Reg at Elemental Truths (a blog worth adding to your daily RSS feed) has posted a great piece on strategically reading a room. His ideas are life hacks in their purest: how to change the way you navigate life to your advantage. He lists ten areas where “reading” a person come into play:
- Body movements indicating interest.
- Body movements indicating that a person is more open to agree with you.
- How to know if a person is thinking.
- Body movements indicating frustration or dismay.
- How action-oriented people act or move. These may be the easiest type to misinterpret.
- How to know if a person is keeping a secret.
- Body movements indicating boredom.
- Signals conveying excitement.
- How confident people act or move.
- Signals exhibiting authority or power>
Some of the observations Reg points out might cause you to dispute or disagree. For instance, the “keeping a secret” tell of weird humor wouldn’t work for me. I use weird humor when I’m uncomfortable or afraid, not lying. Reg also points out this is a western-centric observation set (which is useful, as we all have different ways to the finish line). But there is plenty of value to check out here.
Strategically Reading a Room – [Elemental Truths]
