Communication Skills Training : Strategic Sitting

Whenever we meet with a group of people, we often have to make a decision about where to sit.  Burton Kaplan offers advice for strategic sitting.

He takes the position that where you sit says a lot about who you are and what you want to accomplish.

For me, I like to take the seat that’s going to do me the most good.

To paraphrase Burton Kaplan, “Suppose the boss takes the seat at the twelve o’clock position.  If you want to cooperate, sit at the eleven  or one o’clock position.  If you want to show that you are confident of your stand on the issue or issues of the day, then sit at six o’clock.  He suggests not sitting at four o’clock or eight o’clock because it signals that you don’t want to interact with the boss.

In other words:

If what you want is                         Sit here

Cooperation                                         11:00 or 1:00

To engage others                                6:00

To be left alone                                   4:00 or 8:00

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Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercises.