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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

talkative and influential when they go on to work together<br />

in a group. 29 In a business firm, if the boss and a subordinate<br />

happen to look at each other at the same time, it's<br />

usually the subordinate who breaks <strong>of</strong>f first. Veiled<br />

challenges to the boss can, however, be delivered through<br />

the eyes. For example, instead <strong>of</strong> openly disagreeing<br />

with the boss, a subordinate can simply engage him in a<br />

subtle bout <strong>of</strong> 'ocular arm-wrestling', holding his gaze for<br />

slightly longer than he would normally do. If carefully<br />

timed, this can have the desired effect, without appearing<br />

to be disrespectful.<br />

In conversations between people <strong>of</strong> unequal status,<br />

dominant individuals usually show 'visual dominance' -<br />

that is, they spend proportionately more time looking at<br />

the other person while they are talking than they do while<br />

they are listening. 30 <strong>The</strong>re are several reasons for this. First<br />

<strong>of</strong> all, because talking is a more controlling activity than<br />

listening, dominant individuals like to hang on to the<br />

speaker role. To do this they watch the other person<br />

closely, making sure that they're listening and that they're<br />

not about to try and take over. <strong>The</strong> opposite happens when<br />

dominant people find themselves in the listening role.<br />

Now, by reducing the amount <strong>of</strong> time they spend looking,<br />

they can show that they're not prepared to flatter the other<br />

person and that they don't expect to remain in the listening<br />

role for much longer.<br />

Subordinate people, on the other hand, spend proportionately<br />

more time looking while listening than<br />

looking while talking. By being more attentive in the<br />

listening role they manage to reinforce the dominant<br />

person's feelings <strong>of</strong> self-importance, which may <strong>of</strong> course<br />

only encourage the dominant person to talk even more.<br />

68

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