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Are the Presidential Candidates Bullies?

Are the Presidential Candidates Bullies?
Patti Wood MA, CSP
Body Language Expert

Are the Presidential Candidates Bullies? Do you see verbal and body language bulling in the presidential debates and the race? Bullying is defined as making threats, rumors or attacking someone physically or verbally.  If we laugh, clap and repeat with humor when someone is making bulling remarks I think we are condoning bullying.

The candidates have bullied each other and in this article I will list specific things that they do.  Listen to and watch the candidates and imagine a child on the playground saying those things to your five year old. How would you feel? How would you feel if someone said those things about you? Watch the debates with your children and have them count and point out the attacks and jabs.  Stop the recording and talk about what you have seen and ask them their feeling and state yours!

Donald Trump - We see him punctuating almost every sentence with a strong gesture. His attacking, bulling gestures include, finger points that look like stabbing, chops that look like axing and arm sweeps that look like sword moves. In debates he slices, dices and chops the other candidates to pieces.  His weapon like gestures, combined with his growls, scowls and grimaces and loud yelling make him a fearsome bully. This combined with big head and jaw and height and dare I say it, big hands unfortunately make him look like the biggest bully on the playground and unfortunately make him look like the most powerful candidate. He looks like, at least to our primate limbic brains, the aggressive alpha male candidate. A little extra bulling power comes from his normally low, growly voice.  In the analysis of the Debates from the past hundred years the candidate with the lowest voice won. Lower tones in the voice are formed by a larger larynx. Trump is the lion roaring and that sound is scarier and wins over a “nice” candidate. If he’s on the screen, and we’re looking at several other people too, his bulling, his loudness, his gestures, and his expressions all draw our attention straight to him. We can’t take our eyes off a fight, and we look at the person we perceive as winning the fight with more frequency. We don’t look as long at the victim. Our brains make us look to where we see the most threat to us!

Verbally, Trump has called Cruz, a “loser” and “liar.” He has made cruel remarks about the physical appearance of Carly Fiona such as, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”  He has called a female news correspondent a “bimbo.” He has made ugly attacking remarks about Hillary Clinton, Mexicans and Muslims. In one debate after Hillary was late coming back from a bathroom break he bullied her saying "I thought she gave up," Trump said at the rally. "Where did she go? Where did Hillary go? They had to start the debate without her. Phase II. “I know where she went. It's disgusting. I don't want to talk about it."

Ted Cruz - Though he is a bully he is not the biggest bully on the playground.  Overall his gestures are slightly lower and are more darting and short lived making him appear less forceful and confident than he could be. For example, notice the breadth and length of Trump’s gestures. I am not endorsing Trump, rather you need to know that our primitive limbic brains see the candidate with the most powerful, larger, bigger and long lasting body language cues. So even when Cruz bullies with a statement like, “Let’s say I am a maniac and everyone else on this stage is stupid fat and ugly.” He looks like the sly mean bully not the “in your face” bully how Trump can appear.

Bernie Sanders. He has not always been a bully, He previously has had a warm, genuine smile that is the most likable, believable smile of all the candidates. He also, in the past, shows great integrity in his messaging, that his word message tracks and agrees with his body language and vocal cues. In his Super Tuesday speech he was much more negative in his verbal and nonverbal messaging than I have seen him in his other speeches. He made several sour pursed lip expressions and a few downward turned and tight lipped angry looks and looks of disgust. This was a profound contrast for his iconic warm, smiling and likeable image.  He also yelled a lot. Bullying is contagious and he caught it. When Hillary Clinton rudely interrupted and talked over Sanders in the Democratic debate Sanders yelled, “Excuse me I am talking” while swinging his arm up then striking down and out as if he wanted to bring his hand down on her shoulder to throttle her. His gestures are now often large, forceful and attacking. They often go forward to the screen so he is bulling not just the other candidate, but anyone who is for that candidate.

Hillary Clinton - In one debate she said, “Enough is enough if you have something to say to me say it to me directly, I think it is time to end the artful smear you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks and talk about the issues.” Her request to stop being bullied was seen as bulling and got booed by the audience.
Her gestures are smaller though she does chop and strike out at Bernie and as she talks about Trump. I have talked about how her voice is often weak and raspy and shows great vocal strain. I think the effort to keep her voice in a lower more powerful register and speak loudly is straining it. Unfortunately, that strain sounds to a potential voter like a lack of strength, and perhaps a lack of character. I rather like the anger she is showing in current speeches and television appearances. She needs to be angry to fight and look powerful against Trump’s overriding anger. Look at my blogs on anger to note how we read anger as power. Yep, I am saying that she ramp up her anger, but she should not be a bully.

