Reading People

The amount of information one is able to gather about prospective jurors is trivial compared with what's available in everyday life. We often see people in many different settings: casual, formal, business-related, social. And we often get to know them over the course of months or years. In fact, we have access to so much information it's easy to feel overwhelmed, unless we have a game plan designed to keep us focused.

Anyone who has assembled a jigsaw puzzle has learned that without some logical approach, one can fumble endlessly with the hundreds of pieces on the table before finding a single match. To get started, most people begin by putting together the edge pieces—not because they show what the finished puzzle will look like but because they are relatively easy to identify and assemble. Once the edge of the puzzle has been completed, we have a framework to help us determine how the other pieces fit into place.

Within the first few minutes, or even seconds, of meeting someone, person who is excellent at reading people usually gathered a tremendous amount of readily observable information about age, sex, race, physical characteristics, vocal mannerisms, and body language. With a few questions he can quickly learn about my new acquaintance's education and marital status, the number, sex, and age of his children, what he does for a living, and his family history, hobbies, club or organizational memberships, and favorite television shows. This represents just the first layer of information available to those who are trying to read people.

A second, more subjective level of information is based on physically observable traits that require interpretation: the meaning of body language and mannerisms, the significance of vocal qualities, and the importance of specific actions, to name but a few. Here, you need some understanding of the possible meanings of each of the person's observable traits.

And there is a third level of information, which reflects conclusions about the person's character based on analysis of the information revealed at the first two levels. Is a person considerate or rude? Stingy or generous? Violent or passive? Hardworking or lazy?