Just as careful listening is critical to understanding our verbal pronouncements, so careful observation is vital to comprehending our body language. Whoa! Don’t just breeze past that sentence and continue reading. What it states is critical. Concerted (effortful) observation—is absolutely essential to reading people and detecting their nonverbal tells successfully. (Location 248)
Commandment 2: Observing in context is key to understanding nonverbal behavior. (Location 293)
However, one thing you don’t want to do when observing others is to make your intentions obvious. Many individuals tend to stare at people when they first try to spot nonverbal cues. Such intrusive observation is not advisable. Your ideal goal is to observe others without their knowing it, in other words, unobtrusively. (Location 414)