copy/Modify/Transfer) to be add to the gesture. Click the "Add" button to add a new sound. Now you will get this slider:

I chose a sound from my Inventory called "Dopefish".

Next we will add a chat line. Select the "Chat" option and then click the "Add" to add a new chat line:

You will get a white box. Type the line you want to add to the gesture and then hit ENTER save the line:

Next we will add a "Wait". "Wait" is very important, you need to put a "Wait" between every line that you make so the gesture will work properly. Select the "Wait" option and then click "Add" to add a new wait.

You will get now these options:

You can set time steps by seconds or until animations are done. But now we will choose with seconds:

I set 5.0 seconds waiting.

Next we will need to move the chat line upwards. Select the chat line and click "Move Up". Every time you click "Move Up" it will move up in only one row.

Now we've put it to the top of the list:

Next we can move it downwards by the "Move Down" button:

Next we will give our gesture a description. A description is good if you want the next owner to know what the gesture does/what is it about.

Now we will give our gesture a trigger. A trigger is for fast use of the gesture. Usually it's good to put a "/" before the text, if somehow you type it wrong or you want it silent with no typing. It also auto completes itself when you have "/" before the line.

Or you can use the "Replace with". The "Replace with" is good when you want to write a line, but you want it to say something else. Or it to be invisible. Like here when I wrote "a" and "b", which will show only the "b".

You can also add shortcut keys to your gesture for faster effects. I put for example SHIFT+F10:

If you do not like one of your steps, you can always delete them by selecting one of them and clicking "Remove":

Now we have deleted one of our steps:

After we've finished our gesture we will need to save it. Click the "Save" button:

Next you can see a preview of your gesture. Click the "Preview" button:

There you have it, your first gesture! Remember: The gesture has to be activated to be played.

The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police, and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.

Warning: Sometimes Ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you.

Signs of Deception

Body Language of Lies:

• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.

• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.

• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth, touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand.

Emotional Gestures & Contradiction:

• Timing and duration of emotional gestures and emotions are off a normal pace. The display of emotion is delayed, stays longer it would naturally, then stops suddenly.

• Timing is off between emotions gestures/expressions and words. Example: Someone says "I love it!" when receiving a gift, and then smile after making that statement, rather then at the same time the statement is made.

• Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal statement, such as frowning when saying “I love you.”

• Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions (like happy, surprised, sad, awe) instead of the whole face. For example; when someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved: jaw/cheek movement, eyes and forehead push down, etc.

Interactions and Reactions:

• A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.

• A liar is uncomfortable facing his questioner/accuser and may turn his head or body away.

• A liar might unconsciously place objects (book, coffee cup, etc.) between themselves and you.

Verbal Context and Content:

• A liar will use your words to make answer a question. When asked, “Did you eat the last cookie?” The liar answers, “No, I did not eat the last cookie.”

•A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: “I didn't do it” instead of “I did not do it”

• Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.

• The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to convince you... they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation.

• A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.

• Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.

Other signs of a lie:

• If you believe someone is lying, then change subject of a conversation quickly, a liar follows along willingly and becomes more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject changed; an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change in topics and will want to back to the previous subject.

• Using humor or sarcasm to avoid a subject.

Conclusion

Obviously, just because someone exhibits one or more of these signs does not make them a liar. The above behaviors should be compared to a persons base (normal) behavior whenever possible.

lets take a look at the viniyoga shloka of Samputa

Varvacgade sampute cha samputah krah iritaha

It says that Samputa is used to denote

1. Concealment of objects. It can be used to show secrets or something that is kept safely. it can also denote something that is hidden.

2. To show the chest.

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raul

Abstract:Work by Russell Tomlin has shown that there is a close relationship between the syntactic subject of an utterance and the entity the speaker's attention is focused on while the utterance is being formulated, for descriptions of a simple event (Tomlin 1985, 1995, 1997). The experiment presented in this paper demonstrates that the same effect can be obtained for a more complex event, and that attention also impacts the spontaneous hand gestures produced along with speech. The paper shows that both syntactic subject and the information contained in gesture can be manipulated by changing which entity a speaker is focused on during utterance formulation. This pattern suggests that changes in conceptualization give rise to changes in both speech and gesture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of course, Tomasello doesn't talk about it in terms of Meadian SI, but it's obvious:

Another subtle but crucial difference can be seen in communication. The great apes — chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans — communicate almost exclusively for the purpose of getting others to do what they want. Human infants, in addition, gesture and talk in order to share information with others...

Yay Social Psychology for understanding what makes humans different and uniquely human!!!

Much research has been carried out into the effects of mutually shared knowledge (or common ground) on verbal language use. This present study investigates how common ground affects human communication when regarding language as consisting of both speech and gesture. A semantic feature approach was used to capture the range of information represented in speech and gesture. Overall, utterances were found to contain less semantic information when interlocutors had mutually shared knowledge, even when the information represented in both modalities, speech and gesture, was considered. However, when considering the gestures on their own, it was found that they represented only marginally less information. The findings also show that speakers gesture at a higher rate when common ground exists. It appears therefore that gestures play an important communicational function, even when speakers convey information which is already known to their addressee.