Exercise: Understanding Frame and Stance

Observe your everyday use of Frame and Stance. What is your default pattern of Stance? Narrow? Wide? Or a balanced Basic Stance? You most likely select your Stance patterns by what feels comfortable or automatic. It’s easy to fall into a default pattern if you aren’t approaching Stance as a tool. But when we do that, we get the default result.

Think about the times when you adjust your stance for a particular activity or action. For example,

You need to lift something heavy;

You prepare to use a knife or power tool;

You need to catch your balance on a moving train.

Think about those times when you might naturally adjust your Stance and Frame while interacting with others.  For example,

You are the focus of attention in a group 

Someone stops you and asks for directions

You are meeting someone for the first time

You want to be unnoticed in a crowd

You may not have been aware of your Frame and Stance patterns. Your personality, the circumstances, social and organizational conventions, or how you are feeling may all be influencing factors that manifest patterns of Frame and Stance. 

When are you deliberately directing your body as a component of communication?  For example, widening Stance and straightening your Frame to draw attention or to come to attention, narrowing your Stance and pulling in shoulders and arms to manage nerves or appear humble or approachable.  

Observing is the first step in understanding how all of these factors contribute to your ability to strategically employ Frame and Stance as a communication tool.