Reading people: how to understand people and predict their behavior– anytime, anyplace

Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, Mark C. Mazzarella9780345425874, 0345425871

America’s top jury consultant, Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, can literally read a person like a book. By decoding the hidden messages in appearance, tone of voice, facial expression, and personal habit, she has accurately predicted the behavior of jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and judges in some of the most celebrated trials of the past two decades. Now in this phenomenal new book, she applies the secrets of her extraordinary success to the everyday situations we all face at work, at home, and in relationships. How can you “hear between the lines” to detect a lie? When is intuition the best guide to making important decisions? What are the tell-tale signs of romantic attraction? How do other people “read” us? The answers lie closer than we might think. Hair style, clothing, grooming, hand gestures, the neatness of office or living room, the steadiness of the gaze, behavior around subordinates: all of these provide critical clues to a person’s integrity, work habits, and sexual interests. Through vivid anecdotes and proven techniques, Dimitrius teaches us how to interpret these signs with accuracy and precision. Whether your focus is friendship or marriage, career or family, romance or professional success, Reading People  gives you the skills you need to make sound, swift decisions and reap the benefits from a lifetime of razor-sharp insight.  

Amazon.com Review It’s true that politicians blink much more frequently when they’re lying, but what other behavior clues do people inadvertently give off? If you want to know if you’re being boondoggled, how to tell if your date is interested in a serious relationship, or if you should take that new job, Jo-Ellan Demitrius will help you figure it all out. She gives away the tricks of her trade–jury consulting–in this eye-opening handbook for predicting the behavior and revealing the thoughts of others. She’s consulted for more than 600 jury trials, including the O.J. Simpson, Rodney King, and John DuPont cases, as well as for Fortune 100 companies. If her name rings a bell, it may be because she’s been on Oprah, Larry King Live, and 60 Minutes, among other television shows.
Much more than a collection of tips on reading body language, her book is supremely organized, detailed, and thorough, with lists of physical characteristics, vocal patterns, office props, and conversational behaviors that reveal much more than you’d think. She instructs on how to analyze hundreds of details of everyday living, from the style of the picture frame on your boss’s desk to the odd way that an acquaintance swears up a storm, in order to uncover personality traits and predict future behavior.
Demitrius isn’t a hocus-pocus intuition hawker; she’s more of a scientist. “…over the past fifteen years,” she writes, “I have tested this method on more than ten thousand ‘research subjects.’ After predicting the behavior of thousands of jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and judges, I have been able to see whether my predictions came true….I did not always peg them correctly, especially in the earlier years. But by testing my perceptions over and over, I have verified which clues are generally reliable and which are not.” Her advice will prove valuable not just to lawyers but to businesspeople, parents, and anyone curious about their relationships. While the book is mostly aimed at deconstructing the behavior and characteristics of others, it’s also useful for job candidates and anyone concerned with projecting the appropriate image. — Erica Jorgensen