214 I Can Read You Like a Book D
The reason a person akin to this survives is that most people are
intimidated by his “knowledge” and the rest follow another well-
known adage, “Never argue with an idiot; he will beat you down to
his level and win with experience.”
Again, the permutations are tremendous. The thing they all have
in common is a ploy to distract your mind from the obvious things a
toddler would see, and to bring you around to his way of thinking.
Build your own list of ploys. Here’s one to start with: The Ringmaster:
“I am so busy that....”
I want you to put your new categories to work by examining
strategies of the rich and famous, and noticing when they fail as
well as when they succeed. Elections, news, and red-carpet events
will now have a new dimension for you. Instead of wondering why
you feel distrust or disgust about a politician, you have the eye to
spot verbal and non-verbal warning signs. And are the stars you
love to love and love to hate really deserving of all that emotion?
US Weekly asked me to analyze Jennifer Aniston’s body lan-
guage during the flurry of interviews that followed the intergalactic
publicity over her breakup with Brad Pitt. In observing her ges-
tures, I concluded that she was too honest to hide her true feelings
completely, regardless of what she said; it was refreshing. Sud-
denly a star I knew nothing about (I’m one of the 19 people who
never watched Friends) differentiated herself from the other
celebrities I’d been asked to critique because the role she played in
interviews was herself. She came across as someone who would
make a good friend. For real.
