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Body Language Tips for Looking Younger

I am a body language expert and I have done research and spoken for many years on first impressions. I am also coach and speak on interviewing, media interviews, public speaking. In my speeches and coaching on body language I often and share simple nonverbal techniques to looking younger. Please check out my website www.PattiWood.net for more information.
Body Language Tips for Looking Younger
1. Think lift and up. Wear collars on shirts that are crisp and go up to create lift around you face.
2. If you need to wear glasses get your glasses tightened regularly. Glasses that come down on your nose, even a little bit make you look much older. Keep your glasses tightened and high on your face. Again think up.
3. When you walk into an interview or a meeting hold your shoulder back and head up and sit up.
4. Make sure you make eye contact right away smile and put out your hand for a hand shake with extra energy. (I have done several years of research on handshakes. Check out my website or blog here for steps to get the perfect handshake.
5. As you share your ideas and information make sure your voice shows your energy and enthusiasm and hold the strength and volume of your voice all the way to the end of a sentence. As we age our vocal chords show their wear and our voices change and tend to sound rougher and we tend to lose volume at the end or sentences forcing people to not feel with are speaking with conviction and sometimes even saying, “Excuse me I didn’t hear you.”
6. Get your hearing and eyesight checked professionally. Do it now. Most people who need hearing aids wait nine years or more to get their hearing checked and longer than that to get a hearing aid. And if you are squinting because you are not wearing needed prescription lenses you don't look that cute and you are forming squinty wrinkles.(I made the term squinty wrinkles up. It works so well.)
7. For men and woman make sure everything you wear is crisply presses, no wrinkles no wear on your shoes or belts. You have to make sure your clothes and accessories don’t symbolically say you are old or used or tired.
8. Make sure you are fashion current in colors style and jewelry including your watches. If you’re not sure what’s current in professional clothing read a style magazine and go to a high end store like Nordstrom’s and look around and then go buy it at Timex or Marshalls.
It seems basic, but be careful how you sit in a chair. Research says that women perch, sitting on the edge of their seats, arching their backs, while men tend to slouch, relying more on the backrest. Woman don’t perch the entire time you look less powerful. Sit back in the chair and use lots of space and put you arms on the arm rest to look confident. Men don’t slouch the whole time; you may look lazy rather than vital and energetic. Sit forward slowly as you share certain information your confident in.

For Woman


9. If you can avoid using one, don’t carry a purse. It not only sends a strong female signal it gives you one more thing to worry about and fuss over. When woman sit down they usually have over 16 separate movements. Men have three and look much more together and organized. If you must carry something carry a folder or hip briefcase.
10. Make up for Woman. Make sure you do wear make-up, but make it light. I love Laura Mercie tinted moisturizer. If you wear eye shadow take your finger and lay it on the outside of eye and sweep any shadow up and out. If you wear eyeliner make sure it goes up slightly and the corner of your eye. When you put on blush make sure to use it sparingly and make it go up around your eyes never down. I suggest a cream blush as the new makeup style is dewy not dry and powdered. Be very careful of lipstick I draw around the edge with a very soft Estee Lauder lipstick pencil press my lips together and blend very well so it covers my entire lip and then I put on a light clear pink gloss. If I need all day coverage for my lipstick I use Max Factor Color Stay in a rose shade and put gloss on throughout the day. Don’t wear eyeliner on your bottom lip and don’t use mascara there it pulls the eye down and makes it look tired and older.
11. Make sure you hair is healthy shiny and glossy. Get your hair trimmed more often than you use to so you don't have straggly ends and go to your nearest Sally Beauty Supply or Ultra Cosmetics and ask them for a product to make your hair shinny.


12. Woman put nice flattering color around your face hot pink, pink peach, salmon, cobalt blue whatever makes your skin glow and you feel good.

A-Rods body language durring Katie Couric interview was he lying?

