The Ultimate Body Language Book

cartoons. The cliché says that the chin scratcher is old, wise and is bearded! Beard or chin stroking
signifies that the decision making process has begun, but that a conclusion hasn’t yet been reached.
What follows the chin scratch tells us exactly what to expect, be it a positive or negative outcome.
When prompted for a final decision,
if the hand comes down and across the body at right angles it tells us that a negative answer will follow,
but if the hand comes forward and is placed on the thighs in a ready posture or the arms remains
uncrossed the answer will be positive.
Without conscious awareness the tongue makes an appearance under deep concentration usually by
being protruded to the side. Tongue protrusion is an evolutionary throwaway gesture thought to have
arisen as food rejection mechanism by infants. When it happens in adults it means they are genuinely
focused on their task and wish not to be bothered by others, hence the rejection root. The tongue can
also be seen moistening the lips more often when under stress or anxiety as the mouth dries up, or can
be moved back and forth across the lips as a pacifying behaviour to sooth while under stress.