Evaluation
“When a student in a classroom becomes really absorbed in the problem at hand, he is likely to slip down on his shoulder blades, spread his feet, ruffle his hair and do any number of unconventional deeds. Let the spell be broken, and he sits up, rearranges his clothes and again becomes socially proper.”
— C. H. Woolbert, “The Audience
Some of the most misinterpreted gestures are what we call evaluation gestures — those dealing with pensiveness or thoughtfulness. Since much of our effectiveness in business and social life depends on communications, knowledge and appraisal of feedback information are vital for the individual who wants to know how well his message has been received. Very little research has been conducted on the evaluation process before the acceptance of an idea, product, or service. However, we have accumulated a considerable amount of data on gestures from the behavioral patterns of salesmen, teachers, nurses, executives, lawyers, and many others, indicating that there are actions thatdo communicate that persons are evaluating. For clarification, let us look at a classroom situation.
Mrs. Clark, who teaches math, is explaining an essential aspect of the subject. She notices that Fred is staring at her with unblinking eyes, his body taut and erect, his feet flat on the floor. She discerns no motion whatever from Fred. Do you think that Fred is listening to the lecture, evaluating what Mrs. Clark is saying? If you think heis interested, you are wrong. A young teacher unaccustomed to this posture might fall for it, but a more experienced educator would not. Fred has turned his teacher off and is using a cover-up technique to convince her that he is “all ears.”
Ignoring Fred’s trance, Mrs. Clark turns to Charles. He is sitting toward the edge of his chair, his body leaning forward, and his head, slightly tilted, is supported by one hand. Mrs. Clark would be correct in judging that Charles is interested.

22. Evaluation gestures
Hand-to-Cheek Gestures (Figure 22). Auguste Rodin, the great sculptor, showed deep insight into gestural language when he created “The Thinker.” Who would doubt that his sculpture is of a person thoroughly engrossed in working out a problem? Persons who strike poses similar to Rodin’s “Thinker,” with hand on cheek, are involved in some sort of meditation. Sometimes there is a slight blinking of the eyes. A youngster sitting on a staircase looking down at adults assumes this position, as do many, young and old, when sitting on a curb watching a parade.
This position of interest and attentiveness has been recognized by a friend who makes audio-visual presentations to his management team. When he stands in the back of the room he can estimate how well he is conducting a presentation by the number of executives who have one or both hands to their head and are leaning forward, as opposed to those sittingback in their chair with their legs crossed, arms folded, or bodies twisted away from the screen.
Sometimes a person assumes what we refer to as a “critical-evaluation cluster” (Figure 23). He brings a hand to his face, puts his chin in the palm, and extends his index finger along his cheek; the remaining fingers are positioned below the mouth. When these hand-to-cheek gestures are associated with the body drawn hack from the other individual, the thought patterns are critical, cynical, or in some other way
negative toward the person attempting to persuade.
When conducting our seminars, one of the first gestures we look for to determine how difficult the group might be are these types of hand-to-cheek poses. If we have, say, fifty executives in attendance, during the first fifteen minutes — especially during a nonverbal-communication presentation — at least thirty will be sitting in some kind of hand-to-face position. Of this number, approximately one-half will be very interested in what is being said and will lean forward slightly. The other half will take more of a wait-and-see attitude and will sit back, a bit skeptical of what is being said. The remaining twenty will be divided roughly among those sitting with their arms crossed (show me) and those sitting on the edge of the chair, elbows on thighs and hands hanging loose (“This is great! Let me play, coach”). Our job is to change evaluation into interest.

