The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Definitive Book of Body Language

with his arms and legs tightly crossed and chin down and it

was a cold winter's day, it would most likely mean that he was

cold, not defensive. If, however, the person used the same ges-

tures while you were sitting across a table from him trying to

sell him an idea, product or service, it could be correctly inter-

preted as meaning that the person was feeling negative or

rejecting your offer.

Cold, not defensive

Throughout this book all body language gestures will be con-

sidered in context and, where possible, gesture clusters will be

examined.

Why It Can be Easy to Misread

Someone who has a soft or limp handshake — especially a man
— is likely to be accused of having a weak character and the next
chapter on handshake techniques will explore the reason behind
this. But if someone has arthritis in their hands it is likely that