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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

his undivided attention. To show that she intends to continue,<br />

the speaker needs to keep her hands up and to<br />

ensure that the listener doesn't get his hands up and<br />

thereby lay claim to her role. When I first visited Italy I was<br />

struck by how <strong>of</strong>ten people would touch each other while<br />

they were talking. When two people were talking and I<br />

saw the speaker touch the listener on the arm I assumed<br />

that she was being affectionate. What I failed to notice at<br />

first was that these are 'controlling touches'. <strong>The</strong>y're not<br />

intended to reassure the listener - they're designed to hold<br />

the floor by making sure that the listener can't get his<br />

hands up!<br />

When Italians want to relinquish the speaker role, they<br />

simply lower their hands. This shows that they no longer<br />

wish to continue talking. <strong>The</strong> other termination signal that<br />

speakers use is to shrug their shoulders, which is very<br />

similar in meaning to such expressions as 'I don't know'<br />

that speakers elsewhere sometimes use to relinquish the<br />

floor. Listeners who want to take the floor can do so either<br />

by interrupting the speaker or by grabbing the speaker's<br />

arm, pulling it down, and getting their own gesticulating<br />

hands into the air. <strong>The</strong> listener who wants to signal that he<br />

has no desire to take over the speaker's role can do so by<br />

keeping his arms folded or by placing his hands behind his<br />

back. This serves as an 'unintention display' - it shows that<br />

the listener is not in a position to start talking. After all,<br />

how could he if his hands are hidden?<br />

Hand <strong>Tells</strong><br />

Someone's nationality can <strong>of</strong>ten be identified at a<br />

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