What Makes Someone Look Like They Are Lying, Guilty and or Evil. The Body Language of Evil Eyebrows.

Notice the downward sloping of the inner eyebrow. Yes, that is controllable. That is something facial muscles can do in response to the suppression of the truth. If you don’t lie all the time you don’t have it!

I have a chapter on eye behavior in my book Success Signals. I talk about eyebrows a deception in my deception detection program and I discuss the research on eyebrow placement and malignant narcissism in my forthcoming book. I just happened to see a photo of him in a news story and when I looked up his name there were many more that showed the same characteristic. Body language of Chauvin during his murder trial.

Police Defendant Dereck Chauvin's Body Language During his Trial for the Murder by Body Language Expert Patti Wood

Body language of Chauvin hearing his guilty verdict in this video https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2402584/Jury-finds-Derek-Chauvin-guilty-killing-George-Floyd.html 

The fear is clear in the tenseness of the lower eyelids and the way he is raising his upper eyelids the rapid eye movement is him processing the verdict as anyone would first in the emotional limbic brain and going over to the neocortex to the logical thinking brain to decide how to respond. The rapid movement shows his constant attempt to first feel fearful, understand what is being said, and stay calm over and over again. But mixed with the fear are also nonverbal indications of anger, see when his eyebrows lower slightly and are drawn together along with the lower eyelid tension so we see him glaring. I had enough baseline of his normal to detect his shift from fear to anger in these few moments. I would say he did not expect his behavior to have reached this judgment. Remember he had been reprimanded but not fired for similar behavior (kneeling on someone) before this and anyone would be fearful of guilty judgment.

Here’s the story about the moment he spoke to the court and the video itself.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9474599/Derek-Chauvin-trial-Defense-set-call-final-witnesses.html What is striking here is his very erect posture and bearing see how it seems that there is an invisible rod through his back and up through his neck. This is perfect professional posture and indicates he is very aware of his circumstances and surroundings. Also, notice this way he is holding the microphone down away from his face and his heart and instead over his torso with his fingers only lightly holding it with the tips of his fingers extended. He may have been coached to hold the mike in this relaxed unguarded way, but in any case, this placement and grip make it appear he is not tense. You do see The tell of his anxiety his clipped, tense, rapid replies. I coach people to be expert witnesses and to testify before congress and while lawyers tend to coach clients to give short responses, I coach them to breathe and give relaxed naturally voiced responses that are credible. Of course, he is responding to questions about understanding about not testifying but his paralanguage, that is voice tone, tempo, speaking rate, high voice, etc. and his focus on looking at his lawyer in a way that makes it look like he searching for approval that he is doing ok and making the right choice make him sound scared.  The one "tell" that makes him look a bit smug is his chin placement. Chin placement is a key place to read for someone's level of confidence. Confidence is shown when the chin is held at the center.  He holds his neck arched out at one point and throughout holds his chin up above “the centerline” showing he feels superior. I think that is telling because it's very hard to consciously control the chin placement when under stress, so it tends to go to its natural baseline of that person's normal.

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2399020/Video-Minneapolis-cop-Derek-Chauvin-invokes-Fifth-Amendment.html

 

 The defence’s closing statement, where Chauvin took off his mask for the first prolonged period throughout the trial. We didn’t get to see much of him because the camera was focused on his attorney and insight on why the defence would have him take the mask off just for that section.

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9488203/Derek-Chauvin-trial-Defense-argues-closing-statement-cops-actions-reasonable.html

https://twitter.com/CourtTV/status/1384559990665584640

 I think the mask off was an attempt to have the jury read him and potentially see him be emotional. The background of court trials recently has been controversial in some legal trials they have delayed going forward for fear their defendant won’t be seen on zoom or under a mask as a human/innocent/real. It’s a big concern.

 NOTE TAKING

Many of my clients, curious have asked me about his note-taking. It is standard practice for me to coach my executive and politician clients to “take notes” in court cases, testimony, debates and congressional hearing so they will stay focused and occupied, have something to do with their hands as hands often go to “Self Comfort Cues” and overall not be as nervous and NOT GIVE AS MANY TELLS” I give caveats to that advice however saying it's important at times to show respect, caring, and concern partiality.

 These caveats were not coached and or shown by him. Because he was labeled as unfeeling and lacking emotion before the trial it was a mistake for him to do it so often. Here the lack of emotion during very painful testimony may have affected the jury’s impression of him negatively. And you have that chin up and often shoulders back as he is taking notes. He looks more natural and humane (that is humane, not human) when he is relaxed down in his chair here.  The constant note-taking and the chin-up which can be seen even with a mask on may have been the reason some people labeled him as looking unfeeling or even labeling him as a sociopath. Every individual has their baseline normal behavior that I use to do a read and we have a standard of normal nonverbal behavior for situations. Because of the long horrific video, this was a trial that caused many people who say the video feel horrific pain and sympathy for the victim so the baseline of normal response for the defendant is expected to show a reflection of our normal even knowing that he feels and considers himself innocent. I know that lawyers may coach a client to show no emotion to make the victim look more guilty, but again we saw the video of the victim's agony so that standard lawyerly advice about how to comport yourself as the defendant in the courtroom could and in this case did backfire.

