Patti Wood Body Language Expert Blog

Alzheimer's patients were far less able to smell peanut butter with their left nostrils than with their right.

I recently read in THE WEEK that their is a new Sniff test that helps doctors diagnose Alzheimer's Disease. It involves sniffing peanut butter. Alzheimer's patients were far less able to smell peanut butter with their left nostrils than with their right.
Makes me think of my occasional craving for PBJ's in a whole new light.

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.

Attention Getting "Headlines" for Your Speeches, Blogs. What is UPWorthy?

Attention Getting "Headlines" for Your Speeches, Blogs. What is UPWorthy?

Think about this when you are creating the first few lines of your next speech or blog.

I Didn't Think I'd Love This Upworthy Headline Generator. Boy, Was I Wrong.

So great.

By Chris Gayomali | November 20, 2013

Sold. (UpworthyGenerator.com)

he most popular Upworthy story of all time contains the word "wondtacular."

The post in question is about a talented 14-year-old musician who recently lost his battle with terminal cancer, and it has been viewed 17 million times and counting. It's very touching. You may have already come across it in your Facebook feed.
And if you haven't, chances are you have already encountered something eerily similar. Perhaps it was the site's second-most viewed post of all time: "See Why We Have An Absolutely Ridiculous Standard of Beauty In Just 37 Seconds" (11.8 million pageviews). Or maybe it was the instant classic: "His First 4 Sentences Are Interesting. The 5th Blew My Mind. And Made Me A Little Sick" (4.9 million). There are many, many others, and they all follow the same basic template.
This, my friend, is the wondrous world of socially engineered content. And we might as well get used to it.
For the unfamiliar, Upworthy is a progressive website built around the idea that heart-warming, life-affirming content — in this case, obscure YouTube videos unearthed by the site's editors — deserves to be put in front of as many eyeballs as possible. This is accomplished almost exlusively through social media channels like Facebook.
To give a video wings (the "up" part), Upworthy contributors write dozens of headlines for each story designed for the sole purpose of plucking your heartstrings. Then they pick the one most likely to spark an emotional reaction.
BuzzFeed's John Herrman called it 2013's reincarnation of the internet chain letter. The Atlantic's Derek Thompson, on the other hand, dubbed Upworthy "the internet's latest viral wizard."
The site's overwhelming success is enviable. At just 17 months old, Upworthy attracted 46.7 million unique visitors this past October according to ComScore, making it much more popular than many news sites. Its earnestness, exemplified by its sticky-sweet two-sentence headlines, has already been duplicated by a host of imitators, some unabashed in their flattery (Viral Nova) and others still finding their footing (Viral Conservative). Even the venerable Washington Post has launched an Upworthy-style vertical.
Ryan Holiday at Betabeat writes that what these sites (which include BuzzFeed) have in common is that they have mastered the art of "filtering and exclusively delivering only a small sliver of reality — one that is all sweet and no sweat." They provide a quick endorphin rush to make you feel warm and fuzzy — and, hopefully, generous with your clicks.
Which isn't a bad thing! But with all that success comes the inevitable blowback, which in this case has manifested itself in the Upworthy headline generator created by former BuzzFeed and Google employee Mike Lacher.
The single-serving site, which is "in no way affiliated with Upworthy," pokes fun at some of the Upworthy's more cloying attempts to snare clicks from your Facebook friends. It's quite funny, too:

I think part of the Upworthy generator's appeal is that it mockingly strips away the warm veneer that can make Upworthy feel one-dimensional. It's a gentle reminder to the feel-good economy that the world is sometimes awful and largely indifferent, and that armchair inspiration still takes place, well... in an armchair.
To say Upworthy does more harm than good is downright silly. But like most things, it's best enjoyed when you know a bit about how it actually works.
HT: Joe Puglisi

Chris Gayomali

Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Sometimes he writes about other stuff. His work has also appeared in TIME, Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic.

EDITORS' PICKS

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.

Is Eye Contact Overrated, Power and Eye Contact

Is Eye Contact Overrated?

I think that speakers make less eye contact than listeners and that is really what this research finding shows rather than any truths about debating.

Is eye contact overrated?

Don't look now, but...

