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I Learned to Read a Room Before I Learned to Read Myself
Introducing The Unspoken Self, a new Substack publication exploring the hidden psychology behind our thoughts, relationships, and the person we show the world.
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I began studying other people before I had even figured out how to spell the word.
As a boy, I learned very early on in life how to read a room. I could always tell what type of evening it was going to be at home by the sound of our front door opening and closing. If it closed with a slam, I knew I needed to make myself scarce.
It was a self-taught survival skill, and I became very good at it.
Interestingly enough, when I got older, I would then go on to spend 30 years in Toronto schools. First as a teacher and then as a principal. I started to get paid to read the room.
During my career, I observed thousands of people in the classroom, hallways, and in the schoolyard. I watched as parents came to the school “loaded for bear,” and then ended up leaving in tears. I listened to people tell me they were fine when the tone of their voices told me something completely different.
