^{Hone your communication skills with body language adjustments}

By: Derek Vitalio

For this next body language communication exercise, I want you to slow down your speaking pace and become more intentional about your breathing.

Read the following passage aloud into the recorder some of you got at the body language communication class. But take the time to stop and breathe, so that every sentence has full breath support behind it. It should sound something more like this:

When the sunlight / strikes raindrops / in the air, / they act like a prism / and form a rainbow. / The rainbow is / a division of / white light into many / beautiful colors. / These take the shape / of a long round arch, / with its path high above, / and its two ends / apparently beyond / the horizon. / There is, / according to legend, / a boiling pot of gold / at the end. / People look, / but no one ever finds it. / When a man looks / for something beyond his reach, / his friends say / he is looking for / the pot of gold / at the end / of the rainbow. The pauses in between allow your body language communication to improve because your breathing naturally improves.

And so on. Spend time reading while taking extra time to breathe. It’s a great way to overall improve your breathing and body language communication in general.

And pay attention to your breathing all week. Monitor it throughout the day. Everywhere you go, be conscious of it. In different situations, spontaneously ask yourself how you’re breathing. Whether you’re working, reading, watching television, or spending time with a friend, pay attention whether you’re breathing shallow or deeply and adjust it. And notice, just like the body language communication class, when you’re speaking on full, relaxed breaths, how the difference in your new voice effects those around you differently.

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