Tone of voice
Monotone voice sounds bored or upset, whereas too much inflection sounds fake or overwhelming.
Facial expression
Nonverbal clue! Interpret someone else's expression, and also be aware of your own. Mirroring someone's facial expression can sometimes help.
Tell me 2 nonverbal clues!
Facial expression, gesturing, body positioning, body movement
Tell me 3 verbal clues!
Tone of voice, rate of speech, laughing, sure, yeah, mhm
Gesturing
Too much gesturing can appear standoffish or too extreme, whereas too little gesture can make you look intimidating
Body positioning
For both sitting and standing, show me a position that is too close and too far.
Body movement
Sometimes people shift between their feet, they fidget with their hands, tilt their head, blink, etc.
Rate of speech
Show me speech that is too fast to understand and then speech that is too slow to pay attention.
Laughing
Sometimes people laugh at jokes that aren't funny! A good rule of thumb is to chuckle when other people are
Sure, yeah, mhm
These words don't add to the conversation, but they tell the other person that you're listening.
