The Secret Signals of Cigarettes, Glasses and Make-upbody signals that may give them away, other players like to be
actors and use misleading body language to lull the other
players into a false sense of security. If, for example, a poker
player was dealt four of a kind and he wanted to bluff the
other players, he could throw the cards face down on the table
in disgust, curse, cross his arms and put on a non-verbal
display indicating he'd been dealt a poor hand. But then he
quietly sits back and draws on his cigarette and blows the
smoke upwards. And then he Steeples. It would be unwise for
the other players to now bet on the next hand, as they would
probably be beaten. Observation of smoking gestures in
selling situations shows that when smokers are asked to buy,
those who have already reached a positive decision blow the
smoke upwards, whereas those who have decided not to buy,
blow downwards.
The original study of smokers we carried out in 1978
showed that smokers took significantly longer to reach a deci-
sion in a negotiation than non-smokers and that the smoking
ritual is performed most often during the tense moments of
the negotiations. Smokers, it seems, are able to stall decision-
making by diverting their attention to the smoking process. So
if you want quicker decisions from smokers, negotiate in a
room that displays a large 'No Smoking' sign.Cigar Smokers
Cigars have always been used as a means of displaying superi-
ority because of their cost and size. The big-time business
executive, the gang leader and those in high-status positions
are often portrayed as smoking cigars. Cigars are used to cele-
brate a victory or achievement such as the birth of a baby, a
wedding, clinching a business deal or winning the lottery. It is
not surprising that most of the smoke exhaled by cigar
smokers is blown upwards. At a celebration dinner where
cigars were distributed freely we noted that of 400 recorded
cigar smoke exhalations, 320 were in an upward direction.