Body Language: Using Non-verbal Cues to Interpret Conversations

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Body Language: Using Non-verbal Cues to Interpret Conversations
I was inside a restaurant, and I watched two men in suits walk in and take a corner table. After ordering their drinks, they initiated a conversation. Their voice, which was sometimes loud enough to be heard by those seating nearby indicated that they were discussing a non-personal topic. They were probably discussing a business deal as their official dressing suggested. In addition, one of the men had his writing pad and pen in hand, and was scribbling some things down, which I took to be figures (money, perhaps, calculating the cost and profits to be made?). However, it soon became apparent, as their body language suggested that they were having different opinions on whatever they were discussing. At one point, there was a long silence in which none of the men spoke, which I interpreted to mean they were taking their time to digest each other’s proposition and come up with an appropriate response, such as a counter offer.
When they next began talking, the man with the writing pad was shaking his head as he consulted his notes. This indicated that he was disagreeing with what his partner was saying or suggesting. The other man (the one without a writing pad) looked at his friend for a brief moment before he leaned forward and started to speak slowly, each utterance accompanied with a soft tap on the table. The man was obviously trying to emphasize what he had already said, and perhaps explain it differently to make his friend see things from his point of view. One indication that this was the case is the man’s next action; after explaining himself, he leaned back, folded his hands and waited for his friend to reply. Most likely, he was giving the other man enough time to consider what he had just said and see some merit in it.
However, the other man took just a moment to think, frowned, glanced at his notes, and shook his head slowly. This suggested that whatever his friend was saying was not agreeing with what his own notes or figures were telling him. After a brief silence, the other man threw...