If a guy recently shook his head at you and smiled, this post will show you likely reasons why and what would make each of them more likely.

So, what does it mean when a guy shakes his head at you and smiles? A guy shaking his head at you and smiling can mean that he is attracted to you especially if he only does it to you, he also changes his behavior when he sees you and if she shows other signs of attraction. It could also be that he was pleased to see you, he might have been letting you know that he saw you or he might have found something funny.

There are actually a number of possible reasons why a guy might do it but there are some things you can consider to help figure out the main cause.

What does it mean when a guy shakes his head at you and smiles?

Below are likely causes and what would make each of them more likely to be the main reason.

Attraction

It could be the case that he did it because he was attracted to you. This would be more likely if he only seems to do it with you, he only seems to be nervous around you, he shows the most interest in you and he behaves differently with you than he does with other people.

If this is the case, it is likely that he would also show other signs of being attracted to you.

When talking to you it is likely that he would have slightly more dilated pupils than normal and that he wouldn’t squint. He would also likely be asking you more questions than to other people and that he would be talking to you in a way that allows for the conversation to keep going. When talking to you he would likely stand at a closer distance than he normally does with his friends.

He might also mirror your own body language. This means that if you touch him then he would touch you back, he might stand with a similar stance to you, he might use similar hand gestures to you and he might smile in a similar way to you.

When men are talking to a woman that they find attractive, they will often talk with a deeper voice. This is because it highlights that they have an abundance of testosterone. It’s also been found that they will occasionally talk at a higher pitch as well. This is likely to be because it signals that they are not a threat or due to nervousness.

This means that if he tends to talk to you with a deeper voice than he does to his friends and if he occasionally speaks at a higher pitch, it would suggest that he is attracted to you.

You might also find that he tends to hold his gaze with you for longer than is normal and that he glances in your direction a lot when he isn’t in front of you. If you catch him looking at you, he might quickly look away or he might smile at you.

Additionally, it would be likely that he would point his feet in your direction when he is talking to you and when you’re not directly in front of him. This is because people point their feet in the direction that they would like to go and towards people that they like.

He’s glad to see you

It could also be the case that he did it because he was glad to see you as a friend.

It could be difficult to differentiate between whether he did it due to being attracted to you or because he was glad to see you since many of the body language signals would be similar.

For example, if he was glad to see you, he might also:

  • Point his feet towards you
  • Mirror your body language
  • Have dilated pupils
  • Talk to you in a way that continues the conversation
  • Not squint at you

However, it is less likely that he would do these things:

  • Hold his gaze with you for longer than normal
  • Glance in your direction a lot when he’s not talking to you (although friends do still do this sometimes)
  • Speak with a deeper voice than normal
  • Talk to you more than his other friends
  • Stand closer to you than with other friends

It would also be likely that he would interact with you in a similar way to how he interacts with his other friends.

He was letting you know he saw you

It might also be the case that he was doing it to let you know that he saw you.

If this was the case, he would have likely done it as soon as you both looked at each other. It also would likely have been in a situation where it was not so easy for you to speak to each other such as if you were in a meeting together.

In this case, it would be likely that he also does this with his other friends as well.

He found something funny

If he did it right after you said a joke, it would simply suggest that he found it funny.

If he did it right after someone else said a joke and he looked at you, nodded and smiled then it would suggest that he likes you and that he’s attracted to you. This is because people look at people that they like when laughing to see if they also found it funny.

He was nervous

Sometimes people will do things such as avoid eye contact because they are nervous. The reason why he shook his head at you and smiled could also be that he was nervous. This would be more likely if he did it in a way that avoided eye contact and he looked downwards. It would also be more likely if he was showing other signs of being nervous such as speaking at a high pitch, fidgeting and rubbing his arms a lot.

Consider when he did it

To help figure out why he did it, it would help to consider the timing of when he did it.

If he did it as soon as he saw you, it could mean that he finds you attractive, he likes you as a friend or that he was saying hello. In this, case it would be necessary to observe what he did next and to observe other aspects of his body language in order to make sense of the reason.

Whereas if he did it right after you said something, he would likely have been showing his reaction to what you said which, in this case, is likely to have been surprised.

Consider his normal behavior

When trying to figure out what a person’s body language might be suggesting it is important to consider what their normal behavior looks like.

If, when he smiled at you and nodded, he was also showing aspects of his body language that are different to normal it would suggest that there was a more emotional reason for the nod and smile.

In that case, it would be important to consider what aspects of his body language were different and to think about what type of behavior they would usually be associated with.

If he usually does it then it wouldn’t mean much unless he was also showing aspects of his body language that was different.

Think about the location

The location that he shook his head at you and smiled in would also be of use.

If he did it in a classroom or a meeting where it was difficult for him to talk to you then it could just be that he was letting you know that he saw you.

Whereas, if it was in a more social environment where he was able to talk to you easily it would be more likely that he was pleased to see you or that he was attracted to you.

Consider his other body language signals

When trying to figure out what body language signals mean it is important to consider more than one signal at a time.

If he was only showing one signal that he was attracted to you then it wouldn’t be a good idea to base your conclusions on that since people might do single things for a variety of reasons.

Think about your relationship with him

It would also help to consider what your relationship with him is like.

If you are both good friends then he may or may not have done it due to attraction and it will be necessary for you to see a few more signals of friendship or attraction to figure that out.

Whereas if it was a guy that you have never met before then it would be a stronger indicator that he was attracted to you.

If you want to learn more about body language, a book I would recommend would be The Definitive Book of Body Language (on Amazon). It shows you how to interpret body language and understand people's true intentions.

Author

I created and currently manage Body Language Central, one of the premier sources for body language-related knowledge. Body language plays a key role in our daily lives. I hope that my website can help condense the wide amount of body language information available and allow you to make full use of it in your daily life. You can read more about me and my website here.