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# Learn How to Read People's Body Language
- URL: https://www.pradipkhakhar.com/learn-how-to-read-peoples-body-language/
- Published: 2026-09-27T11:00:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-27T11:00:21.000Z
- Author: Pradip Khakhar
- Tags: SQE Journey

Picture a client nodding along as you explain the timeline for their dispute. They say they're happy with it. But their answers get shorter, they stop making eye contact, and they're turning a pen over in their hands. If you only listen to the words, you'd move on. This week we share 4 ways you can use today to learn how to read people's body language, because the moments clients don't put into words are often the ones that matter most.

## 𝗪𝗵𝘆 T𝗵𝗶𝘀 M𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 F𝗼𝗿 You

Clients can feel stressed, embarrassed or out of their depth. Many won't tell you straight away that they can't afford the next step. That they're scared of going to court, or that there's a detail they've left out. Their body often gives you the first hint. Spot it, and you get the chance to ask the question that brings the real issue out. Miss it, and you risk giving advice that's technically right but doesn't fit what the client actually needs.

It's also part of the exam. In the SQE 2 [client interview](https://sqe.sra.org.uk/assessments/sqe2-assessments/sqe2-specification/sqe2-assessments?ref=pradipkhakhar.com), an assessor plays the client and marks your skills over a 25 minute interview. The SRA's published [performance indicators](https://sqe.sra.org.uk/docs/default-source/pdfs/sqe2-sample-questions/int-performance-indicators.pdf?sfvrsn=69961d98%5F2&ref=pradipkhakhar.com) refer to body language twice: attentive listening can show through "facial expressions/body language/tone of voice", and a candidate can lose marks for appearing disinterested in the same way. So the assessor is reading you while you read them.

## 𝗔 R𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 C𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 B𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 Y𝗼𝘂 S𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁

Body language is not a lie detector. A major review by [Bond and DePaulo](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003%5F2?ref=pradipkhakhar.com) pooled 206 documents covering 24,483 people judging whether someone was lying. Average accuracy was 54%, barely better than a coin toss. Another review led by [Lisa Feldman Barrett](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1529100619832930?ref=pradipkhakhar.com) found that the way people show emotions on their faces varies a lot across cultures, situations and individuals.

So treat what you see as a prompt to ask a better question, never as proof of what someone is thinking. That's where judgement comes in.

## 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 W𝗮𝘆𝘀 T𝗼 B𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 T𝗵𝗲 S𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹

1. **Learn the person's normal first**  
Everyone has their own resting habits. Some people fidget constantly, avoid eye contact or fold their arms because that's just how they sit. Use the first few minutes of any conversation to notice how this person looks and sounds when they're relaxed. What you're really looking for is a change from that baseline.  
Try this: in your next catch up with a friend or colleague, spend the opening minutes quietly noting their usual posture, pace and gestures. Then watch for the moment something shifts.
2. **Link changes to the topic, not to a single gesture**  
Crossed arms might mean discomfort. They might also mean the room is cold. One signal on its own tells you very little. A few changes arriving together, right as a particular subject comes up, tells you a lot more.  
Try this: after a conversation, write one line in the style of an attendance note: "When we discussed X, the client Y." It trains you to connect what you saw with what was being said.
3. **Listen as closely as you look**  
Your ears may be the better tool. In a set of five experiments with 1,772 participants, psychologist [Michael Kraus](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29016168/?ref=pradipkhakhar.com) found people read others' emotions more accurately from voice alone than from sight alone or from seeing and hearing together. Pace, pauses, hesitation and pitch carry a lot, and plenty of client contact happens by phone.  
Try this: on your next phone call, notice when the other person slows down, goes quiet or changes pitch, and what topic triggered it.
4. **Give them permission**  
Reading a signal is only useful if you do something with it. Turn what you noticed into an open, non judgemental question: "I noticed you went a bit quiet when we talked about the timescale. How are you feeling about that?" You're not accusing anyone of anything. You're giving them permission to tell you more.  
Try this: run a mock client interview with a study partner and record it on your phone. Watch it back twice, once for their signals and once for your own. Are you nodding, looking up from your notes, leaning in? The assessor will notice.

## 𝗧𝗵𝗲 T𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆

Reading people is a skill you build through practice, just like drafting or legal research. Start small this week. Pick one of the four exercises above and do it in a real conversation. 

If you want to go deeper, the [Science of People](https://www.scienceofpeople.com/how-to-read-people/?ref=pradipkhakhar.com) guide to reading people is a useful starting point, and it links to much of the underlying research.

## 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 T𝗵𝗲 D𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

The Law Society's Junior Solicitor Summit takes place on Friday 23 October 2026 at the Law Society's Hall, 113 Chancery Lane, London, from 9:30am to 5:20pm. It's aimed at junior solicitors up to six years PQE, but trainees, SQE candidates and apprentices are all welcome. Sessions cover AI and tech, wellbeing, business development and the future skillset of the junior solicitor, with plenty of time to network. Tickets are £49 for Law Society members and £200 standard (both ex VAT), and the Law Society says discounts are available for aspiring solicitors if you contact them. Registration closes at 11.59pm on Friday 16 October, or sooner if it sells out. Details and booking, [here](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/events/products/junior-solicitor-summit-2026?ref=pradipkhakhar.com). I attended last year, read my [recap](https://www.pradipkhakhar.com/junior-solicitor-summit-2025/).