The Ultimate Body Language Book

Conversely, the arms and body can become stiff and rigid as they prepare to defend whereas others will
visibly start shaking. As a last resort, aggressive individuals may begin expressing the same thoughts
over and over again to assert their position in effort to have their opponent back down. Under more
extreme cases, people fall back into more primitive displays of aggression such as banging fists against
a table, slamming doors, and even throwing objects. Figuratively, the message being advertised is that
the table, the door being slammed, or the chair being thrown, will soon be you!
As the person nears aggression they will begin to invade your personal space, sometimes even ‘headto-head’
and issue verbal challenges and might burst into nervous laughter even though nothing funny
has been said. The solution to aggression is to always back away and give the person as much space as
possible while showing defensive postures. Nearly all individuals will cease aggressive behaviour
given the proper cues and switches, while other times, the only avoidance to physical combat is the
flight response. In other words, run!