British prefer even greater distance. Hispanic prefer half that distance. Middle Easterners may talk practically eyeball to eyeball. A person may move forward when interested and away when bored or frightened. Changes in its pitch, volume, or speech rate convey the same things that changes in eye contact or body language do.
People differ in their reactions to the same stimulus .
Verbal underlining is giving louder volume and increased vocal emphasis to certain words and short phrases. Speech hesitations and breaks are another signal of confusion or stress. People tend to change topics when they aren t comfortable. Selective attention is when we tend to listen to some things and ignore others. Take whatever the client has said in the immediate or near past and direct attention the through a question or brief comment.