Transcription
If you have watched some of my previous videos, you already know that 80% of communication between humans is nonverbal. Which is split up between body language and the tone of your voice. The problem is that body language is made up of many smaller categories of movements, and if you don't know what you're looking at, you'll have a difficult time accurately reading anyone.
The brain is a fascinating thing, and although it would be cool to be able to read another person's mind, this just isn't possible yet. Until someone invents the technology needed to do this, we have to work with the next best thing, which is your walking style.
From one day to the next, we go about our daily lives, walking from the grocery store to the gym, then back home again. If you're like most people, you have probably never taken a second to think about what your walking style says about you, or even better, what it might reveal about other people. The clothing that you choose to wear and even the way that you speak produce subtle cues about who you are as a person and what your personality is like, but those are topics for another video.
It's true that you can't always judge a book by its cover, but by observing a person's walking style, or even your own, you can be in a much better position to make decisions in your personal life. For nearly a century, psychologists have studied the assumptions made about certain walking styles, and they discovered that most of us tend to make almost identical assumptions about a person's personality based on the swagger, or lack of, within their walking style.
One of the earliest investigations into this topic was in 1935, and it consisted of a very interesting study. During the study, five men and three women were filmed without any of them knowing. To help neutralize the results, these individuals were forced to wear overalls, which were used to hide the obvious personality giveaways. The study participants took part in a ring-throwing activity while wearing the overalls, and their heads were removed from the secretly recorded film. The participants were asked to make interpretations of each other's personalities based on nothing but the way they walk. Each participant had no trouble generating potential personality traits based on how each participant walked, and there is a lot of agreement between them.
With the help of modern technology, researchers have found that there are two basic walking styles. The first style is swing, while the second style is swayed. According to a much more recent study, the first main walking style can be described as an expansive, loose style, and observers typically associated this style with adventurousness, warmth, trustworthiness, and extraversion. Now, the other main walking style can be described as slow and relaxed, and observers associated this style with emotional stability. However, the study found that these assumptions weren't correct based on how the participants being observed viewed themselves.
When it comes to body language, the face is the most powerful tool that we have to read someone, but it's also the most commonly manipulated area of the body. It is important to realize that a person's walking style can give away some of their personality, but it can also indicate that person's specific mood at the time. With even a little bit of knowledge about psychology, you can use the eyes that you've always used, but to see things that you would have never noticed before.
When a person is feeling happy, they're much more likely to walk faster, and you'll notice more energy in their movements. If you're feeling courageous and confident, you'll walk with wider steps, and you're much more likely to walk ahead of any friends that you're with. Another interesting piece of information: people who are persistent tend to take heavier footsteps, and not because they're overweight, but because they're very persistent in life. When a person walks slowly and tends to drag their feet behind them, it could indicate that they lack energy or feel depressed and uncertain.
We've all seen women who put on the catwalk when walking down the runway, and although this walking style looks very similar to how a real cat would walk when displayed by a person, it tends to signal "look at me." This style of walking isn't uncommon among men. With that said, let's get into the actual walking styles that can be used to categorize most people.
A lot of people are fast walkers, and when a person is walking fast, it might just mean that they're trying to get somewhere fast, but a fast walk is also associated with a person who has high energy and holds a go-getter type of attitude. Fast walkers also tend to be labeled as people who are courageous and confident, and they prefer to live a no-hassle lifestyle. Fast walkers even expect others to keep up with them, and they tend to walk ahead of the people they're escorting. Slow walkers are people who have short strides, are relaxed, and they are more likely to be calm and laid-back. Quiet walkers are associated with low self-esteem and being shy, and if this describes your walking style, you can give the impression of confidence by walking at a faster pace and taking longer strides.
Now that you know some of the common walking styles and what they might say about a person's personality, or even about your own, you should know how to walk like you're going to take over the world. Your walking style says a lot about you, and if you want to make a good first impression, you need to be aware of how you walk. You can make some small changes that will help you give the impression of confidence and emotional stability, even if you're not in a good mood. You should always practice proper posture, and you should walk with your chin and chest out while keeping your shoulders and back straight. You should also look ahead, not hunching over when walking. The heel of your foot should hit the ground first, and you should make sure that your strides, which is the distance between your feet during each step, are not too long or short. By walking confidently, you can leave a positive lasting impression, even when walking through a crowded room.
Now, as corny as it sounds, it is never a bad idea to practice your swagger in front of the mirror to make sure your posture is confident and correct. By observing the walking style of others, you'll gain an additional piece to that person's puzzle. And once you understand how different styles are associated with certain personality traits, you can make some minor tweaks to your own walking style and give off a stronger impression to others, which, believe it or not, can improve your life. Until next time, thanks for watching.