The Ultimate Body Language Book

Chapter 10 - Attentive And Evaluative Body Language
Undivided Attention
An interested listener is focused on the entire person, their gestures, voice tone and the information
delivered.
Meeting in crowded areas offers plenty of distractions, which in and of itself might lead one to belief
that measuring attention would be difficult. However, the opposite is actually true; in other words, it’s
easier to measure interest in busy places because the eye can be caught wondering. As we covered
earlier in the chapter on eye language, we can verify interest based on where eyes are cast. The eyes tell
where the body wants to be, and when the mind is fully engaged on the presentation, the focus will be
on the speaker rather then what is going on around them.
Looking away rarely happens with someone who is completely engrossed in a conversation unless they
do so to concentrate. We know from an earlier discussion, that faces are complicated making it difficult
to process information. However absent of complex thought, we know that when someone looks away,
it’s due to disinterest in the subject matter. Take for example, a very important news item appearing
suddenly on television and the sequences of events that follow. First, we try to quiet a room so we have
time to tune into the broadcast, next we locate the remote and turn the volume up loud enough so that
even random noises don’t supersede the broadcast. Our eyes become fixated at the exclusion of
anything else in the room and our ears become finely tuned to the voice of the broadcaster. When
completely engaged, there is a fear of missing something important. This doesn’t just occur while
watching television or movies, but can happen when in deep conversation, while reading something
interesting or any other task for that matter. Any husband will tell you how easily it is to “tune” women
out when watching sports!
An interested listener is focused on the entire person, their gestures, voice tone and the information
delivered. For most, the picture they pick up about the speaker’s body language is subconscious, but it
does help them form an overall impression of their honesty, integrity, emotionality and so forth.
Therefore the focus doesn’t stop on the words alone, but on the entire message. An attentive listener is