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Does Distinctive Body Language Help Or Hurt A Candidate?

Here is my quote in the Washington Post article. 

Patti Wood, a speech coach and expert on body language, said that in recent elections, “The candidate that’s running for the presidency with the biggest, broadest gestures tends to win — the alpha male.” Trump over Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, who often appeared wooden. “The hands come out from the heart,” she said. “They communicate emotion.” They can help improve speech. “Gesturing helps you remember and reduces speech imperfections and pauses. Symbolically, it’s like opening file drawers in the brain to retrieve information to help you speak,” she explained.”

Link to 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.
     

How to Say Yes or No to Hugging

                                        How to Say Yes or No to Hugging
One of my most popular programs is Body Language and Selling and over years a subject that comes up, again and again, is hugging. My female audience members want to know how they can keep  certain client’s from inappropriate hugs and my male audience members want to know how they can tell if a woman wants to hug or just shake hands.
Recently clients have asked me to make sure I do my module on propoer touch including information on hugging because they wanted the sales group to be informed.  There are many reasons I love talking about hugging, not the least of which I have actually done research on hugging and wrote an entire chapter on hugging in one of my books.
Do They Want a Hug?
In a handshake people typically present the side of their bodies, in limbic brain response of protection of the vital organs. When someone really wants a hug they make themselves far more vulnerable by exposing all the body windows of the eye, mouth, neck, heart, ventral front, pelvis palms of the hands and toes. They open those windows wide. If they don’t want a full hug, they typically one or more of those windows, starting with averting their gaze and then presenting their shoulder closing windows by bowing down, turning away or retreating.  It happens quickly, but if your awake to the cues, bringing it from your subconscious to your conscious awareness and focusing on the other person, rather than your needs or habits its very obvious if they are open or closed and you can act accordingly.
If you move in any way you may end up feeling them pull away, perhaps giving you a London Bridge hug, where they leave the upper body in the hug and pull back their lower body making the hug less sexual or they may pat your back in move that simultaneously says, “This is not sexual and by the way, bad boy bad boy.”
How Do You Make It Clear You Don’t Want a Hug?
For women who don’t want to hug, I instruct them to start the handshake early, at as much as 6 feet away instead of the normal 4 feet or less, presenting the side of their bodies and an outstretched hand and that they keep that side right foot forward move as they approach and not smile if the person they are greeting opens up to hug disregarding their cues indicating they just want a handshake and escalating to the verbal request, “I would like to shake your hand.” Or “I am handshake person rather than a hugger.” Or “I am more comfortable shaking hands,” Remembering men as a gender don’t read cues as accurately and some men may think you are saying yes to a hug because you don’t stop advancing toward them and saying no or what you want.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/04/business/ted-baker-ray-kelvin/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0aYc4FnLTgJbfT8pp2E4K0eTeongAXSG

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.
     

Body Language of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's Steamy "Shallow" Performance Body Language Insights, Patti Wood

There's absolutely no question that Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have on-screen chemistry. Their Oscar-nominated A Star Is Born performances are testaments to that. And thanks to their clear, err, comfort levels with each other, everyone who has an internet connection has speculated that there's been an off-screen relationship brewing as well—regardless of how unfair those rumors are to Cooper's girlfriend, Irina Shayk.
There's absolutely no question that Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have on-screen chemistry. Their Oscar-nominated A Star Is Born performances are testaments to that. And thanks to their clear, err, comfort levels with each other, everyone who has an internet connection has speculated that there's been an off-screen relationship brewing as well—regardless of how unfair those rumors are to Cooper's girlfriend, Irina Shayk.
What struck body language expert Patti Wood, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma(and, frankly, everyone else watching) was their extended, atypical, unbroken eye contact.
91st Annual Academy Awards - Show
Sure, it was a carefully choreographed performance, but Wood says this mutual gaze was a “longing to touch” or a "pre-coitus" stare. "That’s why everybody went crazy watching it!" Yep. Felt that.
image

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a26515833/shallow-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper-body-language/?fbclid=IwAR3L_V5MFQKlxGhc3URZg96b5JiLt3b7UARMh8dD4nZM8vXIDBzgfVZk0RU
Patti Wood, MA, 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.
     

How to Recognize A Dangerous Person, Body Language Cues of Dangerous Person.

Contributed to  body language expert Patti Wood 
Creepy Habits Untrustworthy People Have In Common

I contributed to this article in Bustle with my body language insights from my forthcoming book on Malignant Narcissism

They Don’t Break Eye Contact
When it comes to manipulative people — see: sociopaths, narcissists, etc. — many have a habit of staring intensely at others, and making creepy amounts of eye contact. "They look at their target with [a] focused, intense gaze," body language expert Patti Wood, MA, tells Bustle, usually as a way to test boundaries. "They may do or say something uncomfortable right before or after the hypnotic gaze to test how the target responds." To figure out if the situation really is unsafe, Wood says you should break eye contact or move away, and see how they react. If they get upset, or you feel a hugeamount of relief, your intuition was likely correct.
They Dominate The Conversation
While some people just like to tell stories, manipulators will try to dominate entire conversations. "This 'over talking' involves auditory space invasion and other paralanguage factors that show they are in control," Wood says. "They are often quite charming and good storytellers, so it may be hypnotic to listen to them." But if you don't feel included, or can't get a word in, they are likely someone who doesn't have your best interests at heart.
Since narcissists tend to get really upset when things don't go their way, keep your eye out for shocking mood swings when interacting with others. As Wood says, "They can shift all their nonverbal behaviors in the blink of an eye and transform themselves."
This might include switching from really sweet, to super irritated a second later. Or they might morph into an entirely different "character" in order to get their way, Wood says. It can be so manipulative, you might not even realize it's happening until the person's already sucked you in.But the moment you do, don't be afraid to reach out for help, or to leave the situation as soon as you can.
More of the article at the link below. 