Gender Differences in Anger - Unfortunately, we perceive women’s anger differently than we do a man’s. Research shows that if a man is perceived as emotional he is considered more credible for getting angry. But when the woman was perceived as emotional, participants became surer of their own opinion, even if they considered the woman credible. As the researchers in one study put it: “When a woman expresses anger, this does not just make her seem less credible, but seems to make assessing her credibility irrelevant.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/people-reward-angry-men-but-punish-angry-women-study-suggests_us_561fb57be4b050c6c4a47743)

In research on emotions men show less emotions except for anger. Research across 37 cultures shows that men and women more accurately display gender-stereotypic expressions– men more accurately express anger, contempt and happiness, while women more accurately express fear and happiness.
How do men and women feel when they get angry, researchers have found that men felt less effective and less instrumental when forced to hold their anger in, whereas women didn't feel nearly as constricted when they didn't express their anger directly. They also found a correlation between expressing one's anger outwardly and being assertive in men, but not in women



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Do Angry Politicians Get More Attention?

Do Angry Politicians Get More Attention?
                                                   
Are you wondering why there is so much anger, bulling and ugly behavior in this presidential race? Research explains why Trump’s anger is working.

Angry Men Get Noticed.
Do Angry Men Get Noticed?
Science Daily (June 7, 2006) — By comparing how quickly human facial expressions of different types are detected in a crowd of neutral faces, researchers have demonstrated that male angry faces are a priority for visual processing -- particularly for male observers. The findings are reported by Mark Williams of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jason Mattingley of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and appear in the June 6th issue of Current Biology.

In evolutionary terms, it makes sense that our attention is attracted by threat in the environment. It has long been hypothesized that facial expressions that signal potential threat, such as anger, may capture attention and therefore "stand out" in a crowd. In fact, there are specific brain regions that are dedicated to processing threatening facial expressions. Given the many differences between males and females, with males being larger and more physically aggressive than females, one might also suspect differences in the way in which a threat is detected from individuals of different genders.

In the new work, Williams and Mattingley show that angry male faces are found more rapidly than angry female faces by both men and women. In addition, men find angry faces of both genders faster than women, whereas women find socially relevant expressions (for example, happy or sad) more rapidly. The work suggests that although males are biased toward detecting threatening faces, and females are more attuned to socially relevant expressions, both sexes prioritize the detection of angry male faces; in short, angry men get noticed. The advantage for detecting angry male faces is consistent with the notion that human perceptual processes have been shaped by evolutionary pressures arising from the social environment.

Reference: Mark A. Williams of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts and University of Melbourne in Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Jason B. Mattingley of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Williams et al.: "Correspondence: Do angry men get noticed?" Publishing in Current Biology 16, R402-404, June 6, 2006. www.current-biology.com


 Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

A Body Language Expert Explains Why Donald Trump's Facial Expressions Resonate With Audiences


Thursday
Mar. 24, 2016 at 1:52 pm
By Katherine Noel/Business Insider

  
Close your eyes and conjure up an image of Donald Trump. What’s the first mental picture you get?

Is he grinning from ear to ear? Or maybe shouting, his brows furrowed in anger, both arms raised in the air?

The many faces of Donald Trump have been on constant display over the last several months, plastered on newspaper covers and television screens across the world as he shouts, laughs, and fist pumps his way toward the GOP nomination.

Trump’s unbridled emotion is a key factor in his popularity among voters, according to body language expert and author Patti Wood. Wood says that Trump is better at expressing emotion — and specifically, a broad range of emotion — than any other candidate in the race.

“Trump has what we call emotional contagion,” Wood says, “meaning he has very strong, very clearly communicated emotions, and because of his charisma, those emotions transfer to the voter. So, we can’t stop watching him. If he’s on the screen, and we’re looking at several other people too, his loudness, his gestures, and his expressions all draw our attention straight to him.”
According to Wood, it’s a leader’s ability to show and communicate a broad range of emotions that translates into perceived power and charisma. Whether he’s on the national debate stage or at a small-town campaign appearance, Trump doesn’t shy away from big reactions.
“When we think of him, in our mind we have an image of him smiling, and then we have an image of him sneering,” Woods says. “It’s that vast scope of emotion, that broad band between those two extremes and his hold on it that makes him look powerful.”
Emotional expression is key to public speaking, Wood says, because it makes a speaker appear more human, relatable, and trustworthy. And the more expressive the better. She says Trump’s “electric smile” — corners of the mouth upturned, raised eyebrows, and wide eyes — provides “instant charisma.”












