The Etiquette Edge, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 4

Are Your Nonverbal Messages Telling on You?

You’re in the middle of one of the most important presentations of your life. You have done extensive research to be sure you project confidence and authority. Your computer-generated slides are flawless. You’re impeccably dressed. The information is simply rolling off your tongue. Things are going very well.

Then, as your eyes scan the room, they come to rest on the most important person in the audience—the decision-maker. His eyes are on the conference table. His fingers play aimlessly with a pen. He is swiveling back and forth in the chair. He stops playing with the pen long enough to pick some invisible lint off his sleeve.

You feel your mouth go dry and a cold sweat break out on your ...