By Chris Gayomali | October 3, 2013

Traditionalists and high-powered guys with Machiavelli on their Kindles will probably tell you that looking straight into another person's face and maintaining unflinching eye contact is the age-old secret to the Powers of Persuasion. In actuality, though, the opposite may be true, especially in the midst of a heated debate.
"Debate" is the operative word here. Unlike previous psychological studies analyzing the bonds forged when a mother stares into a baby's eyes, or when two lovers tenderly lock gazes, this time a team of researchers from Harvard University and the University of British Columbia sought to understand eye contact from a different vantage point: Does looking into another person's eyes really help your cause when you're trying to win an argument?
The short answer: Perhaps not. The new paper, published in the journal Psychological Science, only took a look at 20 participants, but the results are intriguing. Researchers had subjects share their opinions on contentious issues, such as affirmative action and assisted suicide, then watch recorded talks by a speaker on those same topics. At the same time, researchers used eye-tracking technology to determine when and (more importantly) if participants were looking at the eyes of the person in the recording.
When participants shared an opinion with the speaker, they were more likely to establish eye contact. But when they disagreed, suddenly their gaze was less focused. "The participants were less likely to change their opinions if they were looking into the eyes of the speaker, especially when the speaker was also looking directly at the participant, rather than to the side of the screen," says Alexander Sifferlin at TIME:

To test this again, the researchers had the participants watch more videos, but sometimes they were told to look into the speaker's eyes, and other times they were instructed to look at the speaker's lips. The participants who looked into the speaker's eyes were once again less likely to change their opinions compared to participants focusing on the speaker's lips. [TIME]

Now, most people simply aren't accustomed to making consistent eye contact. "Your eyes naturally go back and forth between the eyes and the mouth," co-author Julia Minson, a psychologist and assistant professor at Harvard, tells Forbes. "There's also some time when your eyes just wander around."
Of course, the study does have its flaws. Video interaction is a poor substitute for person-to-person interaction, so all those reactive subtleties communicated by body language are lost in transmission.
Still, not locking eyes may be your best tactic going forward if you're trying to make a point. Putting your phone away probably helps, too.

Is eye contact overrated?

Don't look now, but...

By Chris Gayomali | October 3, 2013

How to Use Tech Tools in the Doctors Office and Still Serve Your Patient.

How to Use Tech Tools in the Doctors Office and Still Serve Your Patient.
I speak to and consult with Doctors, Nurses and other Health Care professionals about body language and patient care and advise hospitals and medical offices on how to design their office space and use technology in ways that best serve the patient and the bottom line. There are 4 new tech tools that have the potential to interrupt the rapport and trust that needs to occur between the patient and the health care professional.
Steps for Using Technology in Patient Care to Show More
The most important thing to remember is to think, look at, touch and interact with the patient First before thinking about looking at, touching or interacting with technology. So for example coming in with your smart phone (that now has the EKG technology available) in your hand and ready to show the patient as you are introduced. Have it put away. Greet the patient, establish rapport, discuss the technology then show the technology in a way that makes it a part of the two of you as a unit rather than the technology as the magic device. If the patient is male that means standing or siting side by side with them as you introduce the technology if the patient is a women that means ideally interacting face to face and introducing the technology. (See my blogs and articles on side by side vs face to face.)
Below are the four new tech tools. Which ones are you using in your office.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net.

4 tech tools that are disrupting the doctor's office

Need to take an ECG? There's an app for that now.

By Carmel Lobello | THE WEEK December 17, 2013

n 2013, technology permeated health care like never before. Diagnostics came to our smartphones, robots came to our surgery rooms, and Dr. Phil invested in a startup that wants to facilitate online doctors' visits.

Here are four groundbreaking medical tools that either hit shelves or revved up development this year:

AliveCor

(Facebook/AliveCor)

A smartphone case that can charge your phone is handy, but a smartphone case that can record and transmit an ECG takes the cake. This spring, the FDA approved AliveCor, a black case with silver censors, for over-the-counter sales. The tool helps users monitor their heart palpitations by simply placing her fingers over the censors, then transmitting the recording to a doctor.

This has several benefits. First, any patient experiencing the kind of random heart arrhythmia they can't self-induce in a doctor's office can simply buy one, record when the irregularity occurs, and send the data to a doctor. After a doctor diagnoses the problem and writes a prescription, the device can also serve to gather information about how a prescription is working.

A third benefit: AliveCor can help reassure a patient with a harmless or even phantom murmur that nothing is wrong — making life a little easier for hypochondriacs and their doctors.

CellScope Oto

(Facebook/CellScope)

This one is especially beneficial for physicians who work with children, and therefore parents.

The tool is essentially a camera-fitted Otoscope (that flashlight thing doctors stick in your ear during a physical) that attaches to a smartphone. The doctor can view the inside of a patient's ear, take photos of an ear drum, and store those photos for later use. Then, when a patient has an ear ache, the doctor can compare the photos taken during a healthy physical with the new photos to both make a diagnosis, and help parents understand what's going on inside their children's ears.

If the CellScope Oto becomes available to parents, they could perform ear exams on their children and send the photos to a doctor. This could help them avoid unnecessary doctor's visits, where the kids risk picking up a bug in a waiting room.

