Adjustments work especially well not for theorists who have learned all their varieties and the rules for their application, but for practitioners who have worked these techniques to automatism.
The simplest exercise for adjusting posture and gestures is as follows.
It is best to do it in threes. Two sit opposite each other, and the third is perpendicular to them. The task of the first is to “just be” and talk (when you want), the second (it’s you) is to actively talk with the first and, most importantly, adapt to it. The task of the third: first of all, to observe, secondly, to help the second, recalling the rules of adjustment.
If you know how to both conduct a conversation and carefully adjust, then even in an exercise, when your tasks are obvious, your interlocutor after a while gets carried away with the actual conversation and forgets about your adjustments. But you should not forget about them, because this is precisely your main work in the exercise.
The first, second and third can change their positions and, accordingly, roles several times in order to gain experience from all three sides.
Other tuning exercises
- According to the muscle pattern (by posture). Copying gait, gestures, fulcrum, relaxation / muscle tension.
- By breath. Defocus your eyes and look beyond the person. Pay attention to the shoulders, larynx, gate movement (cue). It’s good to work on the subway.
- By the pace of speech. Slow down / speed up the pace of speech. Works well in telephone conversations.
- According to the pattern of speech (by intonation). Copying intonations in communication (well practiced in telephone conversations), as well as replicas from the cinema.
- By speech (not / favorite words and expressions). Observe the words and expressions used. Explain the question to the person in their language.
- By modality (visual / auditory / kinesthetic / digital). Pay attention to the language of the narrative: description of the picture / sensations / sounds / logic. Answer in the same language, literally repeating the key words of the interlocutor.
- Based on beliefs and values. Identify key topics that are important to a person. Stay in the topic of conversation, interesting to the interlocutor.
- According to the common “we” (what unites us: profession, hobbies, place of residence, social roles, hobbies, etc.)
- On the mission of life. The deepest adjustment. In other words, according to the purpose of life.