The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
a way that minimizes the opportunities for listeners to start
talking. Speakers who hold strong opinions use a range of
'attempt-suppressing' strategies to prevent listeners taking
over from them. One of Margaret Thatcher's favourite
emphatic gestures is the 'eye-flash', which she uses to
emphasize what she's saying and to demonstrate that she's
somebody to be reckoned with. 11 Mick Jagger also uses the
eye-flash gesture to underline what he's saying.
When speakers are interrupted, there are several things
they can do to hold or retrieve the floor. Talking louder is
one option. Another strategy is to use what Albert Scheflen
called a 'transfix'. 12 If you watch people in conversation
you'll notice that when speakers are interrupted they
sometimes continue to hold the posture they were in when
they were interrupted. A speaker who had his hand raised
at the time will freeze it in mid-air, just as if he were playing
a game of 'statues', and will continue to hold that
position until he can regain the floor. By keeping his hand
in this fixed position, he shows that he has not completed
his turn and that he intends to stay that way until the
speaking role returns to him. When he realizes that he's
not going to get the turn back immediately, he's likely to
lower his hand. In that way he can signal that he's
abandoning his claim to the speaker role.
Alternatively, speakers can hold the floor by relegating
the other person to the listener role and making sure they
stay there. We have already seen that one of the things that
listeners do spontaneously is produce back-channel. This
can take the form of supportive nods, 'uh-huhs' and
various remarks that are intended to encourage the
speaker while demonstrating that the listener has no desire
to take over the role. People who like to hold on to the
114