160 I Can Read You Like a Book E
one can only wonder where they come from. I have tremendous
amounts of energy and that energy needs to go somewhere. As a
child I flitted about and was highly energetic, bordering on what
would now be called hyperactive. A well-placed paddle across the
rear end a few times in the second grade taught me to keep my butt
on the seat. With time, I realized most men do not flit about. I also
realized I could turn that tremendous energy into mental energy to
observe people and learn. The energy still leaks from my mouth
though, and I often talk much more than an average American man.
When I am agitated and not speaking, I start to move my hands
or feet, and I look as though I am ready to jump into the conversation.
In fact, I may interject words. This is a learned part of co-instructing;
it means I think my opinion has value at that moment and I some-
times interject in ways that are not normal for most people. This is a
cultural norm of teaching. My energy leaks significantly if I am in a
room where this is not acceptable. Does my energy look similar to
that of a Latino man who is agitated? No. It is much more contained,
but if you look closely, you can still see the child that became me.
In reading overall movement, look for energy that is contained
and leaking from somewhere else. The scene in The Bird Cage in
which Robin Williams tries to contain his flamboyant partner’s
(Nathan Lane) behavior by putting him in a suit and teaching him to
“walk like a man” provides an extreme example of that.
Application
I could have started this book with the holistic chapter, but that
would have skewed your vision of the smaller, more subtle signals
