Gestures are another way a sender can complement the verbal communication and enable a receiver to understand the message better

Third, crossed arms and legs generally characterize one who feels wary, distant, angry, or in some way uncomfortable. This posture may suggest that the body is closed off and protected. Of course, an isolated arm or leg cross alone is not enough evidence to judge closedness, because people have other reasons. for crossing or uncrossing limbs such as a room's temperature or the need to rest a leg. It is the total posture of the body within a context that helps the manager to determine the openness or closedness of an individual.
Thus, while one can read no concrete messages from posture, the observant and astute manager is better able to listen to the total message if he analyzes the posture of those involved in the communication.

Gestures
Gestures are another way a sender can complement the verbal communication and enable a receiver to understand the message better. When we see a person cupping her hands, pounding on her desk, waving her arms through the air, or pointing a finger while speaking on the phone, we are able to read the message she is sending. An interesting test of the importance of hands to speech requires a person to carry on a conversation while sitting on her hands. An exaggerated use of shoulder and head movement will result as a compensation for the loss of manual gestures.
You should remember that gestures frequently have different meanings in different cultures. The gestures discussed in this chapter are ones that the average American might easily recognize. At the sa1!le time, in another culture, the same gestures might have no meaning or one entiI'ely different from that in the Amelican culture.