The Body Never Lies (Penny Rader)

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A couple years ago I attended a communication seminar.  I was surprised to learn that only 7% of communication comes from words – which is one reason why it’s easy to be misunderstood in emails and tweets and facebook posts.  The other 93% comes from body language, tone of voice, etc.  I trolled the internet for help using nonverbal communication in our writing.

Body Language Basics (Julie Rowe)

Check out this article for tips about how smiling, eyebrows, head positioning and body position reveal what your characters are doing and how they feel about it.


Body Language Cheat Sheets for Writers 

This cheat sheet from Archetype Writing includes Anger, Attraction, Distress and Lying, among others.


Body Language – A Guide to Reading Body Language Signals

This site has a body language index – loads of helpful information.   Especially body language signals and meanings (broken down by eyes, mouth, head, arms, hands, handshakes, legs and feet,  personal space).


The Body Language Noob

You’ll find additional articles about body language, including “The Most Honest Part of the Body” – be sure to check out the short video.


Body Language: Ten Ways to Show How Your Character Is Feeling (Renee Miller)

“The worst part of getting advice like ‘show, don’t tell’ is that writers like to throw it out there, but they don’t seem to want to take the time to explain it.  …where many writers tend to tell when showing is best, is when they’re trying to covey how a character feels.  Body language is so easy to use, and it gives the reader a visual of what’s going on…”

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Gender Differences: Female Body Language

This article is for men writing female characters, but I figured it’d be helpful for women, too. :D


The Human Touch – Using Body Language in Writing (techtrigger)

“…too easy to forget your body interacts with the world.” Examples include body movement, sounds, textures, dialogue.


Non-Verbal Thesaurus:  A Writer’s Cheat Sheet to Body Language Cues

Pretty cool.  Check it out.


Using Body Language

There’s a ton of info here: body language message clusters, movement, parts-of-the-body language.


Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist (Margie Lawson)

In this article, Margie discusses dialogue cues and facial expressions.  She also gives several examples from novels.


Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are (Amy Cuddy)

A TED Talk about “power posing”

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Do you have  favorite body language reference?