Body Language Experts Analyze the Royal Family at Prince Louis's Christening Prince William's facial expressions say EVERYTHING.

"Prince William gives off this 'photos ... now ... really?' vibe," Susan Constantine, human behavioral expert and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Reading Body Language, tells GoodHousekeeping.com. "His pursed lips, intense eyes, and stern face show he was irritated with the moment, not his family."

Still, he takes initiative and serves as the protector of his family. He takes charge with Prince George and Princess Charlotte (TBH, they probably are the real bosses here) and instructs them to greet the Archbishop of Canterbury. "It's evident that he's an active father and totally present with his children in this moment," explains Constantine. "He divides (and conquers) his attention between George and Charlotte, while still keeping Kate and his newborn nearby."

Kate, on the other hand, is cradling the person of the hour: Prince Louis. "Her hand is perfectly bent to cradle the baby, giving him a security," says Wood. "But what's really significant is Kate's spontaneous and joyous expression, a rather unusual sight compared to her shy and restrained demeanor." Her open-toothed smile and raised eyebrows indicate that she's attentive and experiencing some kind of surprise (joking by the Archbishop, perhaps?).

"Her 'up' body language literally brings up the energy of those around her, including spectators like us," Wood tells us. "The definition in her neck, open mouth, and raised eyebrows show that she's not only listening to what the Archbishop has to say but she's actually interested."

Following the service, the family exited the Chapel giving us one of their finest Kodak moments yet. We're talking Christmas card 2018 material.

 "In this moment, Kate's face is nearly identical to when she exited the Lindo wing after giving birth," says Wood. "She's totally enamored with this baby and exclaiming 'OMG, look at what we did!'"

Take a look for yourself:

Later in the day, Prince William has also eased up a bit and looks more relaxed in this moment, according to Constantine. "Even better, the family is walking in unison and their feet mirror one another's." Same goes for Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Precious!

But it's not all about Kate, William, and their adorable offspring: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also gave us something to gush about. "When leaving, Meghan reaches for Harry's hand, which is obviously a norm for her," says Constantine. "However, she quickly pulls back because she knows that's not royal protocol." Meghan, the heart wants what it wants, eh?

 The bottom line: This family's love knows no bounds. The body language experts agree that Prince William and Kate Middleton are doting parents and 100% smitten with their little ones. Plus, Kate has totally mastered carrying a sleeping baby while walking in stilettos. Now, that's a true queen ... we mean, Duchess.

Link t article: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a22094009/prince-louis-christening-body-language/

Patti Wood, MA - 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.
     

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

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.

What Are Emotion Expressions For?

Ever wonder why we raise our eyebrows in surprise? Do you want to know why people smile when they meet a stranger or the reason why teenage girls scrunch up their noses in disgust at their parent’s rules? Why do we have common facial expressions for emotions?  Here is a new research study that explains the origin of facial expressions.

What Are Emotion Expressions For?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2012) — That cartoon scary face -- wide eyes, ready to run -- may have helped our primate ancestors survive in a dangerous wild, according to the authors of an article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The authors present a way that fear and other facial expressions might have evolved and then come to signal a person's feelings to the people around him.

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The basic idea, according to Azim F. Shariff of the University of Oregon, is that the specific facial expressions associated with each particular emotion evolved for some reason. Shariff cowrote the paper with Jessica L. Tracy of the University of British Columbia. So fear helps respond to threat, and the squinched-up nose and mouth of disgust make it harder for you to inhale anything poisonous drifting on the breeze. The outthrust chest of pride increases both testosterone production and lung capacity so you're ready to take on anyone. Then, as social living became more important to the evolutionary success of certain species -- most notably humans -- the expressions evolved to serve a social role as well; so a happy face, for example, communicates a lack of threat and an ashamed face communicates your desire to appease.

The research is based in part on work from the last several decades showing that some emotional expressions are universal -- even in remote areas with no exposure to Western media, people know what a scared face and a sad face look like, Shariff says. This type of evidence makes it unlikely that expressions were social constructs, invented in Western Europe, which then spread to the rest of the world.

And it's not just across cultures, but across species. "We seem to share a number of similar expressions, including pride, with chimpanzees and other apes," Shariff says. This suggests that the expressions appeared first in a common ancestor.

The theory that emotional facial expressions evolved as a physiological part of the response to a particular situation has been somewhat controversial in psychology; another article in the same issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science argues that the evidence on how emotions evolved is not conclusive.

Shariff and Tracy agree that more research is needed to support some of their claims, but that, "A lot of what we're proposing here would not be all that controversial to other biologists," Shariff says. "The specific concepts of 'exaptation' and 'ritualization' that we discuss are quite common when discussing the evolution of non-human animals." For example, some male birds bring a tiny morsel of food to a female bird as part of an elaborate courtship display. In that case, something that might once have been biologically relevant -- sharing food with another bird -- has evolved over time into a signal of his excellence as a potential mate. In the same way, Shariff says, facial expressions that started as part of the body's response to a situation may have evolved into a social signal.

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.