Friday, February 02, 2007

Cross-Over Matching

I am taking a training course today on communication. I, as an upwardly-mobile corporate American, aspire to the best in non-verbal communication. So I am particularly interested in a technique, first revealed to me today, called "Cross-Over Matching." Here's what cross-over matching entails:

"This is matching the other person's behavior with a corresponding, but different, movement. If a person is blinking rapidly, you may cross-over match by discreetly tapping your finger at the same rate as they are blinking. You could also pace the rhythm of someone's speech with slight nods of your head, or with your breathing."

Wow. This communication business is much harder than I thought, and requires more rhythm than I suspect I have. I don't know because I haven't tried it out yet, but I suspect I'm going to be so busy counting in my head and working out polyrhythmic counterpoint and such that I'm going to have no idea what anyone is saying. Any of you veteran cross-over matchers have any words of wisdom for me?

And can I just say that I love corporate America.

1 comment:

Mark K. said...

Just wait 6 months. It will be forgotten. It will be something else, like "saftey is number one" or "ROSE! Return on Shareholder Equity."