Because many people think effective leadership means being cool and collected, they try to repress their feelings. But experts say it’s usually better to let your passion shine through.
“We hide emotions in an attempt to stay in control, look strong, and keep things at arm’s length, but in reality, doing so diminishes our control and weakens our capacity to lead,” leadership consultant Doug Sundheim writes in the Harvard Business Review. “Genuine emotion stands in stark contrast. It’s a real person sharing a real feeling.”
“When we hear it, we’re riveted — for one because it’s rare, but also because it’s real,” he adds. “Sometimes it’s uncomfortable and a little messy. But that’s what makes it powerful.”



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

6 Secrets to Negotiating a Raise Like a Boss

6 Secrets to Negotiating a Raise Like a Boss
April 11, 2016 9:00 am by Marissa Miller














Whether you’re negotiating the terms of your contract before accepting the job or asking for a raise that reflects your value as an employee, asking for more money is a skill you’ll rely on time and again throughout your entire career. Having “The Talk” can be complicated, not to mention intimidating. But because the gender pay gap is far too wide, with women making a national average of 79 cents for every man’s dollar, championing your self-worth has never been more important.
“This is a very complicated issue, but what we do know is that the pay gap starts as soon as a woman throws her graduation cap in the air,” says Deepti Gudipati, VP of Member Leadership Programs at the American Association of University Women (AAUW), a leading organization promoting equity and education for women and girls. “The AAUW’s research shows that just one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues earn—even when they have the same major and work in the same field.”
The Equal Pay Act hasn’t been updated since 1963, so it’s up to us to institute change. Until Congress takes actionable steps toward equality, celebrate Equal Pay Day tomorrow by using these tips from the pros.
1. Choose Syntax Wisely
“Our research suggests you should pronounce the ‘give’ in negotiations rather than the ‘take.’ In salary negotiations, this means what the other party gains from you,” says Roman Trötschel, a researcher and professor in the department of social and organizational psychology at the University of Lüneburg.
First, gauge the other party’s underlying interests: What does your boss or the recruiter want, and why? “Most employees only talk about the money without emphasizing what they are willing to give. This leads to a huge power imbalance,” he says. It’s crucial to have an arsenal of evidence-backed defenses at the ready when asking for more money. Make mental notes (or better yet, a fact sheet documenting all the targets you’ve exceeded or projects you’ve initiated). Here are some safe phrases to put your boss’s mind at ease:
Through my work, the company gained x, y, and z in the last years.
If you agree, we both could win . . .
I’m offering to take on the following tasks in the future . . .
And be decisive. A recent study by Trötschel published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that saying something declarative to the effect of “I charge $50 per hour for my services” is more effective than asking, “Will you accept $50 an hour?”
2. Pose Powerfully
Sure, it’s easy to relegate yourself to the confines of email when discussing touchy topics like money, but schedule an IRL meeting with your boss and you’ll reap major financial rewards. Not only does that suggest you’re serious about making a case for yourself, but it will give you the opportunity to power pose.
A recent Harvard Business School study found that those who adopted expansive, high-power poses, as opposed to contracted ones like hand clasping, performed better during high-stakes professional settings. The study also found that nailing these nonverbal poses reduces stress and anxiety, giving you the confidence to fake it until you make it (the money that is).
3. Perfect Your Voice
It’s all in the delivery. Don’t deviate radically from your natural intonation, since that could come off as insincere, but if you have a bad case of vocal fry (a common speech trait in women where definitive statements come off as questions), now’s the time to keep it in check.
To complicate matters a bit more, a study published in NeuroImage, a Journal of Brain Function, found that your boss, regardless of their gender, may interpret a high-pitched female voice differently than a male’s, activating certain regions in the brain that may process information in a gender-discriminatory way. The (somewhat) good news? “You can train [your voice] to be lower,” says Patti Wood, president of Communication Dynamics, body language expert, and author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language & Charisma. She suggests deep relaxation using in-and-out breathing counting on the count of three to relax the vocal cords. Use caution when pepping yourself up on coffee or iced beverages, since they can shrink your vocal cords, registering your voice higher.
4. Dress the Part
If a picture can speak a thousand words, perhaps your outfit can speak a thousand bucks. Before that meeting with your boss, think critically about what you want your appearance to convey. Of course, don’t show up completely unrecognizable, but go the extra mile to iron out any creases in your blouse.
“More than anything, you have to feel your very best in whatever you’re wearing. It has to be your favorite, whether a skirt or a jacket,” says Wood. “Whatever you wear needs to have a power or comfort to it. Do what feels best for you.” Employ power colors like red and black that tend to make people feel protected and strong. Finally, Wood recommends sticking to flats since they’ll help you maintain balance both mentally and physically.
5. Visualize Success
In moments of stress, our brains tend to shut down, which does little in the way of putting your best negotiating skills forward. Instead of letting your mind travel to dark places of failure, condition it to do just the opposite.
“Actually visualize and script out your success. Think of that as an obstacle course that you’re winning,” Wood says. This way, your brain is already familiar with feelings of success, so you’ll be more confident. She says she’s seen it work wonders for clients.
6. Stay True to Your Feminine Side
Women often have a strong kind, nurturing side, and those traits often don’t fit within the traditional schema of “power.” But there’s a silver lining. “One thing you want to use in negotiation is your ability to read people,” says Wood. “We’re adept at that: being able to understand people. You can read people to know how far to push or how soft you need to be. See it as a strength.”


