The old adage holds true: actions do speak louder than words. When you’re meeting someone for the first, it’s not what you say but how you act that matters most. There’s a bulk of cumulative research to suggest that body language cues—like where you put your hands, or how long you hold eye contact—speak volumes about who you are and what people think of you. So, it might help to learn the pitfalls.
Herein, we’ve rounded up the most major body language goofs most people make on the daily, an expert-curated compendium of silent, subconscious ticks to avoid at all costs. If you’re ready to ditch the bad habits and charm the socks off everyone you meet, start here.
1 A raised chin
One of the biggest mistakes you can make during a first encounter is raising your chin higher than it would be in a normal conversation. According to Janine Driver, president of the Body Language Institute, a raised chin implies a certain smugness that can make others think that you’re full of yourself—even if you aren’t. Take Hillary Clinton in the second general election debate of 2016, for instance. When faced with criticism by Donald Trump, she laughed and raised her chin, which Driver says made it appear as though she thought that she was superior to him. Don’t make Clinton’s mistake in your encounters.
