How did you play as a child?

I have a question that I love to ask people at whenever I whenever I am with a small group say at a dinner party. I ask each person what was their favorite thing to do as a child between the ages of 6 and 10 and then I ask them what they do for living. I love how often people share how their childhood play became their adult work. A friend who took apart every electric thing in the house became and engineer, a friend that painted and drew became and artist, a friend who liked to figure out how things where made and how they could be made better became a six sigma process engineer, a friend who loved to read and write became and editor and writer for NASA.

I would love to know how you played and if your childhood play effected what you choose to do as an adult.

I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. I use to do “shows” as a kid. I would be Herman of the Hermits and sing and dance with my friends on the porch of our house. I was Queen of the Cooties on the playground and the leader of all the games, whether it was who can make the biggest bubble with the bubble maker, built the best fort, or who can make the snowman that last the longest on the lawn. From forth grade on I also loved to watch people and I would write little poems and songs about what I saw, I carried a little notebook with me all the time from forth grade till college and filled it with my fun observations. And even learned to play the guitar so I could sing them. I loved playing and I loved the game of watching people and trying to figure out their secret story. Now I get to do it all my favorite play as living. I am a body language expert and I am a professional speaker and trainer and get to play with my audiences. (See my website for videos of how much fun we have.)

Obama's Inauguration and Body Language

Here are my first thoughts of Obama's Body Language today... I think that the 13 minutes late to the church communicates his sense of importance. His smile was large and genuine. More body language reads to come...

Embracing Femininity at Work As Featured in GlassHammer.com

Do you think women should embrace their feminity at work?

Read this article where Patti is Quoted: http://www.pattiwood.net/article.asp?PageID=8244

And I invite you to come back and post your thoughts, questions and comments here!

That’s so rude!

There are times when someone’s nonverbal communication is so unbelievably rude you wonder if the person is clueless or just visiting from another planet. I rarely rant in my blog but after being interviewed recently for my nonverbal stories on techie rudeness I wanted to share some stories.

I was sitting in a packed plane that was delayed on the ground for an hour. The guy sitting next to me was talking on his cell phone, quite loudly with his one night stand from the night before; about all the things they did...everything...in detail for over and hour. No request from me could make him stop he just got louder. Everyone around him was squirming as he kept talking using very explicit language and repeating the phrase, “You where so drunk last night.”

I am a professional speaker and set ground rules in my programs so people respect everyone in the audience and don't use their cell phones, type, twitter or do "hip checks" on the blackberry’s. I do that because I know how frustrating it feels to be an audience member when a fellow participant is being rude. At one convention a few years ago I stayed to here the next speaker. A guy in one of the front rows cell phone rang and he took the call and started talking got up walked down the center isle to the last row and paced the back of the room talking loudly on his cell phone. It’s as if the other 100 audience members where not there. AHHGGGG!
What are your “That’s so rude!” stories?

Tom and Kate's Body Language...

Check out my recent read on Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes' body language with US Weekly...
http://www.usmagazine.com/photos/happy-2nd-anniversary-tomkat

The History Channel Presents "The Secrets of Body Language" - See Patti's Feature in This Compelling Program!

Patti Wood is on a History Channel special this month entitled, “The Secrets of Body Language”
She is one of the leading experts in Nonverbal Communication in the world who were interviewed about how to read body language and paralanguage (voice.)

The next airing of the History Channel body language special will be this Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 5:00 EST.

If you would like to contact Patti about speaking or coaching please go to her website for contact information at http://www.pattiwood.net/

Vice Presidential Debates--Palin and Biden’s Body Language

My Ramblings on Body Language:

The non interaction rule set by McCain’s team worked to Biden’s benefit. His usual over the top anger and ranting was much more restrained. Yes, Biden was angry. Yes, he pointed and used one handed and two handed chopping motions to make his points, but this time his anger made Biden appear earnest and sincere.

Yes, he got angry at Palin very early in the debate and he occasionally pointed his finger at her and many times he jumped in to say she was wrong before he was called on. Still, he could have been more attacking and he would have looked far worse.

Palin started with a smile and kept a smile on for most of the debate. Click here to hear my comments on the O'reilly Factor: http://www.pattiwood.net or read the interview below.

Palin walks the “B line” well.
What is the B line?
Well, women have to walk a line between being too feminine and being perceived as weak or going too far to the other side of the line and being perceived as a B***ch. Powerful women have the hardest time with it. Hilary Clinton didn’t have a problem choosing. She stayed strong and in doing so came across too far on the “B side”.

Palin wants to be more feminine so she uses her beautiful beauty queen smile to mask her anger. At times, especially near the end of the debate, the smile became a “snarl” and made her look condescending. We don’t like “masking smiles” on powerful people.

Palin did a little blinking when she started but not the highly nervous 50 to 60 blinks per minute or the 80 blinks per minute often called the “Nixon effect”. She went to her strength, her down home folksy manner of delivery. Her little "betcha’s" and other contractions were a little much when she talked about the big issues, but overall they evoked a “ Reaganistic” warmth and the approval ratings soared. Tune in for more as I talk about Palin’s winks and Biden's head tilts later...


To view my ABC News article and more on this subject visit my site.

Media Frenzy....

In the last month I have done a weekly “Will they last?” piece for OK! Magazine, Three Cosomo interviews, As well as interviews for Men’s Health, Esquire, Glamour, AOL, Fox News, ABC news, Womens world, Sugur (UK publication), Life and Style weekly, The Sun (Canadian publication), America’s Best, and many more TV, print and online publications and radio interviews. Do to my busy speaking schedule I have also had to turn down requests for Larry King Live, The Big Idea, Fox News, and Access Hollywood. I look forward to reading the candidates more as the election draws closer.

Times Union Blog...

Take a look at my comments in this article by a fellow blogger:
http://blogs.timesunion.com/kristi/?p=143

Mens Health - Great Eye Contact Question...

I recently helped to answer a question on Mens Health - Maybe you can benefit from my answer...

Question: I struggle to maintain eye contact. Can you help? Matt, Boston, MA

Answer: First, understand why you're loathe to lock eyes. "When you feel dominated, anxious, or shy, you look away as an attempt to regain control, disengage, and limit how much information you take in," says John Dovidio, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Yale University. So before any important conversation, make a conscious effort to rein in your addled emotions. If you're still struggling with eye contact, take the advice of body-language expert Patti Wood, M.A., and "split your attention among the person's mouth, eyes, and cheeks." This makes wandering eyes less obvious. And don't stop trying: University of Colorado researchers found that meeting a person's gaze makes you seem powerful and credible.

Mortgage Banker's Association

I recently spoke to the wonderful people of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Here is a picture from the day...