We spend a lot of time perfecting our words, whether we're crafting the perfect DM, fine tuning a work email, or rehearsing how to ask for the WiFi password at the cafe without sounding too desperate.

Learn how to read and use body language to improve communication, confidence and connection at work, with the latest online course from CNBC Make It.

Here is a crash course in improving your ability to read and use body language: 1. Realize that Body Language is Not a “Language.” In other words, there is no dictionary for nonverbal communication.

Why do we bother with the hard and imprecise work of trying to understand body language? After all, we’re already experts at it, more or less, with our unconscious minds, and those unconscious minds ...