Happy Holidays.

As the title says. I hope you all are having happy holidays.

Pacifiers Part .1

As you probably noticed by the picture presented above, we are not going to be talking about the object parents place in their children’s mouths to stop them from screaming. What we will be talking about is the process of comforting ones self through physical gestures.

There are multiple forms of pacifying and one of these forms is shown in the photograph. Sometimes known as the “pain in the neck” gesture, this action of rubbing the back of ones neck is often an unconscious attempt to quell emotional discomfort as well as other unpleasant emotions.

“ The brain requires the body to do something that will stimulate nerve endings, releasing calming endorphins in the brain, so that the brain can be soothed.”

~ Joe Navarro

A few other emotions that the neck rub could be attempting to pacify are doubt, fear, insecurity or just concern.

Lets create a scenario where we might see this behavior. A group of friends is standing outside of their classroom door, enjoying their break waiting to get back to work. One of the friends brings up the possibility of going to a club later that night. Another friend doesn’t want to go, so he declines.

Teasing ensues, as does the discomfort of the one that doesn’t want to go to the club. It is at this point that we would probably see that the one that declined is rubbing the back of his neck because he is most likely feeling emotional discomfort and social pressure and his body is trying to comfort that stress by pacifying.

Noticing this behavior in the business world could potentially help you stop future problems by finding out what is stressing the person and if possible helping that person to alleviate their stress.

For the animators: If a character is in a very stressful situation you could easily add this to your characters movements. However try to make this movement subtle, especially when the character is speaking. Remember though, if the rest of the characters movements fight the pacifying motion then you may not give the intended feeling of discomfort.

References & Sources:

Navarro, P. (April 15th, 2008). What everybody is saying. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers

The Crossing Guard

As the title should has hinted this post will focus on a common but sometimes misread gesture, crossing arms. The most common way this gesture is misread by those that do not know anything about body language is that this person is simply cold. Since she is cold she is crossing her arms to warm herself.

While this is a distinct possibility there is an alternative one as well. She is either defensive or generally something is bothering her. To figure this out lets delve deeper into the gesture of crossing arms.

First of all it is not always indicative that one is being defensive or is upset. It is entirely possible that we cross arms in comfort, especially when waiting or listening to someone speak. However, if you think carefully how often do you find yourself crossing your arms when you are alone at home and nothing is really bothering you?

What I mean by that statement is this. Body language is a very contextual science / art. To explain this, I will create a scenario. Let’s say that we are to make a presentation to a class at a college. You notice that most have their arms uncrossed. Half way through your presentation you make a comment that would normally make people uncomfortable. It is at this time that you may notice some of the people crossing their arms in a sort of tight fashion.

What this could tell us is that the comment made half way through the presentation has indeed made them feel some level of discomfort. Contextually however, the air conditioning right above those students could have started and they just felt chilly.

However notice that them feeling cold doesn’t disprove that they are uncomfortable. In fact one would think that feeling cold is quite uncomfortable. This tells us that crossing arms holds the same meaning; yet it is the outside forces that you must learn to examine on the fly, to properly determine a person’s gesture.

As for this lady in the picture; lets take a crack at reading her. Obviously crossed arms, she is holding two bags and the look on her face isn’t that of happiness. She is wearing two layers of clothing, which means it could be chilly outside.

If I were to “hazard” a guess however, I believe that she is waiting for someone.

For the Animators: The fact of context alone should help you in any animation. Think about what situation a character is in, what they are feeling at the moment. If they are waiting, listening to a speaker, or feeling uncomfortable then crossing their arms may be the right way to go. 

Reference(s): Yourdon, E. (2008). Lost in thought [photograph]. Retrieved December 2nd, 2010 from:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/2715602306/

A Psychological Resource

On this post, I felt that I should boil things down to the core of business, animation and yes body language. I have shown you that business and animation can have body language in common. I would like to highlight a very simple aspect of body language that truly underlies business and animation. That is of course psychology. It true, psychology is behind animation and I may even dare say at the very center of animation itself.

For example when an animator captures anger, sadness, joy, contempt, is he not using psychology?

