"It’s Not What you Say, It’s Where
you Sit"
Google Movie Synopsis:
Teenage Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) was educated in Africa by her
scientist parents. When her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady
finally gets to experience public school and gets a quick primer on the cruel,
tacit laws of popularity that divide her fellow students into tightly knit
cliques. She unwittingly finds herself in the good graces of an elite group of
cool students dubbed "the Plastics," but Cady soon realizes how her shallow
group of new friends earned this nickname.
Scenario:
Cady is new to school and is getting advice from her friend Janis
Ian (Lizzy Caplan) on where to sit in the school cafeteria during lunch.
Selected Scene:
Janis: Here, this map is going to be your guide to North Shore. Now, where you sit in the cafeteria is crucial. You got everybody there, your freshman, ROTC guys, preps, JV jocks, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don’t eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts, sexually active band geeks, the greatest people you will ever meet, and the worst, Beware of the plastics
Business Tip:
This tip is in the “non-verbal” communication category, which I
will have a few more to share in the coming weeks. Although the scene above is focused on
“tables” the message is the same when faced with the issue of where to sit
during a work related meeting—your attitude and attitudes of others are easily
revealed solely on where you sit at the table. Here are a few examples; if you
sit directly across from someone, it’s easy for both to be on the defensive and
could make for a confrontational discussion, if you are side by side, you are
displaying collaboration and equality, sitting corner to corner represents an
informal meeting and can be used if you are unsure of how the conversation will
go but want to project openness and comfort. If you are attending a group
meeting, leave the chair at the head of the table for the person running the
meeting or the most senior person. Generally,
the person who sits to the right of the head chair is second in charge and the
further away from the head of the table is the least important (or uninterested). It’s not uncommon to
remove the chairs at each end of the table to eliminate any power struggles
amongst the attendees. One more tip, if you are setting up the meeting, go with
a round table, this provides everyone at the table with equal power which
usually results in a more productive discussion. Finally, there’s nothing wrong with changing
your seat to a better position once everyone has sat down, preferably before
the meeting has begun.