I finished my ESPN radio interview about A-Rods ( Alex Rodriguez, the base ball superstar) interview with Katie Couric concerning his possible use of steroids to enhance his performance. I finished my ESPN radio interview about A-Rods interview with Katie Couric concerning his possible use of steroids to enhance his performance. Here is the the You tube video of the interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVcqLt9sJLs
Of course everyone wants to know if he lied as he said no three times. And I think if you have seen the clip your gut told you he was lying. Let me share the body language cues that you where seeing that made us feel he was lying. First let me start by saying in a real deception detection interview you must get a baseline for normal behavior. I watched A-Rod in other television interviews where he had no reason to be overly nervous as well as more recent interviews so that I could see what he looked like and sounded like and even took note of his normal amount of words he used in response to questions before I watched the critical clip. In the Katie Couric interview he was unusually tense. The lower torso is the best indication of someone’s true emotional state as it under less conscious control. His legs were pulled back under his chair rather thaand the left side of his mouth twisted up. The left side of the face is controlled by the emotional right hemisphere so can “leak” out someone true feelings even when the liar is able to control the more logical conscious part of the brain in front of him as someone powerful, who is confident in his innocence would have typically been. In addition his hands were clasped in front of him, so he was symbolically holding his own hands something I didn’t see in any other the other interviews of him that I watched and not typical of a “celebrity interview” period. Hand clasping is a big tell. Also his face showed a lot of tension especially around the mouth. If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I call the mouth the window of the truth. His mouth was shut and the outer edges of his lips were tense. His stare was also intense. He was working very hard to make eye contact. It is interesting to note that extroverts like A-Rod “over extrovert” when they are lying.
In deception detection the timing of a cue is the best “tell” that someone may be lying. You need to watch closely to see what the baseline behavior is and when it changes. When Katie was asking his first questions about his steroid use he stared until she said the word “steroid” then his eyes briefly closed in an eye block. He did another eye block as Katie finished saying human growth hormone then when he responded to her question if he had used the steroids by saying, “no." the left side of the lips on the left side of his face twisted up very briefly to show he was not confident in his response. The left side of the face is controlled by the emotional right hemisphere (more scientifically the limbic brain (the neocortex) so it can “leak” out someone true feelings even when the liar is able to control the more logical and conscious part of the brain. He also did another eye block as he responded and pursed his lips slightly as if he had just tasted something sour, perhaps the taste of his lie. When he was asked by Katie, “Have you ever been tempted…?” His head pulled back quickly in a flight response tell. He then said no as his head came down first in micro facial cue of no, just before he shook his head no. His mouth twisted again as she went deeper and said. “Tempted…other guys are getting better numbers.” At the end of his long response to this question he said, “I don’t have trouble competing at any level…pause no” the left side of his mouth came up in significant twist. If you watch the tape you will see just how conflicted that makes him look. And he does it again as he says, “It would be a huge black eye on the game of base ball.” Yep, a black eye on the game as A-Rod closed his eyes twists his mouth showing us his truth. Of course everyone wants to know if he lied as he said no three times. And I think if you have seen the clip your gut told you he was lying. Let me share the body language cues that you where seeing that made us feel he was lying. First let me start by saying in a real deception detection interview you must get a baseline for normal behavior. I watched A-Rod in other television interviews where he had no reason to be overly nervous as well as more recent interviews so that I could see what he looked like and sounded like and even took note of his normal amount of words he used in response to questions before I watched the critical clip. In the Katie Couric interview he was unusually tense. The lower torso is the best indication of someone’s true emotional state as it under less conscious control. His legs were pulled back under his chair rather than the left side of his mouth twisted up. The left side of the face is controlled by the emotional right hemisphere so can “leak” out someone true feelings even when the liar is able to control the more logical conscious part of the brain in front of him as someone powerful, who is confident in his innocence would have typically been. In addition his hands were clasped in front of him, so he was symbolically holding his own hands something I did nott see in any other the other interviews of him that I watched and not typical of a “celebrity interview” period. Hand clasping is a big tell. Also his face showed a lot of tension especially around the mouth. If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I call the mouth the window of the truth. His mouth was shut and the outer edges of his lips were tense. His stare was also intense. He was working very hard to make eye contact. It is interesting to note that extroverts like A-Rod “over extrovert” when they are lying.
In deception detection the timing of a cue is the best “tell” that someone may be lying. You need to watch closely to see what the baseline behavior is and when it changes. When Katie was asking his first questions about his steroid use he stared until she said the word “steroid” then his eyes briefly closed in an eye block. He did another eye block as Katie finished saying human growth hormone then when he responded to her question if he had used the steroids by saying, “no." the left side of the lips on the left side of his face twisted up very briefly to show he was not confident in his response. The left side of the face is controlled by the emotional right hemisphere (more scientifically the limbic brain (the neocortex) so it can “leak” out someone true feelings even when the liar is able to control the more logical and conscious part of the brain. He also did another eye block as he responded and pursed his lips slightly as if he had just tasted something sour, perhaps the taste of his lie. When he was asked by Katie, “Have you ever been tempted…?” His head pulled back quickly in a flight response tell. He then said no as his head came down first in micro facial cue of no, just before he shook his head no. His mouth twisted again as she went deeper and said. “Tempted…other guys are getting better numbers.” At the end of his long response to this question he said, “I don’t have trouble competing at any level…pause no” the left side of his mouth came up in significant twist. If you watch the tape you will see just how conflicted that makes him look. And he does it again as he says, “It would be a huge black eye on the game of base ball.” Yep, a black eye on the game as A-Rod closed his eyes twists his mouth showing us his truth.

