Persuade

7 The ‘chameleon effect’ and how to use body language to your advantage

Whenever I speak at conferences, the delegates tend to fall into three categories. Those in a trance, those in a deep sleep, and those who are fully comatose.

Only kidding again. No, really, I am.

The truth is, there are those who sit up nice and straight, obviously eager to maximize their learning. Always bright and alert, I call them the sheep dogs. After those come the ones who are slightly sceptical about learning anything useful, but are nonetheless willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Often they lean backwards in their chair, surveying the room in the manner of a guard dog, just waiting for the occasional tasty tit-bit to be tossed their way. And then there ...