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Body Language Recommendations for networking event, group job interviews, group auditions and reality show competitions and parties.

A client of mine, who is now being considered for a reality show, recently sought some last minute coaching advice. Here are my rough notes to him that you may want to consider and adapt for your use when you are at a meeting or job interview networking event.  


1.       Be very present and connect with each person you speak with.

2.      Focus on them completely when you’re with them. That is the number one behavior of a charismatic person.

3.      If you are in room with other candidates, producers etc., get there early, stand near the door and introduce yourself and introduce people to each other.  

4.      You are a life of the party guy, very smart and very witty and I would coach you to be your wonderful self.

5.      Find something fun and cleaver to say about the day, the food or the ambiance.

6.      Find a fellow auditionee to have a little fun and laugh with so they can see how much fun you would be as a team member.

7.      Spend quality time with and make yourself memorable to the decision makers thank them at the beginning and be the last one to thank them at the end be grateful and happy to have a chance to be there.

8.     I was so impressed with you and your fun lively story telling ability when I we worked together I know they will love you.  

  • Most important get out sticky notes or 3 by  5 cards
  • Write questions you know they will ask
  • Write questions you hope they won’t ask
  • What situations your fear may come up one question/fear for each sticky note.
  • Turn each note over and come up with an answer you are comfortable with.
  • Come up with a few questions you can ask others to open them up and get them comfortable
  • Mix it up, be serious and be funny mix it up. Then have a few friends take the sticky notes and ask you the questions


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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 21, 2012

If you don't ask, you don't get.

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.

Retouching the void The WTC memorials impossible Compromises. Public space and nonverbal communication.

I just read an excellent article in Harpers Magazine. Mark Kingwell a professor o f philosophy at the University of Toronto talks about the effects of public space and interviews the architect of the World Trade Center Memorial.

The architect waxes profound about what he wanted to achieve with the controversial memorial. It is what he said about its meaning when asked by a security guard at the site that expressed it the best. “Well, I wanted to create a voiced—Two cascading voids.”  How interesting he should say that.  I think that is what 9/11 gave us. How simple a memorial. Something that doesn’t rise up to celebrate but instead recedes with tears of grief into a void.


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.

Watch Patti on HLN and CNN regarding the Zimmerman Bond Hearing


I was just called to do several media interviews on Zimmerman’s body language during his bond hearing and I will be on HLN at EST and CNN tonight between 7:00 and 8:30. I will have the videos of the interviews up on my YOUTUBE channel tomorrow if you don’t see the shows tonight.

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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 20, 2012

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 19, 2012

All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 18, 2012

If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

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.

Cell Phone Exposure May Prevent and Reverse Alzheimer's Disease


After  years of being told that cell phone use is bad for you here is some good news

I just read cell phone exposure may prevent and reverser Alzheimer’s disease

on scitech-news (one of my research junkie sites.) Here is the link and the article.

What do you think? t


Cell phone exposure may prevent and reverse alzheimer’s disease
1/16/2010 08:17:00 AM Publicado porJorge Franchín
Etiquetas:
Medicine

The millions of people who spend hours every day on a cell phone may have a new excuse for yakking. A surprising new study in mice provides the first evidence that long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves associated with cell phone use may actually protect against, and even reverse, Alzheimer's disease.

The study, led by University of South Florida researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

"It surprised us to find that cell phone exposure, begun in early adulthood, protects the memory of mice otherwise destined to develop Alzheimer's symptoms," said lead author Gary Arendash, PhD, USF Research Professor at the Florida ADRC. "It was even more astonishing that the electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones actually reversed memory impairment in old Alzheimer's mice."

The researchers showed that exposing old Alzheimer's mice to electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones erased brain deposits of the harmful protein beta-amyloid, in addition to preventing the protein's build-up in younger Alzheimer's mice. The sticky brain plaques formed by the abnormal accumulation of beta amyloid are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Most treatments against Alzheimer's try to target beta-amyloid.

