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Well known in the media from her TV, magazine, newspaper and online publications interviews, body language expert Patti Wood is a CSP Certified Speaking Professional and a member of NSA, The National Speakers Association.


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Hotel staff taught to read guests' body language by Patti Wood MA, CSP – Body Language Expert


Forget calling the front desk. If you're a guest at an Affinia hotel, the staff will try to figure out what you need just by looking at you.

"You can't always tell from the first sentence whether someone is in a good mood or bad mood," says body language expert Patti Wood.

"Starting this month, the boutique chain is bumping up personal service in its five hotels in New York City and one each in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Everyone from housekeeping to management will be tailoring his interaction with guests based on body language.

A body language expert trained employees over the summer on what cues to look for. A guest who makes eye contact while walking down the hall, for instance, may be open to conversation. A corporate trekker constantly tugging on an ear is probably stressed and may be interested in a yoga kit — or perhaps a therapeutic pillow from the hotel's pillow menu.

"So many companies, when they talk about service, they program it to how many rings till you answer the phone," says John Moser, chief brand and marketing officer for Affinia. "That sounds very scripted. Let's give (staffers) some tools they can use to help identify what's the right way to address somebody at a particular moment."

Employees were taught to mirror a guest's volume and rhythm of speech to put him at ease, Moser says. They learned that if guests are constantly touching their faces, it's a likely sign they're anxious after a long day of meetings or travel. "They'll grab their chin or pull on their ear," Moser says. "Those are cues that maybe I should be doing something to get them to their room quick or make them feel comfortable."

Patti Wood, a body language expert who conducted the Affinia training, says she has never seen such instruction given to all hotel employees. "All of this training is so every single guest is treated as special," she says.

Staff questions about a guest's day won't disappear, Moser says. But, he says, small talk isn't always enough to get a reading of a guest's needs.
"You can't always tell from the first sentence whether someone is in a good mood or bad mood," he says. "Measuring some of the things they're showing, with the way they're talking to you, can help our associates deliver a service that's more customized to them."

Jan Freitag, senior vice president of Smith Travel Research, which tracks hotels, says of the effort, "Anything that ultimately gives better customer service is to be applauded." "The question," Freitag says, "is could this be achieved with a different vehicle? It will be interesting to see if the additional expense for staff training will ultimately result in higher guest-satisfaction scores and revenue."
By Anne Ryan, USA TODAY file


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Patti Reads the Body Language of Missing Baby Lisa's Parents on HLN



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTVLh28THYQ



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Body Language of Mrs. Cain - November 2011



This is my body language read of Mrs. Cain for US News and World Report.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/11/15/gloria-cains-body-language-revealed

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1275490678001/mrs-cain-on-harassment-allegations-this-isnt-herman

Interviewer, “Let’s start with this.” Mrs. Cain says softly, “Ok!” but is giving a severe lip compression smile. I call this the zipped smile. Women use the zipped smile to cover their emotions, typically to cover anger. Our culture says we as women need to be nice, so we give a zipped smile to cover our anger. She nods her head up and down, but instead of meaning, “I agree” the small quick nods are saying, “Please hurry and get this interview over with.”

When she says, “I don’t know who that person is (eye block) pause misspeak “...and we’ve been married for 42 years.” She shuts her eyes longer than normal blinking in a window shade eye block. That indicates she is uncomfortable with the person (sexual harasser) that the media is projecting.

When she says a moment later “But, they don’t know Herman” her lip pucker quick downward dismissive head shake and stressed voice show her repressed anger at the critical media.

Look how she is sitting at the far end of the couch. The most honest portion of the body is from the waist down. Her lower body and feet are turned away fully from the interviewer. In this moment, though her upper body is angling slightly away from the interviewer in “retreat” and at times even leaning back away. Her arms are out in front and her hands are laying one over the other in her lap (called a blanket hand cross) to protectively cover her pelvis.

As to her husband warning her of the story coming out, she shakes her head. “It is just hearsay” and she gives a tongue drawbridge signifying her desire to get the bad taste of the news out of her mouth and off of her mind.

