Patti Wood Body Language Expert Blog

Trump's Body Language in Court, By Body Language Expert Patti Wood

Here is a story I did on Trump's body language.

Donald Trump was 'abnormally angry' for court but key signs show he's 'playing a part' to cover his fear, expert says | The US Sun (the-sun.com)

Body language expert Patti Wood analyzed Trump's court appearance and speech afterward and shared her findings with The U.S. Sun.

Right away, Wood noticed similarities between the court appearance and another of Trump's recent outings.

“The scowl on his face is very similar to the mugshot," Wood revealed, drawing a comparison to the photo from Trump's August arrest.

"If you break it down, you have the glare of anger, the lowered brow, and the glaze in his eyes.

“That scowl and the downward jowls are similar to the mugshot.”

Wood noted that while the expression is normal for Trump, it's abnormal for someone to express that level of anger in a courtroom.

“He’s playing this part of an angry man," she said.

“He wants to look angry and strong and defiant. But it’s normal in these circumstances.”

However, Wood said it's "unusual to show anger of that magnitude in mugshots and in court.

"So that choice is an interesting choice."

Wood continued, noting Trump's posture sitting at the table between his two lawyers.

“His body is strangely kind of hunched forward," she said.

"That hunching of his shoulders downward, the protecting of his body, actually is a more honest reveal.

"That reveals that he’s scared and he doesn’t feel powerful, he’s hunching forward almost like a child would do if they’re being scolded.”

'LACKED HIS USUAL VIGOR'

Trump addressed the media before the first day of the trial began, on a lunch break, and then at the end of the day.

Wood said that while Trump had his normal talking points, his body language told a different story.

“He had to power himself up and I got that from his breathing, the way he’d lift up and go into a talking point and just deliver it," Wood said.

"But it didn’t work because he’d start a sentence and then he’d have to start it over again."

Wood noted that Trump has trouble getting to the end of a sentence and that while he didn't speak for a long time, he did stop and restart several times.

“He acted as if he was strong and powerful and angry and attacking but his nonverbal was to stop midsentence and there to be this pause, and then he would finish, sometimes repeating words or changing to finish the sentence," Wood said.

“That’s a tell for the fact that he doesn’t really feel full confidence.

"His mental energy [is] not there to fight fully.”

As far as his gestures were concerned, Wood was quick to note that Trump's usual gestures were tighter to his body than normal.

“It’s the same accordion gesture he always does," she said, adding that "his arms from the shoulder up to the elbow were held tighter and closer to his body.”

“The way it showed up to the viewer is, again, a lack of power, a lack of energy.

“It lacked his usual vigor.”

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.

McCarthy's Body Language and Messaging in his Speech Leaving the House Speaker Position, By Body Language Expert Patti Wood

I don't know if they will use it, but I contributed my thoughts on McCarthy's speech yesterday after his historic ousting.

In my book SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma, I talk about the Primacy and Recency Effect. The Recency Effect, that is the last thing you say or do has been shown in research to have a profound impact on your credibility.

1. McCcarthy had the opportunity to show inspirational leadership. With at least one well-crafted inspirational talking point to the nation that would be quoted not just by the media but in history books. Instead, he spent most of his speech blaming others for his ousting.

2. His nonverbal delivery, rather than being strongly delivered, with a powerful voice and volume level carried to the end of his sentences and open posture with large forceful gestures, was more like a “back room”, “look here guys”, talk with a loss of volume and strength in his voice at the end of his sentences showing weakness and lack of confidence in his messaging. Rather than speaking to the nation at a critical point in history, he was talking to his buddies after he lost the game. And showed poor leadership by blaming the other team and his horrible team.

3. He also showed fear and lack of confidence with comforting gestures like touching the back of his neck and pressing his fingernail to his forehead in a "Self-Beating" gesture as he quoted President Lincoln. He also showed a lack of respect and lack of confidence with small “Tongue Thrusts” as he spoke. People often give passive-aggressive tongue thrusts when they are cornered but don’t have the strength to fight. I see tongue thrusts in perp walks and when people are caught in crimes and are questioned on the courtroom steps and sometimes in murder trials by a suspect on the stand has dark triad behaviors.

Check out the photo. It's so interesting here how he starts the speech with a thumb to the forehead. It's a form of "self beating" showing he has bad thoughts and wants to press the off button on them.

I am one of the top body language experts in the country. I have been giving national media interviews at least twice a week for over 20 years. I speak to Fortune 500 Companies, and I am a media coach.

Trump Body Language in His Mugshot

You see his glare formed by his upper eyelids pushing down slightly his eyebrows drawn together pointing downward towards his nose along with the position of the head, jutted down and forward, and his upward glare he is giving a sociopathic stare.

Though the main "tell" of this stare is typically the whites showing under the pupil his highly dilated pupils provide a usual cover for that tell. His large pupils are his baseline, He has had enlarged pupils in most of the speeches, interviews, and photos I have analyzed since he first ran for president. Typically in nonverbal analysis enlarged pupils, can indicate low lighting in the environment, a sign of brain injury, a sign of someone having a stroke, or active drug use. Again, Though you don't see the whites of his eyes under his pupils in every other way this resembles a sociopathic stare.

Notice the inner corners of the eyebrow going down and the outer part of the outline going sharply up he forms what is called the devil's horns, and how his forward wrinkles on the you, the viewer's left side mimic that horned shape. The brow and forehead lines are sharp-edged. Our limbic brain 'reads" sharp edges in silhouette, gestures, and facial expressions as dangerous. They indicate someone is not feeling normal healthy peaceful happy emotions that appear smooth rounded. In addition, his face shows a lack of symmetry. The left side of the face is different than the right side, even the eyebrows and the forehead wrinkles are different. A lack of facial symmetry also is "read by the limbic brain as a danger sign. I go deeper into the lack of symmetry later in this article.

