A psychologist and life coach on TikTok has revealed eight body language hacks that could help you take control of any situation you’re in.
Francesca Tighinean — who graduated from the University of London with a Bachelor’s in psychology — shares psychological and life coaching insights on her TikTok account @francescapsychology, where she has 1.2 million followers and 19.8 million likes.
Tighinean shared two separate videos — with 1.15 million views and 160,700 likes combined — revealing eight body language tricks to control any situation.
Her first tip was standing in a “dominance display” to show you are “ready and alert” and “have something to say.”
She suggested that putting your hands on your hips in a “Superman” pose will help express dominance.
For the next trick, the life coach explained that pushing away from a table shows disagreement and a negative response to whatever is being discussed.
Tighinean’s third trick was what she called “surrogate touching,” which can act as flirting and send someone the message that you’re interested in them.
“Stroking a cup or pressing a pen against lips means that the person wants to be intimate with the person they’re with and they transfer their wishes onto the object,” she explained.
Clearing away objects between you was her next trick, which means that the person “feels good” and “likes you” — they don’t want anything in their way of getting to you.
If the person feels bad about you, she added, they will “use objects to create a barrier” — for example, they could place a cup between the two of you — which is her fifth body language tip.
In a follow-up video, Tighinean shared three hand-body language tricks to control any situation.
Her first hand trick was to use the church “steeple” position to make you seem trustworthy. Touching your fingers tips together and pointing your thumbs upward “indicates that everything is OK” and is a display of confidence, often used in presentations.
The next trick centered around asserting dominance in a group setting.
“Place your hands over each other,” she advised. “This is how people will tell who the leader of the group is.”
Her final trick was to “use the palms of your hands to indicate that you’re either friendly or dominant.”
She explained that speaking with your palms up sends a “subconscious signal” that you’re friendly, while palms down indicate that you’re dominant and need to be listened to.
In September, Tighinean went viral for revealing what your profile picture says about you. (Sorry, influencers: Your super sexy pose might be sending a message of inferiority.)