Should you tip hotel housekeeping staff and if so how much should you tip and how. Nonverbal Communication Expert tips!

I am an expert in nonverbal speaking and consulting in the hotel industry and train hotel staff on nonverbal communication and guest interaction.

I know how hard the housekeeping staff works. It is really backbreaking work all day long.

Though modestly priced motels and hotels staff don’t expect you to tip, you can.

If you are staying at mid-range and or higher priced properties and you are pleased with how nice the room looks and or if you receive turn down service or extra service such as more towels leave a tip.

Calculate a percentage of your bill before the tax.  Tip 5 percent  for everyday customer service and going higher for exceptional service. Or simply tip them what you would your bellman.

You can fold the tip into the hotel stationary where you can say thank you and or leave it folded or placed nicely near the glasses or bottled water so they know you left it for them. 

Also I know the staff appreciates it when you say hello and make eye contact in the halls with them. Often we pretend the housekeeping staff is invisible. Your day and their day can be nicer by saying hello.Don’t hesitate just because you are not sure if they speak English. Everyone can see your kind nonverbal behavior even if they don’t understand the words. 

USA Today

Wall Street Journal

Meetings and Conventions Magazine

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.

How to give an Elavator Speech

Here are excerpts from my book. ”Going UP how to create and give a great elevator speech.”

Know that elevator speeches serves multiple purposes, it is not just about getting business it’s about having great conversations. Preparing and giving the speech can affect not just your opportunities but your personal credibility as well as the reputation of your company. Elevator speeches can get you through those awkward social interactions so you know what to say when someone asks you what do you do? If you’re thinking,” Speaking is not my favorite thing to do and I don’t want to sound canned.” Remember, though it’s called an elevator speech the goal should be to have a good interaction and form a contact and or relationship not really give a route pitch.

• How much should I say? Remember it’s called an elevator speech for a reason. You may only have 60 seconds to say what you do. Make it brief. You want to have three sentences for a short three floors of elevator time travel at the ready for brief meeting and networking interactions and a two minute going up in the elevator at the empire state building version of your speech at the ready for longer interactions such as plane rides networking events and dinner parties.

• Should I memorize it? You don’t need to memorize your elevator speech word for word. In fact, that may make it sound insincere. You want to know what you want to say and rehearse different responses so that you can be confident enough to deliver it with gusto and spontaneous enough to make any changes in the moment. Again it’s to inspire interaction; it’s not prepping for a test or a job interview.
• What impression do you wish to make?  As a body language expert people often ask me how to form a good first impression? One thing I teach is to think ahead of time of how you want to come across. The elevator conversation content and the delivery of the content should match that impression. Do you want to look savvy, smart, hip, techy, or funny? Think about the words you would use in your elevator speech and the nonverbal cues you would use in your delivery to convey that impression. Do you want to be fast paced, self-assured voice, high energy voice and energetic gestures or do want to be calm and cool?   

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.

Effects of Toxic Relationships - A Body Language Expert's Insights

Three nonverbal effects of a toxic relationship and how being in a toxic relationship affect your body language and your health.

There are many costs of being in a toxic relationship that are caused by the toxic partner’s body language. A healthy partner can be contaminated by an unhealthy partner’s body language by matching and mirroring his or her body language. They can do this matching and mirroring subconsciously or consciously.

Research on Isopraxism (matching and mirroring) shows that when we are with someone in a bad mood or who has any strong negative emotions his or her behavior has a pulling effect that can make us feel bad as well. If you have ever had to work in an office with someone who is in a bad mood you know you can catch that mood like you do a cold.  This is a scientifically verifiable phenomenon.

Our mirror neurons see the person’s body language and if it is emotionally strong and or if we care about them we mirror their behavior and begin to feel what they are feeling, so in the case of toxic body language we can feel bad as well. I have a paragraph describing the “bottom up” scientific process that occurs with mirror neurons that shows we can do this matching consciously or subconscious. Another possible harm that occurs in a toxic relationship that has a nonverbal communication link is equally as stressful for the healthy partner. We have an angry, dangerous or sick partner sometimes we CAN NOT mirror to empathize with them or we can come to harm. For example, typically we can’t match anger with a very angry person or we escalate the emotion. We can’t mirror a more powerful person’s body language as we may threaten their alpha status and escalate the emotion. Lastly a dangerous behavior from a partner can make a healthy partner go into a stress response, or a combination of stress responses. They can freeze in place or tension and his or her limbic brain response prepares them to flee fight or feel faint. That heighted stress response can do things like keep cortisol levels high and make the person feel exhausted and sick.

Solid empirical evidence

that suggests that our brains are capable of

mirroring the deepest aspects of the minds

of others-intention (at the fine-grained

level of a single brain cell). This process is

effortless, or what’s called “bottom-up” (just

knowing), rather than “top down” (having

to consciously figure it out). In a “bottom

up” process there is no need to draw complex

inferences or even think about it. Instead,

we use mirror neurons to know.