The highly-controlled study allowed researchers to isolate the effects of cell phone exposure on memory from other lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise. It involved 96 mice, most of which were genetically altered to develop beta-amyloid plaques and memory problems mimicking Alzheimer's disease as they aged. Some mice were non-demented, without any genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's, so researchers could test the effects of electromagnetic waves on normal memory as well.

Both the Alzheimer's and normal mice were exposed to the electromagnetic field generated by standard cell phone use for two 1-hour periods each day for seven to nine months. The mice didn't wear tiny headsets or have scientists holding cell phones up to their ears; instead, their cages were arranged around a centrally-located antenna generating the cell phone signal. Each animal was housed the same distance from the antenna and exposed to electromagnetic waves typically emitted by a cell phone pressed up against a human head.

If cell phone exposure was started when the genetically-programmed mice were young adults -- before signs of memory impairment were apparent -- their cognitive ability was protected. In fact, the Alzheimer's mice performed as well on tests measuring memory and thinking skills as aged mice without dementia. If older Alzheimer's mice already exhibiting memory problems were exposed to the electromagnetic waves, their memory impairment disappeared. Months of cell phone exposure even boosted the memories of normal mice to above-normal levels. The memory benefits of cell phone exposure took months to show up, suggesting that a similar effect in humans would take years if cell phone-level electromagnetic exposure was provided.

Based on their promising and unexpected findings in mice, the researchers concluded that electromagnetic field exposure could be an effective, non-invasive and drug-free way to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease in humans. They are currently evaluating whether different sets of electromagnetic frequencies and strengths will produce more rapid and even greater cognitive benefits than those found in their current study.

"If we can determine the best set of electromagnetic parameters to effectively prevent beta-amyloid aggregation and remove pre-existing beta amyloid deposits from the brain, this technology could be quickly translated to human benefit against AD" said USF's Chuanhai Cao, PhD, the other major study author. "Since production and aggregation of β-amyloid occurs in traumatic brain injury, particularly in soldiers during war, the therapeutic impact of our findings may extend beyond Alzheimer's disease."

The memory test used to evaluate the effects of cell phone exposure in mice was closely designed from a sensitive test used to determine if Alzheimer's disease, or its very early signs (mild cognitive impairment), are present in humans. "Since we selected electromagnetic parameters that were identical to human cell phone use and tested mice in a task closely analogous to a human memory test, we believe our findings could have considerable relevance to humans," Arendash said.

The researchers found a slight increase in brain temperature during the two one-hour periods when mice were exposed to electromagnetic waves each day. This increase in brain temperature was seen only in the Alzheimer's mice, and only after months of exposure. The researchers suggest the increase in brain temperature helped the Alzheimer's brain to remove newly-formed beta-amyloid by causing brain cells to release it.

The researchers were particularly surprised to discover that months of cell phone exposure actually boosted the memory of non-demented (normal mice) to above-normal levels. They suspect that the main reason for this improvement involves the ability of electromagnetic exposure to increase brain activity, promoting greater blood flow and increased energy metabolism in the brain. "Our study provides evidence that long-term cell phone use is not harmful to brain," Dr. Cao said. "To the contrary, the electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phones could actually improve normal memory and be an effective therapy against memory impairment"

"It will take some time to determine the exact mechanisms involved in these beneficial memory effects," Arendash said. "One thing is clear, however - the cognitive benefits of long-term electromagnetic exposure are real, because we saw them in both protection- and treatment-based experiments involving Alzheimer's mice, as well as in normal mice."

Previous human studies of electromagnetic waves from cell phones involved only brief exposures given to normal humans. While some studies reported small improvements in attention or memory (not enough to impact daily life), others reported no memory effects from short-term exposure. The new study by Arendash, Cao, and their colleagues is the first to investigate the effects of long-term electromagnetic exposure over many months on memory function in either humans or animals. The findings indicate that "long-term" exposure to cell phone level electromagnetic waves is needed to observe enhanced memory in normal or memory-impaired mice.

