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Death of the Business Card? Should You Still Exchange Business Cards?

I was reading a blog post from Bruce Turnkell about the new way to exchange business cards. I know you can bump my IPhone with another IPhone to exchange contact information but this is a way to share your contact information with an entire audience. I still lament the loss of opportunities to get in close proximity and create more intimacy. The old business card exchange gives you an opportunity to get close and shake hands and or touch hands as you share your card then linger a bit as you read the person's card. Then you have the concrete object that becomes, albeit for a brief time, a part of you. Here is the scoop from Bruce.

"Imagine my surprise when I met with my old friend Marcos the other day and asked him for his business card. “I don’t carry them anymore” he said. “Just text my name to 65047.” I did as he instructed. A few seconds later all his contact information arrived as an SMS message on my phone, ready to be copied into Outlook, friended on Facebook, and followed on Twitter.
“Now that you’re registered I can send you anything,” he went on enthusiastically, “updates, promotions, special deals and coupons. Because it’s all opt-in, people can cancel whenever they want so there’s never any spam. My company has just two employees but we’re using the most sophisticated mobile marketing out there.”
The minute I got back to my office I went online, looked up the company and signed up for my own mobile account. Now, when I speak at conferences or meet people at networking events, I tell them to text “Turkel” (my keyword) to 65047. They get back an instant message from me with my contact information and their cell phone number automatically goes into my database where I can let them know where I’m speaking, announce my new blog post or tell them anything I think they’ll find valuable.
Best of all, it’s an easy and inexpensive way to add mobile marketing to your promotions arsenal with almost no barrier to entry. If you’re in the cruise line, airline or hotel business you can expand your yield management programs by sending special offers to your customers at the very last minute. If you’re in the restaurant business, you can offer specials – two for one, say, or a free glass of wine – at the exact moment when you have empty seats. If you run a CVB, you can issue travel deals when you see your stakeholders’ RevPAR dropping. Bloggers can announce their latest post in real time. Bakeries can let people know when the muffins are fresh out of the oven. Heck, you can use the technology to tell your softball team when you’re practicing or tell your friends when you’re going to the beach. The opportunities are endless; those are just the first few I came up with. Talk about yield management – now you can reach your customers right on their phones with time-stamped promotions.
All you need to do is click here and visit the Momares.com site. The trial is free, the process is simple and after just a few minutes you’ll be a mobile marketer too. If you type in the promo code TURKEL, Marcos will add an additional 50 messages to your account for free. And if you send me an e-mail with your new keyword, I’ll text you back and be your first customer."


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.

A Casual Tone of Voice In an Emergency. Story of Fireman on Scene of the Accident.

Recently a fire fighter on the scene of an accident used his cell phone to video tape the body of the victim, a young girl. How horrible.
I just watched a Today show interview of the parents of the young girl who was killed in the car accident. Yes, a fireman here in Georgia took a video at the scene of the accident.The fireman took a video and sent it to friends. Besides the obvious horror of having someone taking a video of your deceased loved one and treating it like entertainment, what disturbed the parents was the casual tone of voice of the Emergency workers on the scene.
The voices showed no urgency. Certainly the emergency workers had seen tragic accidents before, but where was the urgency to match the situation.
I have written that when the nonverbal cues don't match the situation we feel uncomfortable. This horrible situation reminds us to have a sense of honor and respect.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=39737492?
A year ago

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.

Deception Detection, What Does It Mean When Someone Breaks Out in a Sweat?

Uncover Deception.
When you know details of a transgression that the suspect does not know you now look at their nonverbal response when you reveal details to them. An Innocent person would not get nervous when details about something they didn't do are revealed. Below is a powerful story from a workshop participant who saw this work. My guess, in the story described, is that the suspected thief had prepared for the big questions but when the questioner knew small specific details it tended to make the guilty person feel more exposed and nervous.


I was in a deception detection session with you this past summer. In October I went to a European country, I won't name, to look into allegations that our ---- was stealing from us. I took part in complicated interviews with the subject and our accountants that were largely conducted in his language because neither the ---our accountants were fluent enough in English to deal with such a stressful situation and get the meaning right. So my U.S. colleague and I were dependent on our watching skills more than our listening skills. At first I was unable to sense any change in tone, speed, or bodily position as the --- lied to us for about an hour. That is, until we got to questions where we had details. When the accountant started that line of questions, the --- broke out into a sweat that was visible on his face. Your speech helped me recognize the change. You said knowing details even seemingly small ones helps. And sure enough the details were part of a fairly minor transgression compared to the real theft!), I knew enough not to let go of that issue until we had proof that he had committed a crime.

Thanks for speaking to us. I had no idea I would be putting what I’d learned to use so quickly.


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.

The Body Language of Listening

I did an interview for Cosmopolitan recently.
The piece is how to gloss over certain situations that can be awkward. One particular section was supposed to be on how to fake listen, but I gave body language cues on listening and discussed the research that shows that faking listening actually requires more physical and mental energy and stresses the body more that actually listening. Also, how not giving the body language cues of listening can actually make the conversation go longer because the person doesn't feel heard, so they repeat themselves. See my other posts on listening.


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.

Dog Body Language Mischa Barton and Patti Wood in LA at Pup-peroni Couch Talk Event

Paw Mischa! Barton takes pets to dog therapy... as she reveals anger at 'messed up' presenter Fearne Cotton
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:10 AM on 15th October 2010
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A smiling Mischa Barton poses with her dogs as she takes them for a spot of pet therapy in Los Angeles.
But behind her happy facade, the actress has revealed she is absolutely furious with British presenter and radio personality Fearne Cotton.
Barton, 24, let Cotton, 29, film her for an episode of her 'Fearne and ...' show for ITV2 - and she is not impressed with the way she was portrayed.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1320665/Mischa-Barton-reveals-anger-messed-presenter-Fearne-Cotton.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz12jSq6pvI


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.