The Art Of Flirting: 5 Subtle Body Language Tricks That Drive Attraction Through The Roof
The most magnetic people let their body do the flirting for them.
Zulfugar Karimov | Unsplash Learning how to flirt by using your body language can be fun and surprisingly easy. Nonverbal communication can take the pressure off flirting because you don’t have to think of something witty to say. You also won’t have to worry about blurting out something awkward or embarrassing. Plus, being flirtatious through body language can be seriously powerful, because physical attraction and chemistry are hard to hide.
A facial expression or body movement can be an undeniable sign of attraction, and you can learn to flirt by using your body language. Flirting with nonverbal communication uses a few tips and tricks to help you find love and maybe even your soulmate.
The art of flirting: 5 subtle body language tricks that drive attraction through the roof:
1. Use eye contact to create instant chemistry
One of the most obvious signs of attraction is eye contact. If you notice a guy staring at you a little bit too much or for too long, it likely means that he finds you attractive or intriguing. Likewise, for men who notice a woman locking eyes or sneaking glances at them at a crowded party.
If you’re trying to flirt using eye contact, don’t hide your stares. Scanning your crush with your eyes can be a big sign of flirting, too! Checking out their face, hair, and outfit (and making it obvious) shows how much you’re interested. Research on the relationship between eye contact and attraction showed that "eye contact in initial interactions induces less uncertainty and more intimacy, compared to interactions without eye contact."
Make it obvious that you’re sneaking a peek (don’t try to hide it.) The way that you make eye contact matters too. If you’re a man, staring at a woman too intensely could come off as creepy, so make sure to break eye contact once in a while and add a sweet smile. Women can slightly bat their eyelashes, let their crush notice their stare, and quickly look away.
2. Smile like you actually mean it
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If you want to know how to flirt with someone using facial expressions, smiling is always a great place to start. Smiling is one of the most important parts of human interaction, with babies copying the smiles of their parents within only a day or two of being born.
Research on verbal and nonverbal flirting styles (physical, traditional, sincere, polite, and playful) found that each flirting style was correlated with nonverbal behaviors, and participants who were sincere flirts used more smiling. People display different smiles for various interactions. A full smile with an open mouth, showing both top and bottom teeth, is typically used during courtship. A big, friendly smile while making eye contact is a winning combination for flirting and showing someone you’re attracted to them.
3. Draw attention to your lips (subtly)
If you want to know how to attract men, biting or subtly licking your lips could do the trick. Men who want to attract women this way can do it too, but just be mindful not to go overboard. The lips are an erogenous zone, and light biting or licking can help draw attention to this area.
Drawing attention to your mouth may make your crush think of kissing you, which is definitely a good thing! Biting or licking the lips can also be a sign of shyness, which can indicate that you want to talk to your crush, but that you’re nervous.
4. Angle your body toward them and mirror their movements
Flirting with your body can be as simple as where and how you’re standing. Angling your body towards your crush is a flirtatious posture. Stand in a way so that your toes are pointing towards them, or lean in slightly if they’re telling a story.
Moving your body towards someone indicates that you want to get closer and focus your attention on them, indicating attraction. Mirroring someone’s posture and body language is another great way to flirt. This is a pretty natural way to show attraction, so you may even find yourself doing it without thinking. Researchers investigating nonverbal reactions people have to an attractive stranger explained how mirroring and mimicry are "positively associated with romantic interest and act as a relationship-maintenance mechanism, one that is expressed automatically, unintentionally, and non-consciously."
Are you crossing your arms because they’re crossing theirs? Are you leaning in because they’re leaning in? Make an effort to mirror them if you aren’t doing it already. They’re likely to pick up on the signals.
5. Use light, casual touches to connect
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Just a little bit of touching can go a long way when trying to flirt. Women tend to get away with this more than men, so guys, tread carefully. Ladies, if you want to appear flirtatious, try lightly touching your crush on their arm. If you’re having a conversation and they say something funny, a light arm squeeze can do the trick.
If they say something quirky or make a playful joke, a light tap on the chest or arm can be flirtatious too. For men trying to flirt with women, touching should be used sparingly. You could gently put your hand on her back as you try to get by her at a crowded party. A global study of touch and romance "strongly suggested that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners."
A friendly hand on the shoulder while complimenting something she did or said could be flirtatious, too. The less calculated the touch, the more flirtatious it can seem. Touching her face can be a risky move, but it’s undeniably flirtatious.
Learning how to flirt using your body language is a great skill. It can be difficult to strike up a conversation with your crush at a party or on the dance floor. But, if you know how to use nonverbal communication to show your attraction, flirting can be a whole lot easier (and a lot more fun too!)
Shannon Ullman is a writer who focuses on travel and adventure, women's health, pop culture, and relationships. Her work has appeared in Huffington Post, MSN, and Matador Network.
