What is body language and why is it important?

Language is the way humans (and other animals) communicate feelings and intentions. It was created in order to allow animals to send messages to their own kind (for example, 'Here is food', 'I'm interested in sex' or 'Let's run away') and also to other animals (for example, 'If you come near my puppies/children, I will attack'). 

Parts of body language are functional, that is, a useful response to the environment (for example standing up when you encounter something that requires attention, or looking away when a beautiful girl passes by) that we have learned to read in each other. Other parts of body language are symbolic, i.e. ways of conveying messages that were created to allow us to convey messages (for example a facial expression when we ate something unpleasant, or when a dog's tail wags) and have become an agreed upon sign even though they have no meaning in themselves. Body language works whenever we are awake and transmits our feelings at that moment even when we are indifferent or tired and do not think at all about our body language, it works and transmits - probably - that we are tired and indifferent. This is a very ancient form of communication, therefore it is strong on the one hand and primitive on the other.

So what does learning body language mean? Body language is 'burned' deep into our brains, so we all use it regularly, whether we are aware of it or not. 

That's why we know to watch out for the neighborhood bully or an aggressive dog even though we don't always know what made us watch out. In the same way, we also transmit signs in our body language that we are not always aware of - think about the times you blushed against your will.

Body language in the audience

From this it follows that even when people sit and listen to a speaker as an audience they feel emotions and transmit them as body language consciously or unconsciously. These emotions can be interest, boredom, insult, joy, etc., but each of them will cause a different response, which the speaker can understand. An important advantage of understanding the emotions of the audience through their body language is that people who sit in the audience often do not think at all about what their body language conveys, unlike speakers on stage who are busy with it all the time. As a result, their body language is less affected by attempts to control it and is more reliable and accurate.