Notice how his lips are slightly pressed together and appear thinner than normal indicating his anger.

Look at this photo. How do you feel? Typically when somebody views a face expressing emotion of anger their limbic system responds very quickly with a strong emotion such as fear or corresponding anger and may go into the the freeze flight fight fall or faint response.

I’ve analyzed perp walk courtroom behavior and mug shots for years, it is unusual to see the mug shot of a white-collar criminal with such obvious anger.

It’s also interesting to see the difference in the right and left side of his face.

When someone is feeling conflicting emotions their limbic system may show it on one side of the face before they can fully control it so you see a lack of symmetry on the left and right side of the face of someone who’s feeling conflicted emotions.

Though he is clearly angry, if you as the viewer put your hand over the right side of the face you see the full complete facial configuration of the emotion of anger. If you put your hand over the left side of the space you can see slight traces of sadness at the mouth. As the outer corner of the lips is turned down slightly. But it’s not true sadness because his eyebrows and forehead still are in that focused downward motion of anger. So what he’s truly showing is the mouth expression that people make signaling their disbelief or negation of what’s going on.

Also, note his extreme pupil dilation. While it’s highly unusual in most people and a signal of possible stroke or brain injury or drug use. He has Jonas unusually large pupil dilation from the very first time I read him for the international news just before he ran for president the first time.

What is Malignant Narcissistic Hoovering and How Can You Deal With it? By Body Language and Relationship Expert Patti Wood

What is Malignant Narcissistic Hoovering and How Can You Deal With it?

By Body Language and Relationship Expert Patti Wood from her book and speech

Hoovering is a technique with a wide set of varying behaviors a malignant narcissist uses to suck you back into their influence and gameplaying.

Malignant Narcissists are said to have a different reward system in their brains. Most people like a moderate amount of positive attention and work not to receive negative attention such as criticism and anger.

Malignant Narcissists are insatiable. They have a dark void and never-ending need for attention and if they don’t get positive attention, they will seek negative attention. Just as a drug addict needs their supply of drugs, MC needs their narcissist supply, they need it to not fall into what feels to them a dark void of nothingness. Their self-esteem and their very existence depend on that supply.

People they can control, and influence provide their first supply source, and then also people they can say and show as being connected to.

Secondary supply includes economic safety, group acceptance, status, and visible success factors like a high-level job title, big house, or boat/yacht.

When they need a supply, and can’t get it or get enough of it from their current people under their control, say for example if a girlfriend breaks up with them, or they are out of town and feel lonely, they will go down their list of past controlled contacts and try to hoover them back in.

Hoovering can include everything from suddenly showing up at your door, to a simple out-of-blue, “Haven’t heard from you in a while.” Text. sending cards and gifts, to middle-of-the-night drunken phone call pleadings that can also turn into vicious threats and ranting attacks.

One of the ways to look at a potential Hoovering behavior to tell if it’s a sign that you are being targeted is to see or hear their behavior and check in with how it makes you feel. If your gut doesn’t like it, it’s hoovering, and you need to avoid being sucked in. Or if you feel overly elevated and overwhelmed by a love bomb Hoover attempt, check in with yourself and think how you felt at your worst with them. I recommend you write down all the bad things that happened when you were in their sphere of influence to remind yourself. MNs are master persuaders. They may woo and flatter, they may threaten, they may appeal to you by saying things like made a mistake, or I realize now I am lost without it. Whether your MN was a romantic partner, a relative, or an old boss they may try to lure you back into the “fairytale” of what was or what you hoped it would be.

Remember a MN does not care about you. They just remember you were a source of supply. It doesn’t matter how they hurt you in the past. It's all about what they need from you. They feel like it's their right to seek supply from you because you gave it to them at one time. Even if they got supply from abusing you, attacking you, assassinating your character, and other more horrible behaviors they will get out the hoover and come for you.

How you deal with hoovering should be monitored by the fact that they will keep coming back till they continue to get absolutely nothing from you.

Two factors that can help them stay away and not seek contact.

1. You must make sure they no longer get any “supply” from you. That means don’t respond, or if you are face to face or on the phone and can’t break the contact, be boring, have an emotionless voice and body language be bland. Don’t share anything about yourself and how you feel.

2. You have to hope are fed by lots of other people and sources of supply so they don’t cycle back to you as a formally reliable supply source. So, if your ex has a new gal, as much as you may fear for her future, her as a source of supply may keep him from hurting you. If a coworker is now getting his or her anger, that coworker is supply and not you.

3. You have to hope they won’t keep playing with you at a distance with actions like smear campaigns, name-calling, and damaging your other relationships as that can continue to feed them so they continue to feel connected and in contact and or you need to not care or give any energy to these actions they do to stay connected.

Why Do Guys Flirt with Other Women To Make You Jealous?

A man flirts to gain power. He shows interest in other women to illustrate to you his skills in making other women feel good, and light up because of his advances, and for you to see that other women (now your competition) are interested in him.

By flirting he can take away your confidence in yourself and your confidence in the security of your bond as a couple.

He wants to see a response from you. It’s an attempt at manipulation.

He may get to see you in pain, you get angry, you work harder to keep him, you become subservient and not make reasonable requests of him because a shift of power,