Body Language:an Important Means of Communication

Body language is an important part of nonverbal communication and it is connected with culture.In order to avoid misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication,we should know the body language from different cultures.And we know that some body language is understood by all the peoples from different cultures.However,body language from different cultures has many differences because of different regions,races and cultural customs.And it is restricted by its culture and has different cultural connotations.That is to say,the same body language has different meaning in different cultures and has different social functions;on the contrary,different body languages may express the same meaning.This paper first expatiate the definition and importance of body language,then give variety of examples of the differences and similarities of body language in different cultures,and put forward 18 principles of improving body language in communication to achieve efficient communication to avoid misunderstanding.