You’ve already read about a few situations that can be heavily impacted by body language. There are plenty of everyday situations where you’ll find it helpful to know a thing or two about what someone’s body is saying while she is talking, including:

• First (and last) dates

• Job interviews

• Meetings with clients

• Interactions with salespeople

• Dealings with children

• Traveling abroad

• Watching a politician speak

In each of these situations, you need to know how to interpret the other person’s nonverbal cues in order to understand what she’s saying, but your part doesn’t end there. In order to send your own message successfully, you need to get a handle on your own body language. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place. Not only does this book give you advice for reading and sending nonverbal messages, it reminds you—again and again—about putting those cues into an appropriate context so that you don’t misread others’ intentions.

You might be wondering how many body language cues there are and how you’ll ever keep them straight. The best place to begin is by studying yourself. Once you learn to recognize your own nonverbal behaviors, it’s much easier to evaluate someone else’s.