More on A-rods body language of lying in Katie interview

I did my interview on ESPN radio and discussed A-ROds over all body language durring the interview was much more tense than he is normally. I say that, having gone back to watch his body langauge and paralanguage in other iverviews were he had not reason to be tense so that I could get his baseline for his normal behavior. His legs were held back under his chair rather than out as one would be if they were clearly inocent and not afraid on the interview. He was clasping his hands together tighly, sybollically holding his own hands. He even rubbed them occaiosnly. He was starring intently forward with a lot of tention held in his face especially around his mouth, I call the mouth thewindow of the truth. His stare I bleive was his attempt to look fpowerful and in contral. Extaverts tend to over extrovert when they are lying. When Katie was asking the first qutesion about steroids his starring eye behavior gave a tell as she said the word steroids he did an eyeblock eye close and then when back to straring and then as she said the words human growth hormone he did a eyeblock eye close. As katie finshed asking him if he did steriods he said with his words no but as he did he pursed his lips like he was eating a lemon and the left side of his mouth twisted up. The left side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere more sceifically your more primal brain that is not under your consious control so it leaks out the truth and may look oddly off balance if you are controllig the right side of your face. He had this same resonse to her secound wording of the same quesion with an additional tell. Just before he responded his head came back to pull away f rom the quesion.

What hugs mean a nonverbal interpretation

I got an email today from past interpersonal skills training class participant asking me the following question about hugging
At least two times in the last month I have observed (in my close presence) two sets of two co-workers one male, and one female who had not seen each other in some time who hugged emphatically. In each case, the individuals were very glad to see each other -- it took me by surprise.

Since this is something I would never do, I was wondering if I could read any thing into it.

I responded. I did research on hugging in my doctoral program and as you might guess so much depends on how the hug was given and received, what parts of the body made contact with other parts and how long the hug lasted. It is even important to watch the facial expressions of the people as they are hugged and how their fingers grip or rest on the other person. In general, upper body hugs are typically friends ship hugs and full body with the lower torso pushed forward can indicate sexual intimacy.

'Hugging while briefly touching cheek-to-cheek hug is the typical celebrity socialite hug when someone does not want to add a more intimate kiss on the lips. that says "I Love You" even more with an added kiss on the lips.
Hugging while Resting gently and lingering cheek to cheek is much more intimate.

Tepee hug. Hugging with just the upper body with the torso actually pulled away and the rear end pushed back is a hug that emphasizes friendship rather than sexuality.

A Big Bear hug is defined by the arms being wrapped fully around the person and being pulled in tight with a quick but tight secure squeeze. This shows enthusiasm for seeing someone and can also show someones need to show power over or protection of the huggee.
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Spoon Hug-While not normally thought of as a hug, when you spoon one partners arms are often wrapped around the other as you lie in bed on your side with the huggers front pressed up against the full back and torso on the hugge. .
Feel better hug- I just gave this hug to a friend yesterday who was laid off last week. I didn't even think about it I just wanted to pull him in close and with my arms wrapped around his shoulders and let my full palms rest there and linger a bit longer with a almost rubbing motion as I pulled away. I didn't pat, because guys don't typically like patting it makes them feel mothersmothered.

Is A-Rod lying. A body language read of Katie Courack interview

I am about to do an interview on ESPN radio about A-Rods body language as he repsponded to Katie Courac's questions about his steriod use. I will share the details here after the interview.