Further studies of mirror neurons have

indicated that when a mirror neuron is

activated, it also will activate motor neurons

that in turn activate muscular activity in the

viewer. In other words, when our mirror

neuron system perceives a physical (e.g.,

grasping) or emotional (e.g., happiness)

intention of another, it will activate the

same muscles in the observer that are being

activated in the subject sending the message.

This is important to know, because the

latest findings in the neurosciences suggest

that the way we know we are having an

emotion is by first identifying a change in

our body. The prefrontal cortex specifically

identifies bodily changes and labels them

as happy, sad, angry, etc., a “bottom-up”

process. 

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.

Jennifer Aniston and Justin how are they as a couple then and now? What does the body language of Jennifer Aniston and Justin Show?

Red carpet what's unusual about the older red carpet photo with her in the gorgeous red dress is that she is standing just behind him in the photo. I have been reading her body language with men for many years and she likes to be right beside and even with the men she is with. Her photos with Brad Pitt were the poster photos for equality in a relationship. Here you see, in the sweetest feminine sense, her seeking just a hint of protection.

I also love how he is lifting up her hand in their hand clasp and has his head tilted towards her.  Having said that, because her head is facing away and he is looking in a different direction as well I give the photo read a 3 out of 5.

I love the photo of them in the grey room both dressed in black. She is looking at him with her head tilted slightly upwards very contentedly. With the eye placement and facial muscles in "up" position it  looks as though her lips are pressed together to keep her from grinning more largely rather than to suppress negative emotions.  And he is mirroring that lip closed smile as well. Again a tight lipped smile typically reads negatively but here it's positive.

I like how he is lifting up his shoulder to get it up and around her. Up motions show positive joyful emotional state. The fact that he does that with her double arm wrap shows he doesn't mind her showing her ownership and connection of him. Though I wish his fingers were a little bit more wrapped around her back overall with his smile I give them a 4 1/2 out of 5. 

Check Life & Style next Wednesday for the full story!

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.

Advice on Dealing with a Deceptive Boss, How to Talk To Your Boss When You are Upset

If you decide to confront your boss, click the link below before you do to get advice from Patti.
A friend of mine took time off to spend with her new baby. She had gotten permission from her boss and they had an agreement she would work from home and her job was secure. The first day back she was revived and emailed that her job as it was titled had been given to someone else and she was to work under him. She felt she needed to talk to her boss. If you are having a very difficult time with your boss and think they may be withholding information or lying to you and you know you need to talk to them be prepared.  Here are my recommendations plus an example of how to have a very direct conversation with a boss using my ERASER method for courageous conversations from one of my books. This will show you how to tell your boss you are upset with him or her.
If you decide to confront your boss, “have a plan for what you’ll do and what your boss needs to do,” says Patti Wood, body language expert, and speaker at Communication Dynamics Inc., in Atlanta. “Be prepared to go take action and follow through immediately.” However, she cautions that an unstable boss may make you uncomfortable or even present danger. In the latter case, she suggests finding a different method in a safe environment. If you are going to have a politically dangerous conversation you may wish to pull in a third party.
“A compulsive liar,” she says, “will continue to deny any evidence of deceit you (present). Be prepared to repeat your statements of evidence. Repeat your plan and … what (the person) must do.”
Don’t let tears or anger dissuade you from your course of action, Wood adds
http://www.reviewjournal.com/workwise/don-t-let-deceptive-boss-drag-you-down-get-help-you-need

                                The E.R.A.S.E.R. Method by Patti Wood from her book.

Write out your script as if you were saying it out loud to the person. Practice how you will say it in an even tone and ideally role play it out with someone and work through how you will handle anything they will say. This is a VERY strong message so make sure you can deal with the consequences. In this case that may mean looking for a new job. 

Exact        With exact terms, state the person’s behavior as it exists now.  Answer the following questions in your statement.  When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was involved? How often has it happened? Don’t use generalizations such as always, never, every time.  Don’t guess at why they do what they do.

Example:  We talked  Three times before I took maternity leave about my job is secure and you agreed that it would be. I just received an email from you that you have given my job to Frank. (Be prepared to give specific dates that you conversed. If there is an email trail send it to your personal email outside of the corporate email system and print it out and bring it with you.)

Result       What is the concrete result of that behavior? What happens because they do or don’t do something?

Example:  Because you made an agreement to keep my job secure I worked at home with the knowledge and dedication that my job was secure. Now you have broken our agreement and want to reduce me to a position with far less pay into a subordinate position and action affects my career with the company. 

Aware       Make the person aware of the emotion(s) the behavior arouses in you.  How do you feel in response to their current behavior?

Example:  I feel deeply and upset and more than a little surprised.

Switch       Give them a behavior to switch to.  What would you like them to do instead of their current behavior? Make sure it’s one small concrete replacement behavior.

Example:  I’d like to know why you would do this without communicating with me and the steps you can take to restore my position.  

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.