MELVILLE, N.Y., October 19, 2011— "Body language can offer a  real-time visual check on what a person is ’really’ saying,” Carol Schiro Greenwald, Ph.D. and president, MarketingPartners, told a luncheon meeting of the Long Island chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, at the Hilton Long Island/Huntington Hotel, here today.

 "We rely on our visual senses far more than the vocal or verbal aspects of communication, so it is important that all of a person’s demeanor be in synch. When the eyes are hard and the lips smile we sense the disconnect,” Greenwald said in her talk, "The Lips Say Yes and The Arms Say No.”

 She added, "Body language cannot be interpreted in a vacuum. You need to take in what the whole body is saying and juxtapose it with the words and context in which the encounter occurs to have it add a valuable dimension to interpersonal behavior.”   

"Communication is a multi-channel exercise,” said Ann Middleman, chapter president, and principal of ADM Marketing & Research Consulting. ”That is why professional communicators need to know about non-verbal expressions as well as written and oral.”