The anesthesiologist robot

(Sedasys Video)

Anesthesiologists, some of the highest paid doctors, are responsible for administering sedation and keeping a patient ticking during surgeries. This year, Johnson & Johnson released what some are calling a robot anesthesiologist — a system named Sedasys that "automates the sedation of many patients undergoing colon-cancer screenings called colonoscopies," says The Wall Street Journal.

Anesthesiologists see big problems with the bots, warning they may not be able to respond accurately to complications. But tests so far show the machines are not only safe, but may even reduce the risk of over-sedation. And hospitals see a clear benefit: Cost. J&J will lease the machines to doctor's offices for about $150 per procedure, compared to the $600 to $2,000 that anesthesiologists typically charge.

Scanadu Scout

(Scanadu Press Releases)

This year, a Silicon Valley startup drew funding to develop a device fit for Spock: A small tricorder shaped like a hockey puck that can monitor all kinds of vital signs. By holding it up to the temple, a patient can monitor her heart rate, temperature, and respiratory rate as well as measure oxygen levels in blood, and run an electrocardiogram.

This could be a kind of holy grail of telemedicine — something that allows patients to communicate a lot of health data quickly and remotely to their doctors.

Again, this could help nervous types avoid unnecessary emergency visits, and allow doctors to urge those in trouble to go to the emergency room stat. Scanadu hopes to have it set and ready to ship by early 2015.

Why Justin Bieber is the perfect narcissist

Why Justin Bieber is the perfect narcissist

I have been researching and writing quite a bit lately on Narcissism. I am particularly interested in how to recognize them from their nonverbal behavior and how those behaviors may assist them in becoming successful.

Why Justin Bieber is the perfect narcissist

Beliebe in the academic research on self-infatuation

By Keith Wagstaff | October 8, 2013

Consider the Bieber. The 19-year-old pop star has repeatedly engaged in reckless behavior with little consideration for those around him, regularly pairs tank tops with gold chains, and once said that if Anne Frank were alive today, she "would have been a Belieber."
In other words, he is a massive narcissist. (Also in this category: Miley Cyrus). But how did he get that way?
Luckily, there is a wealth of academic information that explains the self-absorbed media sensation that is Justin Bieber. Let's look at the four qualities researchers have recently linked with a high probability of narcissism.
Creativity
In a new study published in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity, British researchers found that people who think of themselves as creative and who engage in creative activities are more likely to display narcissistic tendencies.
First, subjects were asked to rate how creative they were, and how many creative activities (like writing a poem or choreographing a dance) they had participated in over the last year. Then they were asked to answer questions from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.
It turns out that agreeing with statements like "I am more capable than other people" was "the variable that most strongly predicted not only self-assessed creativity (no surprise there), but also engagement in creative activities," according to Tom Jacobs at Pacific Standard.
In a previous study, Cornell researchers found that narcissistic people were better at selling their creative ideas — in this case, movie concepts. Ideas were accepted more often when pitched by a narcissist, even when judged unimpressive on paper. Jacobs sums up the link between narcissism and creativity thusly:

There's no evidence at this point that narcissists are more creative than the rest of us. But there is evidence that they think they are, and that that belief drives them to try their hand at various creative pursuits. [Pacific Standard]

Wealth
Another sign of narcissism: Wealth. This summer, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, published a study that showed that people who were wealthy scored higher on a series of four tests meant to measure narcissism. One them involved a mirror, which moneyed subjects were more likely to use before getting their picture taken.
Not only that, the effects scaled up, meaning that "the wealthier you were, the more entitled and narcissistic you were," according to PBS.
Obsession with social media
Research has also shown that narcissists are more active on social media. The young and self-absorbed especially prefer Twitter, which one study called a "means of amplifying one's own perceived superiority to others."

Facebook, on the other hand, was used by narcissists to curate a positive image of themselves. Science has yet to determine where Instagram selfies rank against other social media phenomena, but considering the top hashtag on Instagram is #me, there is a good chance there is a link to narcissistic behavior.
Youth
Speaking of young people, a study by San Diego State University professor Jean M. Twenge found that millennials scored 30 percent higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory than young people from the 1970s. More college students today, according to Twenge, rank themselves as "above average" and use more first-person singular pronouns in their writing.
Not everyone agrees with her research. Some critics point out that young people are intrinsically more self-absorbed than older people, no matter the generation, while others note that she only talked to young people from elite colleges, who don't represent millennials as a whole.
Of course, any of these academic studies could be overturned in the future. Like IQ tests, many question whether the Narcissistic Personality Inventory is flawed.
Still, the research over the past few years does paint a pretty convincing picture of what makes a person narcissistic. A millennial singer with a huge social media following who has enough money to crash his Ferrari into a photographer? Yeah, that sounds like this guy: