126 I Can Read You Like a Book
gestures or icons have become ubiquitous and super-cultural: the
name Coca-Cola , the word “okay,” and the thumbs-up gesture.
Other very specific gesturing can result from a group’s evolu-
tion, and this occurred to me as I attended a horse auction. Most
new people are almost wooden the first few times they go to an
auction such as this. They are afraid of signaling. A good auction-
eer knows the itchy nose scratch from the bid nose scratch, though.
They see the intensity of the gaze and contact made between the
auctioneer and bidder.
In becoming a skilled practitioner of reading body language,
you need to become the auctioneer. This means looking for the
other pieces of body language when you see what looks like a
gesture. Is there focus of energy? Does the person have eye
contact? What does the rest of the body say? No single gesture or
flinch can tell you something when it stands alone, unless it is a
piece of symbolic language, such as the middle finger. Even when
you see such a symbol, you must be like the auctioneer and say to
yourself, “Does this person look like a seasoned auction attendee,
or just someone here for a weekend of entertainment?”