The USF researchers began investigating the effects of cell phone use on Alzheimer's disease several years ago, after several observational studies in humans linked a possible increased risk of Alzheimer's with "low-frequency" electromagnetic exposure -- like the energy waves generated by power and telephone lines. However, cell phones emit "high-frequency" electromagnetic waves, which are very different because they can have beneficial effects on brain cell function, such as increasing brain cell activity, Arendash said.

There has been recent controversy about whether electromagnetic waves from cell phones cause brain cancer. Some researchers argue that the risk of glioma (40 percent of all brain tumors) doubles after 10 or more years of cell phone use. However, others argue that since the overall lifetime risk of developing a brain tumor of any type is less than 1 percent, any doubling of this risk would still be very low. Groups such as the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, and the National Institutes of Health, have all concluded that scientific evidence to date does not support any adverse health effects associated with the use of cell phones. Consistent with the view of these organizations, the researchers found no autopsy evidence of abnormal growth in brains of the Alzheimer's mice following many months of exposure to cell phone-level electromagnetic waves. They also found all major peripheral organs, such as the liver and lungs, to be normal.
(Photo: USF)
University of South Florida
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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 17, 2012

Get outside every day.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

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.

How to Avoid a Hug

This is an excerpt from Patti's new book "SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" coming out this Fall 




The Hug Dodge

                So, you’re not a hugger and this whole hugging thing makes you a bit uneasy. There are many motivations for dodging a hug and more than one method to do it. It was front-page news in the Irish press with Bono, of the rock group U2 admitted that he dodged a hug from then-President George W. Bush by jumping behind a podium on the stage as the affectionate Bush came near him. Bono said he didn’t feel like being the recipient of a hug from someone he disagreed with on so many things.



                I’m a hugger, so I don’t worry about people hugging me. But I know there have been times when someone didn’t want to hug with me. Not everyone is a hugger. When you hug, you expose the front of your body, opening all of your body windows. It can make some people feel vulnerable. Others feel that hugs are too personal and intimate and even too sexual for everyday interactions in business and with acquaintances. Thankfully, their body language cues will let you know very quickly whether they are huggers.



What if I don’t want a hug?

                Carol, a pharmaceutical sales rep in my sales presentation skills class asked, “What if I don’t want a hug? Some of the physicians I call on immediately give me a hug and I am just not into that.”  This is a frequent question for women in business. The good news, Carol and all, “I am not a hugger” gals and guys, there is a systematic technique to avoid the hug.

                 If you see the potential hugger with both hands and arms raised and chest thrust out in the “hug” position, do the following:

1.      Break eye contact

2.      Step forward on your right foot (This is your “handshaking foot” – the foot that normally moves first for a handshake)

3.      Present only the right side of your body, which effectively closes off your body windows

4.      Extend your right hand for a handshake. (You can choose to make eye contact again at this point)

5.      After touching, step back outside the intimate zone of space to signal you are done, and you don’t want to follow the handshake with a hug. This step also sends the signal that not only is the hug unwanted now, but also unwanted in the future.

If extending the arm and presenting the right side doesn’t stop the hugger, wrap your left arm around the person’s shoulder. This way it becomes a side-to-side hug rather than a frontal hug. You can also pat their back or shoulder to insure you indicate you don’t want a sexual interaction.

The hug dodge does two things:

1.      It signals in those important milliseconds that you are initiating a handshake interaction.

2.      It closes and protects the windows of your body

Macey, a drop-dead gorgeous client of mine came in for a coaching session after receiving the hug dodge training in our previous session. She said, “I feel so empowered. Yesterday I was at a meeting. My boss’s boss, who goes in for the really uncomfortable, feel you up kind of hug approached me with his arms out at the meeting last week. I was able to use the hug dodge to change it to a much more comfortable handshake. I realized at once how powerless and uncomfortable I typically feel when I have had to interact with him after one of his inappropriately sexual hugs.”  