 

In regards to his constant notetaking, again there aren’t many videos of it because we only saw glimpses but having watched the trial I can say he was writing on his legal pad constantly, no matter who was on the witness stand or which attorney was speaking.  

https://twitter.com/HLNTV/status/1382728587808215043

https://twitter.com/CourtTV/status/1382348828871958533

https://twitter.com/JuliaCourtTV/status/1384249332761731081

 

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.
     

A Nonverbal Trick to Fall Asleep

I just read about this nonverbal trick to fall asleep.

Isn’t it frustrating when you can’t run off those racing thoughts and get to sleep?

You probably have experienced it, haven’t you?

You get in bed, pull up the blanket, flip off the light, take a deep breath…

And everything you’ve thought about, worried about during the day, worked on during the day, comes flooding back.

You can’t stop thinking about the things that you need to do tomorrow.

Your mind is overwhelmed with stresses, anxieties, the pandemic, and all the issues that are out of control.

Most people will tell you just to “Shut your mind off” and “Just stop thinking.”

But…

How do you do that?!

Well, this is how to flip the switch off on your racing brain.

Now, this technique might sound weird and unconventional but try and you’ll see how well it works.

Next time you get in bed, close your eyes and imagine as you are feeling different objects -- NOT see them, but feel without moving your hands.

Remember: The objects are moving - NOT your hands!

Feel their shapes.

Feel their textures.

Feel whether they are soft or hard on touch.

At first, it might take up to 15 minutes to concentrate your mind on this activity. Although, once you practice it daily you’ll be able to fall asleep in minutes!

Why does it work?

Basically, instead of trying to shut off all those racing thoughts in your mind, you simply refocus and concentrate on something that neither bores you nor interests you too much.

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.
     

Tips for Performance Appraisals and Giving Effective Feedback to Employees.

I speak and write about performance appraisals and giving effective feedback tied to specific examples of behavior.

What do you find has been the best way to
conduct employee reviews and/or mid-year reviews while working
Remote? Don't wait for the employee review to give feedback. Tell employees as soon as you see the good and or bad behavior that you like or don't like and discuss how they can continue good behavior for specific rewards and stop bad behavior to avoid specific consequences. A performance review should be a Review of information they have already heard. It's in the description of the task that it is a review. Don't SAVE your feedback for when you have time or avoid sharing feedback because it's bad. A review shouldn't have any surprises.

What kinds of conversations should both parties prioritize discussing
together and why is it important to have these conversations?

They should have prep conversations answering questions like

Do you look forward to your performance evaluation?

Can you give me your job description and is it clear what your job description is?

Have you ever been given a performance review and been surprised with new information?

Have you ever been reviewed on something you didn't know was part of your job description.

Do you see the performance evaluation as an opportunity to to grow as an employee?

 How can you set goals together

that allow strong performers to continue the great work? And if
someone is underperforming, how can you help get them back up to
speed?

 Ask them arere you comfortable being told to go to a workshop or work with a coach or me as your manager to achieve a goal  or change something  rated low on performance evaluation and/or being rewarded and grow by getting coaching or training?

 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.

     

Why I think men are more comfortable than women offering personal data to brands. Expert in Gender Differences Patti Wood

A survey was to find out how comfortable people are sharing
their personal data to improve their customer experience in
various sectors. Across the board, we found men were more likely
than women to say they are 'extremely comfortable' sharing
personal data. For example, 36% of men said they're extremely
comfortable sharing personal data with a takeaway service,
compared to 19% of women, and 36% were extremely comfortable
sharing personal data with hotels, compared to just 18% of women.

As  an expert in gender behavior to provide a

This is why I think men are more
comfortable than women offering personal data to brands.

As someone who has spoken and written about gender differences for decades, I believe one of the most basic differences is that males, starting when they are small boys tend to play move and express outwards. Think of boys running with toy airplanes and rocket ships and cars moving through space with the bodies, making loud noises. And females stereotypically as girls starting at about age 5 move less, take up less space as they play and make less noise as they play.

 

We know that people that have power of expand take up more space have more open body language while people with less power and status tend to contract, close off the entrances to their body with their limbs and overall take up less space. Less powerful people, historically woman would there for share less information/ make less noise/ close off more of themselves with strangers. 

Called the “Gold Standard” of Body Language by the Washington Post and credited in the New York Times for bringing the topic to national attention Patti Wood, is a true expert. She creates high energy interactive programs, filled with humor, cutting edge information and valuable “Take Aways.” She is the author of nine books and she speaks and consults to Fortune 500 companies and associations. You see her on National TV shows like Good Morning America, CNN and FOX news, The History Channel and the Today Show. She is quoted every week in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Bloomberg Business Week, Fortune, Good Housekeeping, and USA Today.

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.