What Watching People's Feet Can Tell You

One of the biggest things I’ve been fascinated by in the past year is charisma. It’s what people want from interactions, how to make people more comfortable around you, and how to read people. I’m always trying to figure out what people are thinking.

One of the only real ways to know what people are thinking is by watching their body language. For example, if you are talking to someone and you’re both standing up, where their feet are pointing is where their attention is. If both feet are facing you, you have their full attention. If they are bored of what you’re talking about, their feet will be pointing away from you.

Will this be true 100% of the time? Maybe not every single time, but I find it interesting to watch people’s feet when I’m standing in a group of 3 or 4 people. Usually, whoever's feet are pointed towards me makes more eye contact and engages with me more.

Over time, watching people’s feet has taught me what kind of conversation engages certain people. I can tell if people are distracted or more interested in something or someone else. Quite frankly, it lets me know if someone is interested in me and what I have to say or not.

If you’ve never paid attention to people’s feet I challenge you to pay attention this week and see if you can tell who’s listening to you and who isn’t.