Chapter 17
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
WHERE TO SIT, AND WHY
'Just feel at home and tell me all about it!'Where you sit in relation to other people is an effective way of
obtaining co-operation from them. Aspects of their attitude
towards you can also be revealed in the seating position they
take relative to you.
We conducted surveys with seminar delegates during the
1970s, 1980s and 1990s to determine which positions at a table
they felt gave the best result for communicating specific atti-
tudes. We did this by delegate involvement at seminars and by
using survey questionnaires from our database. The first
major study in seating positions was conducted by psycholo-
gist Robert Sommer from the University of California, who
analysed a cross-section of students and children in public and
social situations such as bars and restaurants. We applied
Sommer's findings to seating positions in business and negoti-
ation situations. While there are marginal differences between
cultures and the relationships between people, we have sum-
marised here the seating positions you will encounter most of
the time in most situations.
In his book Non-Verbal Communication in Human Interac-