The Ultimate Body Language Book

He’s already a bit taller than me and he knows that while seated he looses his advantage making it even
more important to claim the higher chair lest he lose his height advantage. My computer chair allows
one to raise and lower it, so as fast as it can be adjusted it’s at its peek, allowing him to look down on
me. These games are all in good fun of course, as we both understand the implications. However, while
we play these games in fun, others might not, they may use them to intimidate or gain power over you
and if you are interested, you over them.
To level the playing field it is important to limit the presence of chairs that can be raised or lowered just
in case you don’t arrive early enough to gain access to them. Chairs that swivel also hold more power
because they can face in infinite directions. The most punishing chairs, which are used by interrogators
are those that are fixed to the floor, usually placed in the center of a room away from any shelter. When
the idea is to gain quick authority, job interviewers can also employ this tactic. Because you can’t
swivel, you must adjust your entire body position to orient yourself toward anything of interest. Should
someone enter the room, you’ll either be forced to keep your back to them or will have to lean to one
side to look. Regardless, you are at a disadvantage. Chairs that also give more power are those with
higher backs. Kings and queens sit in tall chairs because they understood the powers it gave them. The
peasants were lucky to get a chair at all, and a stool is was plenty for the layman. Think about what
types of chairs are present at fast food places and their effect on us. Usually they will be rock hard and
prevent us getting comfortable by leaning back with their metal backs designed specifically to reduce
our stay. What effect would this type of seating have on a competitor in business or an in-law we
wished to enjoy only a brief visit?
To disarm or punish people, use soft seating such as a sofa that when pressure is added practically
envelopes your opponent. This reduces their ability to use gestures in communication and to move
about the room because getting up from a sunken position is more difficult than an upright on. Also
make sure this chair is lower than normal helping you establish dominance, and if it has arms, even
better, as this too will limit their movement.
Chapter 15 – Seating Arrangements
How To Be Forgotten – The “Center-Stage
Effect”
In a study conducted by the University of California Berkeley in 2006 that examined seating position, it
was found that when seated in the middle of lecture halls, those in the middle tended to be overlooked.
This would seem counterintuitive, but was replicated several times and in several different ways.
This “center-stage” effect was shown through observation of the game show “The Weakest Link” since
they tended to be ignored more often than outlier players. If you aren’t familiar with the game, it
involved a series of questions across several competitors but with only one winner. Each contestant is
to answer a question in sequence associated with an ever increasing sum of money until the money is
“banked” or kept, at which point the value amount is reset, but the round continues. At the end of each
round the contestants vote on whom they’d like to eliminate. In the observations by the researchers,
they found that despite the contestants being randomly assigned more winners came from the center of
the stage rather than outliers. The center was often ignored as a pool from which people were “voted
off.” This seems counterintuitive to most, as our common sense would tell us that the outliers should be
less subject to attention.
When the experiment brought the game to the lab, the researchers found that observers often