As Mrs. Cain continues and discusses the warning conversation with her husband and her faint memory (she looks up and struggles to come up with both the true memory of the event and the correct thing to say, true or planned response that may be a lie) of the first woman’s accusations and the Restaurant Association’s charges as being unfounded you see how her body is so turned away from the interviewer she has to twist her neck significantly to answer questions. My read here is she had an agreement in the marriage here that she wouldn’t ask and he wouldn’t tell.
When she responds to the second woman’s allegations, notice how she talks about Herman’s behavior in the PAST TENSE. “That wasn’t a part of Herman’s behavior.

She emphasizes his “Old School Behavior” - her gestures as she talks are in synch. She is telling the truth about his “old school behavior” with her and other women when she is with him.

When she says a moment later, “To hear such graphic allegations….that’s not the person he is.… (as she shakes her head no) he totally respects women.” You can “hear the tears” in her voice. Also look at the change in her hands. She now has a stretched out wrap over her leg protectively. She is feeling under stronger attack here.

Goodness I love the next part of the interview. When she says she was not going to be the wife up on the stage that he knew he would be there by himself. Her voice and nonverbal cues are absolutely in synch. She is being true and honest.

However when she says, “Seriously in my soul, I don’t feel like he’s that type of a person,” I see a pause in her head shaking, I hear awkward pausing and leaving out the IS in a slight grammatical error.This cluster of cues and even the wording she chooses sound less sure of herself. When someone is unsure they may leave out the strong words that make their message more definitive. We want her to say, I know he didn’t do these things but she keeps talking about the man she knew or knows not being that kind of person instead of speaking to his actual behavior.

As she is asked about her family’s reaction, Mrs. Cain kicks out her foot to show their anger, and sure enough says, “My daughter was angry…”

“NO I am not missing anything, I know Herman” she gulps showing she is keeping something in seems like she is gulping down her fear that she doesn’t know everything.

Again at the very end “SOME of the things that you are saying about him, that is not Herman.”


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Your High Blood Pressure Can Reduce Your Ability To Read Body Language

Ever wonder why the big boss doesn’t get the pain he is causing you? If he lowers his blood pressure, he might be more empathetic.

Recently high blood pressure has been linked to a decreased ability in reading the facial expressions of emotions. It’s tough for the folks with high blood pressure as well. They just don’t seem to enjoy things as much as their stress free counterparts.
To read more about how high blood pressure effects the brain and its ability to read body language link here. You probably already know this information, but if not it could be very interesting to add to your work.

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/08/8686801-high-blood-pressure-makes-some-socially-awkward


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Body Language Expert Patti Wood Speaking Last Week on Body Language at the World Compliance Summit in Miami Florida



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Body Language - 23 Must Know Moves by Patti Wood

What does a frown signify? That's not so hard to figure out. Ditto for hands on hips or crossed arms. But not every example of body language is so easy to interpret, and that's where Patti Wood comes in. Patti teaches people the subtleties of body language - and was just in the news for teaching employees of a New York City hotel how to figure out guests' needs simply by looking at them. Check the link below to view her recent project with CBS News.


http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10010146.html?tag=mGalleryBottom;mGalleryUL


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Patti featured in Cool News of the Day

Cool News of the Day is a daily e-mail newsletter of marketing insights, ideas and inspiration edited by Tim Manners.

http://www.reveries.com/2011/11/affinia-service/

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Patti's Keynote - The Art of Reading and Understanding Nonverbal Communication in Any Setting



I recently presented a keynote at the Seventh Annual Career Strategies Conference of the Corporate Counsel Women of Color at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. I spoke on The Art of Reading and Understanding Nonverbal Communication in Any Setting. To date, the organization has over 2,600 members who serve as general counsel, assistant general counsel, corporate counsel, in-house legal counsel, and in other capacities for Fortune 1000 companies, Forbes 2000 companies, not-for-profit corporations, and other entities in the United States of America and abroad.
It was such a honor to speak to such a wonderful group of women!



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.