The classic position
showing readiness for
actionThe 13 Most Common Gestures You'll See DailyIf you are a woman and a man does this, continue the conver-
sation standing up. This forces the Catapulter to change
position so he can continue the conversation. When he stops
the Catapult, sit down again. If he catapults again, stand up.
This is a non-aggressive way of training others not to try to
intimidate you. On the other hand, if the person using the Cat-
apult is your superior and is reprimanding you, you will
intimidate him by copying this gesture. For example, two
equals will use the Catapult in each other's presence to show
equality and agreement, but if a mischievous schoolboy did it,
it would infuriate the school principal.
In one insurance company, we found that 27 out of 30 male
sales managers used the Catapult regularly around their sales-
people or subordinates but rarely in the presence of their
superiors. When they were with their superiors, however, the
same managers were more likely to use submissive and subor-
dinate gesture clusters.
Gestures That Show When a Person is ReadyOne of the most valuable gestures a negotiator can learn to
recognise is seated readiness. When you are presenting a pro-
posal, for example, if the other person were to take this
gesture at the end of the presentation, and the interview had
gone well up to that point, you could ask for agreement and
would be likely to get it.