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.

Life Lesson Quote for April 14, 2012

Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will.  Stay in touch.

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.

Casablanca "Here is looking at your kid" - drinks for a Casablanca party night.


Rick's toast to Ilsa, "Here's looking at you, kid",  that is used several times in the movie Casablanca , is not in the draft screenplays, but has been attributed to something Bogart said to Bergman as he taught her poker between takes. It was voted the 5th most memorable line in cinema in AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute.

I just got Turner Classic Movie 70th anniversary edition remastered version of Casablanca

I just looked up the beverages that were consumed in the movie to inspire choices for a Casablanca movie viewing Party. In the Movie Casablanca the characters drank  Champagne, Champagne cocktails, wine, cognac, Cointreau, and bourbon. Nonverbally drinking all that alcohol effects the body language of the characters throughout the movie. They are looking off in the distance as they wait for a drink, they look at the drinks they look at each other and then the drinks.  This show the hopelessness and trapped feelings they have  at the onset of war. The alcohol is their escape from reality . Wow! You could get very tipsy if you played  a drinking game had people raise our glasses and drink every time they drink or toast in the movie.

Here is what I found on the internet at http://www.wineintro.com/movies/casablanca/ everything below is from this website.

From the start of the story right through the end, wine and Champagne were key elements..

The movie begins with Rick finishing a glass of Champagne. It's sad that in those days they used the giant-bowl glasses, which aren't very good for saving bubbles or flavor in a bubbly! Ugarte comes over with the two passes, and goes through two glasses of cognac.

Cut over to Yvonne, drowning her sorrows in Rick's private stock of brandy. I've tried to figure out which it is, but the picture is too small for me to see. She's soon escorted home by Sacha.

Now Major Strasser enters, and Captain Renault kindly suggests he try the Veuve Cliquot '26, a very good year for this Champagne. Laszlo and Ilsa come in and order two glasses of Cointreau. Renault seems to be fond of Champagne, because in a few minutes he joins the couple, and orders a bottle of Champagne for them (although, we might note, not the '26). Lazlo heads up to the bar before it arrives, and Renault meets him there and orders a pair of Champagne Cocktails. These people like to drink!

Later that evening, Rick is depressed over seeing Ilsa and goes most of the way through a bottle of bourbon. He starts remembering their days in Paris. This involves they drinking Cordon Rougue Champagne in his apartment, with the famous "Here's looking at you, kid" line. Later in La Belle Aurore, a little club, they're trying to get through the remaining bottles of Cordon Rougue before the Germans get into town. They even threaten to pour it in the garden rather than let the Germans get it. Their final kiss knocks over the glass.

The next morning in the Blue Parrot, Rick and Ferrari share a bourbon together. At Rick's later on, Yvonne and her new German soldier lover order "French 75s" at the bar. Carl, the waiter, then brings "the finest brandy" to the Leuchtags, who are preparing to leave for Lisbon. It appears to be Hennessey Cognac. Rick's drinking brandy when he chats with Annina, and then Laszlo comes in with Ilsa and order two cognacs. When Rick lets Annina win their 'escape fare', Carl pours a brandy for Rick in thanks.

Now we go through perhaps the longest wine-free stretch of the entire movie, until Ilsa gets into Rick's apartment. After the "pause" they are sipping Champagne on the couch. Then Laszlo comes into the bar, and Rick goes down to pour him some brandy

Six lines from Casablanca appeared in the AFI list, the most of any film (Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz tied for second with three apiece). The other five are:

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" – 20th

"Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'" – 28th

"Round up the usual suspects" – 32nd

"We'll always have Paris" – 43rd

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all

One of the lines most closely associated with the film — "Play it again, Sam" — is a misquotation.[120][121] When Ilsa first enters the Café Americain, she spots Sam and asks him to "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake." After he feigns ignorance, she responds, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." Later that night, alone with Sam, Rick says, "You played it for her, you can play it for me," and "If she can stand it, I can! Play it!"

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.