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Patti is one of the experts in this pod cast series: "Spot The Frogs - Find Your Prince, How to Date Differently & Create the Love You Crave"

When it comes to dating, do you ever feel like you're stuck in a vicious cycle? You attract the"wrong" guy. You flirt with, date, tolerate, and eventually break up with him, only to find yourself attracted to another "wrong" guy. 
They're frogs ... and all you want is a prince! In fact, you've considered giving up on dating all together. (I mean really ... do the good guys even exist?) 

Before you give up, I want to invite you to join me for a complimentary online interview series my friend Teagin Maddox has created, "Spot the Frogs, Find the Prince: How to Date Differently and Create the Love You Crave." It's scheduled for April 11th - May 2nd. 
Skip the reading and sign up, right here: 

Finally Find Mr. Right (http://datedifferently.com/patti)
<<< Join Us At No Cost, April 11th - May 2nd 

When you go to the link above and enroll in this complimentary event, you'll hear from Teagin, an Empowerment Coach, Post Break Up Specialist and the Founder of Date Differently, as she provides proof that you can overcome a bad track record with dating, and find real love with a great guy. (According to Teagin, yes, they DO exist!) 

You'll also hear from dating coaches, matchmakers, healers, doctors, energy workers, and other experts-including Yours Truly! We're sharing our best advice, information, tips and strategies for spotting your not-so-fantastic dating-related patterns and, more importantly, changing them so you can turn your love life around. 

You should know:
This isn't your mother's dating advice! It's specifically for people who have experienced their share of dating disasters ... because we know ordinary dating advice just isn't going to cut it. 

Here's a taste of what you'll learn when you join us:
  • The real reason you keep ending up with the "wrong" men (and what you can do about it).
  • How to deal with one major factor that has a clear (and usually negative) impact on your current dating situation, so you can put it to rest for good.
  • What's really going on when you get bored, fast, with "good" guys?
  • How to change your energy so you stop attracting frogs and start attracting princes.
  • Subtle body language cues that speak volumes about a potential suitor-what to look out for so you don't get drawn in to the wrong guys.
  • And SO much more. 
You'll leave the event empowered and inspired, and armed with what you need to identify why you're attracted to (and attracting) the wrong guys, how to spot subtle bad guy behaviors, and what to look for in a good guy ... so you can grab-and hang onto-the prince you want and deserve!
Plus, as an added "bonus," when you implement what we're teaching, you'll likely begin to experience positive results in other areas of your life, too. 

Here's that link again where you can join us
April 11th - May 2nd at no cost, for "Spot the Frogs, Find the Prince: How to Date Differently and Create the Love You Crave": 
Spot The Wrong Guys & Shut Them Down (http://datedifferently.com/patti)
<<< Join Us At No Cost 

I'm familiar with Teagin's story, and her work, and I highly recommend her. She's walked this journey, herself, and is passionate about helping other women overcome destructive dating patterns. Everything she teaches is based on real-life principles that work. 

I hope to "see" you there! 
To finding your prince, 

Patti

P.S. If your dating patterns are destructive to your life in any way, that's really all you need to know to begin making changes. Let us help you get to - and fix! - the root cause of those patterns, so you can create a new pattern of enjoying healthy, loving, fulfilling relationships. Get expert advice, here: 

Get Expert Advice On Finding Real Love(http://datedifferently.com/patti)
<<< Sign Up Here At No Cost


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.