Don't Flinch Or Retreat
You may have occasion to call on such an eccentric big man. If you are rebuffed fiercely, don't let it "get your goat." He can have no possible reason for disliking you personally, especially before he comprehends your purpose in coming to him. So disregard his ferocious pose. Though he may treat you as an unwelcome intruder, proceed calmly to the statement of your business. You know that your intention to render him a true service justifies you in taking his time. Therefore his assumed fierce manner should be powerless to disconcert you.
Do not retreat from a chosen prospective employer; do not even flinch from him, however ill-tempered and repellant he may appear. You cannot possibly lose so much by standing your ground as you would forfeit by running away from this chance to demonstrate your salesmanship. Countless thousands of men have failed because at the first sign of antagonism they surrendered even more than they might have lost if they had been utterly beaten after the hardest kind of a fight for victory. They gave up without a struggle, not only all their chances for success, but their self-respect as well.
Suppose the man you have selected as your future employer does snap at you viciously when you call on him; his ferocity signifies no more than that you must approach and handle him carefully. Your prospecting and your size-up should have convinced you that he is not in fact the crab he tries to appear. Real, thorough cranks are so rare they can be considered as non-existent. It is safe to conclude that any man who acts as if he were sore all the way through all the time is just acting. Ignore the irrascibility of the "Everett Trues" you meet. Superficial, assumed indications will not help you to comprehend the inner man you want to influence. Restrict your size-up to the signs of that inner man. While the old gorgon you face is brow-beating you, he may be planning in the back of his head an act of gentle kindness to some one. If he is habitually kind, there will be physical indications of that characteristic; in his tones and acts if not in his words. Look for these signs beneath his harsh manner, which is merely a disguise he has put on. "Everett True" behaves like a domineering tyrant, but he really is characterized by an acute sensitiveness to what is right and just.
Judge By Unconscious Appearance And Actions
When sizing up a man, depend principally upon details of his appearance and actions. Translate whatever you see or hear into definite discriminative judgments regarding him. His muscle structure and movements indicate certain traits. Of course you should also observe and size up the significance of the words and tones he uses. But a man employs his speech with the conscious intention of making impressions. Therefore it is not safe to rely on a size-up based on what he says. Your prospect may be using his words and tones to hide, rather than to reveal, his inner self.
However, if you know how to separate and classify details of muscle structure and action, you can depend safely on specific conclusions based on these indications. The muscle structure of a man is the result of his habits of living, or of his predominant characteristics. He builds it up unconsciously and is unable to disguise it. It can be interpreted as certain proof that he has particular traits. Most of his movements, too, are made without his realizing exactly what they denote of his character and present thoughts. He just "acts natural." Therefore if you read indications of the inner man by analytically observing his physique and actions, you will gain reliable information about him. He will not know that he is revealing his traits and what he is thinking.
Your Opinions About People
From your earliest childhood to this moment you have been forming first-hand opinions of other people by observing and interpreting their words, tones, and movements. Sizing up men is not a new process to you. But in order to be a certainly successful salesman of yourself you should observe more intelligently and discriminatively hereafter. Instead of making up your mind about people without knowing just how or why you arrive at your judgments, classify your intuitions scientifically. Know the reasons for your opinions. You can be sure about the conclusions you reach as a result of your specific, exact observation of details. The study and analysis of words, tones, and acts, coupled with a little painstaking practice, will make you an expert judge of other men.
Study Character Unobserved