https://www.bustle.com/p/11-creepy-habits-untrustworthy-people-have-in-common-16172440?fbclid=IwAR05Zm0oWsZltPLP_EaO2wuNqLRuYNVpHFSp03V5yyorAbA6ItrFh2hSIB4

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.
     

Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth's 2019 Oscars Body Language Analyzed by Body Language Expert Patti Wood


Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth's 2019 Oscars Body Language Analyzed by Body Language Expert Patti Wood Was A Little Concerning

After tying the knot in December, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's 2019 Oscars body language gives us some insight into what their dynamic may be like as newlyweds. The two took on the red carpet together at the star-studded Vanity Fair after-party, and as you can imagine, they were the center of attention. There were plenty of pictures snapped of them and plenty of short video clips of them interacting posted all over social media. And, to figure out what all of this means, we asked some body language experts to help determine what their posture and physical connection tells us about their relationship dynamic.
Cyrus and Hemsworth are known to be pretty flirty — on the day before Valentine's Day, she even posted a hilarious meme letting her husband know that she's ready, willing, and able to get down to business. So, fans might expect that the couple would be all over each other and super passionately in love all over the red carpet. But that actually couldn't be further from the case, according to the body language experts. No, in fact, both the experts I spoke to mentioned that, in general, the couple's body language indicates that they seem to be more interested in the cameras snapping their pictures than they are in each o
"The only thing in [this] clip that indicates they are in any way a couple is that she looks up to him when he’s talking briefly but, otherwise, they’re standing so far apart and he’s stiffly standing up straight, not leaning towards her," notes Patti Wood, body language expert and author of SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma. "It’s not romantic or steamy or anything that would indicate they’re hot to trot for each other."
On the other hand, Traci Brown, body language expert and author of Persuasion Point, has a more positive take noting that his quiet distance could actually be a sign that he's "silently supporting her watching over the situation."
"There’s a brief shoulder-to-shoulder touch, but even if you look at the way they’re oriented, he steps over away from her and then turns towards the reporter to talk, rather than leaning in towards Miley to talk as a couple," says Wood. "She steps away to talk and he steps away to talk."
Wood notes that throughout her years as a body language expert, she's read plenty of celebrity couples and has never seen a dynamic quite like that of Cyrus and Hemsworth. "In this case, she steps away and answers the question and then when the reporter asks him something he steps away and turns towards the reporter," says Wood. "So, typically, in situations like that, either couples stay together or they lean in towards each other or put a wrap arm around each other and they’re answering as a couple. But because they’re both stepping away, it doesn’t bode well. It doesn’t make sense."
"Sometimes if it’s their event, one member of the couple will do that but not both," she continues. "And usually it’s a step forward instead of a step away which, again, doesn’t dismiss that as a couple by their behavior. Them being off to the side to answer typically says, 'I don’t want to be seen as a couple. I want to be the only one on camera.'"
"They take the photo and he has his arm around her briefly and she has her arm around him and then he just walks away," Wood recaps. "And I know it’s directive. I know there’s somebody saying, ‘Come with me,’ or, ‘Walk this way,’ but I would be looking for a moment between them before he walks away and he just goes. There’s no little affection touch. There’s no linger. There’s no look at her. There’s no kiss. There’s nothing. And she doesn’t look at him as he’s leaving! She looks at the guy who’s telling them that they want photos of just her, but she’s looking forward; she’s not looking at him. She’s just adjusting her dress and getting re-established for her photo. Yeah, I don’t see hot and steamy in any of this."
That being said, Brown notes that Hemsworth has his head down as he moves away from his new wife, which indicates that "he’s not that excited about" being pulled away from her.
"We see him pointed towards her with his shoulders, but she’s pointed towards the camera," notes Brown about the above image. "We know everyone was yelling her name and it was clearly her night so not surprised her energy isn’t 100 percent on him."
That being said, Hemsworth is the actor and the Oscars are for acting. So shouldn't it have been his night?


"Here she is leaning away again in the third straight pose," Brown notices. "Is there trouble in paradise or does she really just want the spotlight all to herself?"
Wood thinks it may be the latter. "They’re more about themselves than each other," she says. "That would be the overall takeaway."
Now, of course, walking red carpets and doing press events like this is all part of their jobs. So let's be sure to take that into consideration before judging them for not being more focused on each other than the task at hand.

ttps://www.elitedaily.com/p/miley-cyrus-liam-hemsworths-2019-oscars-body-language-was-a-little-concerning-16102466?fbclid=IwAR1KZ-KoP4XdKirySoKJIL22-XrRMCUN8C_QYUtudRGsecZC6m4295qg0Z4
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.