In NLP, the term used for eye-related body language is eye accessing cues. Have you ever noticed how people’s eyes tend to move around while they’re speaking?
There are many interpretations of what different eye movements might mean. Cultural norms vary—some cultures consider maintaining direct eye contact disrespectful, while others view avoiding eye contact as suspicious or untruthful.
Eye Movements and Their Meanings
Research indicates that eye movements are linked to different types of thinking and sensory processing, connected to how our brains access information.
Visual Processing
For most individuals, looking upward and to the right usually suggests they are constructing or imagining a new visual image. Looking upward and to the left tends to indicate recalling a visual memory. Sometimes, people look straight ahead with a softened, unfocused gaze, which can suggest visual processing in a more diffuse way.
Auditory Processing
When recalling sounds, people often glance directly to the left. Constructed sounds, like imagining a new sound, tend to be accessed by looking to the right. Often, this is accompanied by a slight head tilt, resembling someone listening intently or talking on the phone.
Kinesthetic Processing
Looking down and to the right is commonly associated with accessing emotions or bodily feelings. You might hear phrases like “he looked down right depressed” to describe this.
Internal Dialogue
Looking down and to the left often corresponds to talking to oneself internally. This is sometimes linked to negative self-talk or feeling stuck in unhelpful thought cycles.
How to Observe Eye Accessing Cues
Eye accessing cues usually occur very quickly as a sequence of brief glances rather than prolonged eye positions. Watching interviews on TV can be a helpful way to become familiar with these subtle patterns.
Does This Apply to Everyone?
Most people follow these general patterns, called being “normally wired” in NLP. However, some individuals—often left-handed people—may exhibit reversed patterns. For example, they might look up to the left when constructing images, instead of up to the right. This means you cannot reliably conclude that someone is lying just because their eyes move in a certain direction.
To understand how a person processes information, you can ask questions designed to engage different sensory modes, such as: “What color is your house?” to prompt visual recall or “What does your dog sound like?” for auditory memory.
Generally, upward eye movements relate to visual imagery, side-to-side movements connect to sounds, and downward movements involve internal dialogue or feelings.
Practical Uses of Eye Body Language
Knowing about eye accessing cues can help you better understand others’ thought processes. It can also aid your own thinking—if you want to create mental images, consciously look upward to your usual visualizing spot. To tune into your feelings, try looking down and to the right. If you find yourself trapped in negative self-talk when looking down to the left, deliberately shift your gaze elsewhere.
Many of us develop habitual eye movement patterns linked to our thinking. Moving your eyes smoothly around in a circular motion might reveal “stuck” spots—these could indicate hidden resources or creative potential.
