REVIEW: Martin Brooks — Body Language Decoder (CARDS)
Communication specialist Martin Brooks’ new collection of cards is titled Body Language Decoder, needless to say a title that requires no further explanation. The succinctness of the word choice is matched by the card’s actual design. Complete with large blocks of text, Brooks provides evocative drawings and diagrams of the phenomenon he’s focusing on, making the whole affair have the eerie unsettling nature of a Rorschach test. The card’s entire theme is about communication, and understanding on a deeper and more authentic level what someone’s implicit, communicative tics really mean.
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Needless to say as an ordinary citizen, taking what Body Language Decoder offers on a day-in, day-out basis can make you a little paranoid! There’s an entire world out there that one hasn’t begun to scratch the surface of, an entire second language communicated through gestures, posture, and by what one doesn’t say versus what they do. “It’s often said that the eyes are the window to the soul, and they can certainly reveal a great deal about our true feelings,” Brooks writes. “From too much eye contact to too little, from long gazes to fleeting glances, the eyes have plenty to say to the shrewd observer.” He goes to state, “Two gestures can look very similar but have different meanings behind them.
Often the only way to differentiate them is context. Pay attention to the environment you’re in and the pressures, stresses, and hierarchies that exist within it before rushing to a conclusion…As more people learn about body language and develop their nonverbal communication skills, those who are seeking to conceal their intentions may choose to perform seemingly unconscious gestures. If you feel you are being deliberately misled, ask further questions and circle back to the topic in question to see if it generates the same response.”
Add to the mix the illustrations themselves, and you’ll never look at your interpersonal relationships the same way again. Brooks may be performing something of a public service courtesy of his work, but there’s no denying the darker shade a project like Body Language Decoder brings to the table with its topical facets. After all, how much do we really want to know about the private worlds people around us individualistically inhabit? Is it really worth being able to know everything that’s behind the mask of civility, politeness, and the overriding concept of being so-called ‘sociable’?
From a tactical point of view, it certainly is. Budding detectives, burgeoning cops, anyone who has watched movies like The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, or LA Confidential one too many times — this is for you! True to form, Brooks writes on this: “When you’re trying to work out whether someone is being honest with you, you need to know what their ‘normal’ communication looks like. To establish this baseline, ask them about a topic other than the contentious issue and see how they respond. Then, when you discuss the original subject, you can compare and contrast those behaviors with their baseline to identify any red flags.”
Colin Jordan
