This photo was taken during an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Honolulu, Hawai'i. In it we see demonstrated a great example of "Mirroring" of U. S. President Barack Obama by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. We tend to mirror those we like and/or respect - and the vast majority of the time this is done subconsciously. Deliberate and conscious mirroring can be a way of building rapport with another, but you must be very careful not to mirror too simultaneously or too precisely - lest your behavior becomes obvious and it backfires. Another potential disaster with mirroring, is that you could mimic a negative nonverbal without knowing it. Ouch!
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