The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
Transition Tells
Most greetings consist of three phases - a 'recognition
phase', where the participants notice each other and
signal their mutual recognition, an 'approach phase',
where they move towards each other, and a 'meeting
phase', where they shake hands, embrace, or whatever. 1
When a large distance separates people to begin with, and
there are others around, it can take quite a while for them
to get through all these phases. On the other hand, when
they start off close to each other, there's a tendency for the
approach phase to disappear and for the other phases to
be compressed into one.
The way that people behave during each phase can be
very revealing. In western society, the recognition phase
can take several forms, depending on how well the
participants know each other and the level of intimacy
they are trying to achieve. Basically there are two clusters
of distance signals. One consists of 'polite' signals, like
raising the eyebrows, smiling with the lips together, presenting
the palm of the hand, and nodding or dipping the
head. The other cluster consists of 'enthusiastic' signals,
like waving one or both arms, open-mouthed smiles,
laughter, and loud calls to the other person. In order to
underline their feelings of exhilaration, people often
widen their eyes and drop their jaw, simulating the facial
expression of surprise. As a rule, people who are
acquainted tend to exchange polite recognition signals,
whereas people who know each other well are more likely
to exchange enthusiastic recognition signals, especially
when they haven't seen each other for some time.
However, because recognition signals imply equality,
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