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Body Language Expert analyzes the federal government recently indicted local NYC congressman, Michael Grimm

Watch the video and then read body language read of  his first speech addressing the media after the indictment. Patti Wood assesses the congressman’s body. 


“I will try to answer questions the best that I can. “ tongue eraser. This means he is not going to answer questions the best that he can.
“Here is my official statement.”, tongue thrust then eraser.  This means there is a lot more that he wants to say about how angry he is.

“Two and half years …of being bombarded.” Another tongue thrust. Notice how his hands go into a striking motion as he says allegation after allegation.  My read here is he would like to perhaps say a few choice curse words here to the people who bombarded him.

Interesting, look at the piece where he says, “…when I won.” He presses his lips together and does another small tongue eraser and a micro facial cue of sadness. My read is he feels the win was not a win for him personally that others didn't recognize it in the way he wanted and that it came at a cost.

Interesting. Listen to his statement. “So let me be perfectly clear.” There are several paralanguage cues, but the most interesting is how he aggressively strikes, so let me be perfectly clear. He is very mad would like to be yelling here, but he has to look down and read, “I will not abandon my post…” He wants to say something different than his prepared statement.

Notice as he finishes also his downward facing corners of his mouth. He would like to be crying here.


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.

Body Language Read of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard


Notice how pulled back her pelvis is. Her upper body is straight as a board and her legs are taunt and she is walking stiffly. Along with the distant gaze and pressed together lips she is showing lots of tension even notice how Johnny is bent over, head bowed and feet close together shuffling like an old man. He is weary, but he still makes an extreme effort to reach back and hold her hand. This is a difficult time for them. They are showing tension and wear. I give them a 2 because of the hand hold.



The red carpet photo shows how much fun they were having. Look at her proud posture and smile and how he holds her weight. I think I read another one like this for you a while ago. I love how they are overlapping bodies at upper chest. Great that she can lean on him and how her hand on her hip shows she can hold her own.  Don't like that her head is tilted away but she looks so happy and her lean is so into him. I give this a 4

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.

Body Language Read of LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian



I love them in the photo with him in the rose colored T-shirt where they are holding hands.  The sideways entertained handhold shows their tenderness comes from each other equally. I also love how she is bending her knees and offering her pelvis, and arching up her chest and head into the kiss and his pelvis is forward to her. I give it a 5



The other photo, remembering how hard it is to read a photo of a couple walking shows him far ahead in body guard position.  If you notice his uplifted head and subtle smile that plays up to his small yes true happiness you see he is content in that role. She is more guarded. See how she holds on to him like a child to her dad in the grocery story. She is pulling back a bit, see her straight arm. I want you to protect me, but on the other hand I am a big girl. I don't like that she has her cell phone as she holds him. It’s symbolic of how work comes first.  They are still very much a new couple but she has to change how she interacts and uses her power.  I give this a 3.



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.

Body Language Read of Kaley & Ryan





Patti observes that although the above couple are confidently striding together, Ryan's furrowing his brow a bit while Kaley is looking upward to him for reassurance.  They don't seem like blissful newlyweds during a Beverly Hills shopping trip. (January 2004 pic) This couple gets a 3 on Life & Style True Love Rating Scale.

However, during a March 22 playdate, they couldn't keep their hands off each other.  Patti loves how their toes touch during the embrace and how Kaley grabs his butt!  They are really connected!! (March 2014 pic) This couple gets a 5 on Life & Style True Love Rating Scale.

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.

Why Mehrabain’s Research on Nonverbal Communication and the Meaning of the Message is as Quoted is Inaccurate

I believe that understanding and reading body language is a profoundly useful method for us to read the hearts of others. There is a world of meaning in our nonverbal communication from a glance, a gesture, a tone of voice and more.  But, I am I would like to debunk the myth that 55% of communication is nonverbal.  How many times have you seen the inaccurate statistics about nonverbal communication by Albert Mehrabian saying that the meaning of a message is communicated:
  •  7%   by your words
  •  38% by you tone of voice
  •  55%. by your body language
This interpretation of Mehrabian has been debunked many times, but still it persists.  Let’s talk what is true about the experiments by Mehrabian. And what his research looked like.
The research subject heard one word said different ways and was able to detect different meanings. Yes, that’s right, the subjects heard only one word and were asked what meaning was communicated!
First, what is true about the meaning being communicated nonverbally?  The meaning of the message can be changed by its nonverbal delivery. Take for example how someone says a particular word or words like “love”, “hate” or “my boss” in a sentence.  What someone really intends to communicate can vary depending on their tone of voice, how their inflection rises and falls or how they stress certain words.  That is their paralanguage changes. Writer Clella Jaffe gives an example "A movie character is accused of shooting a clerk in a convenience store. When the sheriff asks, "Why did you shoot the clerk?" the suspect responds, "I shot the clerk?"(pause)" I shot the clerk?" At the trial, the sheriff testifies that the accused confessed twice, clearly saying "I shot the clerk." The sheriff says the statement as if it were factual, whereas the suspect's rising voice inflection and stressed words indicates that he's asking a question-drastically changing the meaning of the literal words".
Mehrabian’s experiments
The Mehrabian formula comes from two studies in nonverbal communication carried out by Mehrabian and two colleagues in 1967.  That’s correct people are quoting research from over 40 years ago. There is no current research that replicated this particular finding. Twenty years later in my Masters and Doctoral Program in nonverbal communication our textbooks still quoted this research and we talked about its inaccurate referencing. We are still quoting it and we are still using it and debating it today.
To summarize, Mehrabian’s studies asked participants to judge the feelings of a speaker by listening to a recording of a single word spoken in different tones of voice.
In the first study, the participants had to rate the feelings of the speaker after listening to each of nine different words. Each word spoken separately rather than in a sentence with context.  The words spoken were often inconsistent with the tone of voice used. For example, the word “brute” spoken in a positive tone. Each time they had to make a rating just on the single word they had listened to.
In the second study, only one word was used. It was chosen to be as neutral as possible: the word was “maybe.” They listened to a recording of the word “maybe” said in different tones and at the same time were shown photos of different facial expressions.
It’s from these experiments that Mehrabian suggested – but did not prove – the formula.
The limitations of Mehrabian’s formula
Mehrabian has himself attempted to limit the application of this formula:
Please note that this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e., like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable.
So if we limit the formula to the specific conditions of the experiments, it is only applicable if:
  • a speaker is using only one word,
  • their tone of voice is inconsistent with the meaning of the word, and
  • the judgment being made is about the feelings of the speaker.
What do other researchers say?
Mehrabian’s findings were frequently discussed in the psychological literature on nonverbal communication through the 1970s and 1980s. Researchers have made the following critiques of the methodology of his studies:
  1. They only used two or three people to do the speaking for the experiments.
  2. They take no account of the extent to which the speakers could produce the required tone of voice.
  3. They were artificial situations with no context.
  4. The communication model on which they were based, has now been shown to be too simple.
  5. They take no account of the characteristics of the observers making the judgments.
  6. The purpose of the experiments was not hidden from the participants.

For more detail on these critiques go to Mehrabian’s studies in nonverbal communication and once you are there scroll down to the findings. 

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.