Ownership, Territory and Height Signalswhat he had to say. He discovered that when he gave a sales
presentation in a seated position, not only did the atmosphere
become more conducive to good communication, the removal
of his physical threat also increased his bottom line sales by a
whopping 62%.How Body Lowering Can Sometimes Raise
StatusThere are some circumstances in which lowering your body
can be a dominance signal. This happens when you slouch
down and make yourself comfortable in an easy chair in
another person's home while the owner is standing. It's the
complete informality on the other person's territory that com-
municates the dominant or aggressive attitude.
A person will always be superior and protective on his own
territory, especially in his own home, and so practising sub-
missive gestures and behaviour is effective for getting the
person on side with you.How TV Politicians Can Win Votes
For over three decades, we have advised people who appear in
the public eye on how to be seen as credible and believable.
They have ranged from rock stars and politicians to weather
forecasters and Prime Ministers. On one occasion, two politi-
cal leaders were invited to give two television debates about
how they would run the country. One candidate - call him
candidate A - was 5 feet 9 inches (1.75m) and was seen by
voters as shorter due to his milder, quieter approach, while his
competitor - candidate B - was 6 feet 2 inches (1.9m) and per-
ceived by the electorate as even taller due to his assertive,
authoritative attitude. After the first TV debate, the shorter
candidate was seen as having lost badly to the taller one. Can-
didate A called us for advice and we suggested a number of