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You can read my photo analysis of people in the news by googling my name or visiting my twitter page. I typically call them body language reads.

Reading The Body Language in Photos, the Power of Torture Photos

John Cusack wrote a blog recently concerning Obama changing his mind on the issue of releasing torture photos of suspected terrorists (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-cusack). My discussion group, The meeting of the minds, has been equally outraged and we have some very conservative members. What is interesting to me is that while we have heard the words describing the torture, the actual visual images that have been carefully guarded from the media. The power of nonverbal communication. I am not sure I would bar the photos for fear terrorists would copy the torture methods as the government has discussed. I can say I don't think we want to see the images and link them with our country's treatment of other human beings. I have been doing body language photo analysis for many years. It is amazing what a frozen photographed moment can communicate. It is astounding the pathos and significance communicated in a photographed person's body language. It seems odd to me that I became known as a body language expert by reading celebrity couples when it was really the disturbing photographs from the Vietnam war that first made me realize that I could "read" people's body language in photos and see things other people couldn't see or explain. Seeing people's pain is a horrible part of reading body language. Being extraordinarily empathetic to people's pain is a gift I would never trade.

Poetry and nonverbal communication in Iran protest


Some of you know that I started out originally as a poetry major in college. When I took a body language and nonverbal communication course at the age of 19 I realized that I had been using poetry to express my insights gained through reading body language in a way that didn't offend or make people apprehensive. I would like you to watch how poetry and nonverbal communication worked together to tell a compelling story of human suffering and resilience following election protests in Tehran, Iran. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-lundberg/poetry-of-the-revolution_b_221590.html

Bernard Madoff showed no visible body language at sentencing

Bernard Madoff appeared in court for sentencing today wearing a dark suit and tie. Reporters say he gave no visible reaction to his sentence. That is not surprising. This is a man who was a master manipulator. One would think that he controlled his body language quite well. I would be interested to see whether he had the top charismatic factors that I mention in my article on red white and blue body language and have blogged about so frequently. I have been discussing the case with my summer intern. We have talked about how people recommended him to their friends and how persuasive a recommendation from a friend can be. Here is a link to the story on his sentencing. I would love to see footage of any apology he made.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_madoff_scandal;_ylt=AhjJEZcTz50lS8u.wDqCSrCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJpbnRxMmpwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjI5L3VzX21hZG9mZl9zY2FuZGFsBGNwb3MDMgRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNiZXJuYXJkbWFkb2Y--
Bernie Mandoff


Billy May's voice will be missed on TV

The TV pitchman Billy Mays died today ABC News Story. He had an iconic voice, loud abrasive and fast paced and even some say horribly irritating. He created a first impression of power and confidence. I used his voice as an example in my speeches and workshops on body language as an example of persuasive paralanguage. His body language, the big smile and energy and his enthusiastic voice certainly made us buy a lot of Orange Glo and Oxiclean. And there was no mistaking his voice for anyone else's. "As Seen on TV" ads will never be the same.
The famous TV pitchman Billy Mays died today. He had an anstonishing iconic voice. The voice that pitchedhttp://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7955223&page=1 Orange Glo and Oxi Clean. The voice was fast loud and though many people thought it was horribly irratating you couldn't mistake his voice for any one elses and it apsolutely captured your attention. I have used his voice as an example of forceful and effective paralanguage for years.

Reading body language videos for news link with YouTube

Now news stories are working in conjunction with Youtube to have the story online side by side with the video about the story. I am very excited about this as I am often sent to Youtube by journalists to view a video and read the body language and share my "read." So now the video can be right there for me to refer to. How exciting. Here are some links to the story.

http://mashable.com/2009/06/29/google-news-youtube-partners/
http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/video_sites/with_content_from_google_news_youtube_launches_news_site_110531.asp?c=rss

Series: Famous statements about lies #6

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

- Mark Twain
(http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1611/sins22lies0index.html)

For a speaker and coach on body language and deception detection go to www.PattiWood.net and book Patti or buy her book Success Signals.

College Students Body Language Interviewing for Jobs

Last week I spoke to the career counselors for MBA programs across the country and I have been reading about college students concerns about finding a job and what they are most concerned about in their interviews. In last month's issue of Campus Activities Programming magazine, Megan Stumph from www.Cbcampus.com wrote a great article about college graduates persevering through difficult situations while looking for jobs. She mentioned several specific experiences of college grads and offered up some advice for those trekking through the job market. Here are a few recommendations Megan Stumpth made in her article:

1) Focus your resume and cover letter on the positives. If some of your college courses relate directly to the job you're applying for, mention them in the cover letter. If you balanced school and job to pay your way through, mention your drive and determination.

2) Be persistent in making contact with places you'd like to work for. Show them you know how to work hard for something.

3) Continue self-improvement. If you're working right now, consider how additional education could increase your pay or advance your career further down the road.

I would add work on your body language. Click Here to link to my article on interviewing written by my summer intern Julie Levin.

http://community.naca.org/blogs/edblog/archive/2009/04/23/difficulties-in-job-searching.aspx

Deception, College Professors Posing as Students Online

I was reading an article about college professors who teach online classes posing as students in the online discussions to get discussion started in their forums.(www.community.naca.org/blogs)

Oh my goodness. How horrible! The article asked if this was, "close to the edge of faculty ethics." I think the faculty members who did this crossed the line. If they want online discussion it is their responsibility to inspire it. I am a body language expert and I am a college speaker (for my college program descriptions go to www.pattiwood.net) as well as a corporate speaker. I know my college student audiences would be appalled to discover that sort of deception. I teach deception detection techniques. My audience members have horror stories of being "fooled" by such practices. No one feels good about being lied to and I believe students would lose respect for their instructors if they discovered that they where pretending to be students. I wonder if they change their "tone" and dumb down their vocabulary to act as if they are students. That would be so insulting.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional
The Body Language Expert
Web - www.PattiWood.net
Blog - www.bodylanguagelady.blogspot.com