Lisa Dale: Tips For Reading People

Hi all!

I’m back from my honeymoon. My DH and I went to California—Napa and San Fran, then to Monterey and Yosemite. Soon, I’ll be posting some pictures on my personal blog.

But in the meantime, I’m finishing up the last of my edits for my book that’s coming out in January, called A Promise of Safekeeping. It’s about a woman who reads people—you know, like on the show Lie to Me.

Lauren, the heroine, is a body language expert who has become quite well-known when the book opens. A case she’d tried when she was a very young lawyer has come back to haunt her. A man that she’d helped put in prison for nine years is found to be innocent. Now, Lauren must make amends.

I’ve had to do a lot of research about body language for this book. And I’ve found out some really fun, surprising things. Even though the book is just about done, I’m still reading about body language—just because it’s fascinating (and because, as a writer, it helps to make any story stronger when you really grasp the nuances of nonverbal communication).

Here are a few tidbits from a book called What Every Body Is Saying, by Joe Navarro.

• Think that the eyes are the window to the soul? Navarro says: Wrong. It’s the feet. Yep—the feet are the window to the soul. He says people can be quite conscious of controlling their expressions, their arms, their torsos—but that leaves the feet and legs to their own devices. Interesting, right?
• Jurors at a trial will apparently turn their feet toward the nearest exit if they are responding negatively to a witness. It’s a vestige of our flight instinct—preparation to get away.
• All people have pacifying behaviors when they’re stressed. Women will tend to cover suprasternal notch (that little dimple at the base of the neck) by either touching it or playing with a necklace. Men may stroke the area above their Adam’s apple—a gesture that apparently reduces blood pressure and heart rate.

Neat, huh?

Yes—I know I’m a nerd.

I’ve also been learning a bit about human courtship—and discovered some pretty peculiar stuff! But I’m not going to include any of that here (or in A Promise of Safekeeping) because, let’s face it: Sex becomes kinda unsexy when looked at in a clinical light.

And now it’s back to work on my last little revisions!

Happy (people) reading!

Lisa Dale