A Body Language Expert Breaks Down
This Group's Collective Gesture
Here's an image that Kentucky University
basketball fans can probably relate to after Sunday's last-second loss in the
NCAA Tournament to the University of North Carolina.
Video of fans riding an emotional rollercoaster at a sports bar during the
last 20 seconds of the game — which ended in a two-point defeat for Kentucky
and a trip to the Final Four for UNC— went
viral on Twitter after the game. As the weight of the loss settled
in, many expressed their dismay with the same non-verbal cue: hands on the top
of the head, elbows out to the side.
The pose actually resembles a conventional "power pose" — but with one subtle change, body language expert Patti Wood told ATTN:
The pose actually resembles a conventional "power pose" — but with one subtle change, body language expert Patti Wood told ATTN:
This is actually a "slight variation in a cue that means almost
exactly the opposite to what they're using it for in this instance," Wood
said.
Traditionally, the "crown-and-cape" pose — as Wood defines it —
is used when a person wants or has power over a situation. Think about a business
executive leaning back in their chair, hands behind their head and elbows
extended outward.
The hand
placement is important from a body language perspective, Wood explained. Most
of the Kentucky fans have their hands on the top of their head, as opposed to
behind their head, and that's meant "to protect from a blow." "What's
interesting is that combination of the elbows out with the hands on top of the
head for protection," Wood said. "It's a mixture of, 'Oh my god, we
had the power and we lost it.' You've got the combination of the cape, which
would have been a win, and the hands on top — we lost the win."
If you watch the
video, you can understand where that emotional combination comes from. Down
three points with 10 seconds on the clock, Kentucky's Malik Monk gets the
ball and makes an impressive shot from the three-point line, tying up the game.
Then UNC's Luke Maye answers by
hitting the game winning shot with less than a second left on the
clock, ripping the rug out from under Kentucky fans' feet.
"There's a unity of emotion — you're
feeling it as a group together and that's what that photo is showing,"
Wood said. "You're all feeling that same loss in that moment."
Link to actual article:
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.