23. A critical evaluation
Head Tilted. Charles Darwin noticed early in his studies that animals as well as men tend to cock their heads slightly whenever they hear something that interests them. From a very early age, women instinctively understand the significance of this gesture: It gives the impression of listening intently. They use it consciously when conversing with a male whom they want to impress — and they do.
In our seminars, if most of the participants’ heads are not tilted we feel that the group as a whole has not become interested in our material. Once the speaker is aware of this gesture, he can relate to his audience in a more positive manner and can gauge how well his information is getting across. This can be especially helpful when the speaker wants to cover a great deal of material in a very short time. When an electrical circuit is overloaded a breaker opens so that the circuit does not take more energy than it can handle. Individuals sometimes behave in the same manner toward information-overloading. They gesture their indifference to additional data. The clusters change. Heads become erect rather than tilted, backs straighten up, then slouch. There are glances at the ceiling, at watches, at others, and finally some will start positioning their bodies so that they are pointing toward the exit. If the group has reached this stage, the speaker should understand that they are nonverbally signaling “Enough.”
24. The chin-stroking evaluation gesture
Stroking Chin (thinking/evaluating) (Figure 24). This “Well, let me consider” gesture, which seems to be worldwide, is made when people go through a decision-making process. Probably every Western movie has had a scene in which a bewhiskered frontier doctor stroked his chin and said, “I don’t know, Marshal, if that’s the best way to handle them Daltons.” In the musicalFiddler on the Roof, whenever Tevye is thinking over something important, he invariably strokes his beard. Darwin refers to meditation gestures and reports that various people throughout the world “sometimes pull on their beards.. . hands, usually the thumb and index finger, in contact with some part of the face, commonly the upper lip.” Henry Siddons’sRhetorical Gestures states, “This gesture signifies the wise man making a judgment.”
On stage, particularly in Shakespearean theater, an actor can be seen performing this action congruent with words thatcommunicate careful study or analysis. Watching a chess match, one can frequently observe this gesture in the player required to make the next move. After a decision is made, the stroking stops — and not merely because he has to use his hand. Many businessmen use this gesture, though some attempt to conceal it by making only a very slight stroking motion.
25. “What was that again”
A congruent facial expression with this gesture is a slight squinting of the eyes, as if trying to see an answer to the problem in the distance.
Gestures with Glasses. An evaluating gesture that causes a negative emotional reaction in others is the one of dropping eyeglasses onto the lower bridge of the nose and peering over them (Figure 25). The recipient of the stare feels that he is being closely scrutinized and looked down upon. Many executives who wear “granny” glasses for reading purposes are especially likely to elicit this reaction inadvertently from subordinates. We urge that if this happens to be one of your traits, be aware of the negative
aspects. Better yet, try not to do it for a while and see if you do not get a favorable reaction.
Next is what we call the procrastination, or pausing-for-thought gesture. A very common variety is very slowly and deliberately taking the glasses off and carefully cleaning the lenses, even though the glasses may not need it. Some performthis ritual as many as four or five times an hour. We have video-recorded the gesture many times in negotiation confrontations. In most instances the person wanted to delay or stall for time to think over his situation before either raising more opposition, asking for clarification, or posing a question.
A similar gesture to gain time is one in which the glasses are removed and the earpiece of the frame is put in the mouth (Figure 26). Since people cannot speak very well with objects in their mouth, they might do a better job of listening or avoid saying anything when they want to think about it first. Putting things in the mouth also implies that the person is seeking nourishment, possibly in the form of more information
26. Gaining time to evaluate
Another member of the family of gestures in which glasses are used is taking them off, either quickly or with much emphasis, and throwing them on the table. A negotiator whom we know always signals his emotional outbreaks in this way. How many people use this gesture consciously as an expression of “Now you’re going too far” or “Just wait a damn minute” will probably never be known. However, mos people, regardless of whether they are aware of their gesture, are communicating resistance to what is being said. Therefore, if you encounter this gesture in another person, change your approach. Do something to relieve the emotional tension. Get that person back to wearing his glasses so that both of you can “see” different alternatives.
Pipe-Smokers. Pipe-smokers are necessarily more involved with the ritual of smoking than are cigarette-smokers. After all, the pipe-smoker has many more functions to perform: He has to fill the pipe, clean it, tap it, stoke it, and keep it lit. In the process he can use it as a scratcher, pointer, drumstick, etc., which permits the use of the pipe (to stall for thinking time) as a secret signal instrument. We have an associate whom we call “the Toscanini of the pipe-smokers.” He conducts negotiation signals with his pipe like the maestro conducted the NBC Symphony. Our associate, an inveterate pipe-smoker, has devised an intricate series of pipe signals. They communicate such instructions to his team asshut up, listen more closely, the ofer stinks, andlet’s go . It is of great assistance in a team negotiation to have signals by which you can communicate nonverbally, with or without a pipe.
One can often observe the deliberate motions the pipe-smoker goes through when he is fighting or maneuvering for time to think or reconsider. We have observed that a considerable number of pipe-smokers are engineers or scientists or are in other technical fields where abstract thinking is vitally important. They take considerably more time in decision-makingthan the more factually oriented thinkers, who tend to smoke cigarettes.
In our video-tape recordings of business confrontations, a distinct personality type emerges both for the cigarette- and the pipe-smoker. The pipe-smoker tends to play “cat and mouse” or “hide and seek” as long as he possibly can without revealing his position. On the other hand, the cigarette-smoker’s attitude is generally “Let’s get this over with and go on to other things.” Pipe-smokers give the impression that they are more patient and conservative than cigarette-smokers, who generally look like sprinters ready for action. (The ratio of cigarette-smokers to pipe-smokers who have participated in our research is 10-1, which is not unusual considering that an overwhelming number of businessmen tend to be of the concrete rather than abstract variety of thinker.)
Pacing. Americans seem to feel more comfortable thinking on their feet. They frequently resort to this mannerism when attempting to solve a hard problem or make a difficult decision. As gestures go, this is a very positive one. But one should not speak to the pacer. It might cause him to lose his trend of thought and interfere with what he is trying to decide. Most sales-oriented people understand how important it is to let a prospective client or customer alone while he is pacing and deciding whether to buy. They let him interrupt the silence if he wants to pose an objection or question. Many successful negotiations have resulted from one person biting his tongue and not uttering a word while the other goes through his decision-making, rug-pacing ritual.
Pinching the Bridge of the Nose (Figure 27). This gesture, usually accompanied with closed eyes, communicates great thought and concern about the decision to be made. A person in self-conflict might lower his head and pinch the bridge of his nose to test whether he really is in such a predicament or it is only a bad dream. A businessman we know clearly signalshis quandary by this gesture. When he performs it, we merely keep quiet and wait for him to raise his objections to what is being discussed. We do not attempt to reason him out of this situation. Instead we recognize his feelings and wait for him to express his doubts.

27. “It’s hard for me to see the answer.”
An attorney who attended one of our seminars commented that a judge he knew usually signaled his feelings about a case by this gesture. If the judge believed the defendant was guilty, he seldom removed his glasses. However, if he believed the accused was innocent, he performed this gesture openly and sometimes kept his eyes closed several minutes, fighting with his assumptions and feelings about the guilt of the accused.
From these evaluation-clusters it is easy to progress to the next attitude — suspicion and secretiveness