The same can be said for a lot of businesses. All of these commercials and ads we see are developed from a marketer’s psychological profile of their targeted market. Not to mention the psychological effects of colors used in commercials and ads as well.

Body language is no different. In fact body language is essentially a form of psychology itself. We can make very “educated guesses” of how a person would react and move the way they are moving based on what we know of emotions.

So, with this in mind I am going to be offering a link to a potential resource for those who want to know more about this powerful science. Just below is a link to the APA or American Psychological Association.

http://www.apa.org/index.aspx

One of the best things about the APA’s website is their research. If one were to type “business” into the search function at the top of the website, you can find around 3,370 different articles that have something to do with business. The same can be said about body language.

I will note that while analyzing some of the websites research not all of the research shown will have to do with the subject typed in at the search function. That means that if you want to get what you are looking for from this website you may need to sift through the descriptions of the articles given right under the title of the article.

What I do like however is that when searching through articles it shows from which source and what year the article was created.

Another feature I enjoyed was that if you searched a particular emotion like anger in the search box, then it would give you not only articles on anger, but also the actual definition of anger itself.

So if you ever want to keep up on new psychological findings, or just want to find out something specifically dealing with psychology for business and potentially animation, I would definitely recommend this website.

What to do and what not to do in a presentation.

    

For this post we will be examining someone who has a bit of practice in terms of public speaking. Seth Godin is an author, who primarily writes about marketing. In this particular video from Ted.com, he is speaking about making your ideas stand out in a somewhat crowded market. It is quite interesting and I do recommend watching just for the good information that you can get from his speech. However this blog focuses largely on one thing, non-verbal communication.

That being the case let us start to analyze some of his actions and see what makes him a good speaker and some things that he could work on. Lets start by pausing at second 00:33 give or take a few frames. Here we see 2 good things and one not so good thing. Lets start with the not so good.

See how his arms are clenched up to his sides and hands directly in front of his abdomen? This tells us that he is being a bit defensive. At this stage he is probably thinking thoughts like “the audience is bored” or “I might be talking too long on this section”. While this is most likely not really the case, it may be thoughts along these lines that have led him to subconsciously “defend” himself.

Lets look at the 2 things that he is doing right. He is smiling. Smiling leads to other people smiling. When someone is smiling back at you it can lead to feelings of comfort, which can then lead to better presenting. The second gesture he is on his way to getting right is the palm up gesture. You can tell he is at least a little experienced by his almost natural tendency to keep his palms pointing up.

As shown in an earlier post, palm up gestures tend to make the listeners feel less “threatened” and therefore allows the listeners to trust him a little.

“The palm facing up is used as a submissive, nonthreatening gesture, reminiscent of the pleading gesture of a street beggar and, from an evolutionary perspective, shows the person holds no weapons.”  - Allen Pease, writer of The Definitive Guide to Body Language

Now if we move all the way to minute 14:07, we see a very good gesture. This gesture is completely open. Palms are relatively facing up and the arms are all the way out. This tells us that what he is saying at least in his mind is true, which can lead to the listeners feeling trust towards Seth.

So to summarize a bit, try to avoid bundling your arms in front of yourself during a presentation. Open those arms and hands up; tilt those palms a bit upward. This can lead to confidence when speaking as well as instill trust in the listeners.

To the animators – If you want a character to look confident in what he is speaking about, open his arms and hands up, and try to move them almost on beat with words of importance.

Reference: [Video] – Seth Godin on Standing Out, from Ted.com

[Quote] – Allan Pease from the book, The Definitive Book of Body Language

Body Language use in a project

As I have stated at the top of this blogs page that I try to cater the uses of non-verbal communication to both business people and animators alike. In this particular post however, I will show what in essence body language is about while simultaneously presenting business and animation as together as they can get.

      What this video from the movie “Horton hears a who” shows, is the business of animation. One of the many jobs of the animator as any good animator would tell you, is to be an actor. Acting for an animator isn’t just about moving the mouth. You must match the attitude, energy and sometimes the intention of the dialogue to what is being said or implied. To do this you need to use knowledge of body language to match the proper mood of what needs to be animated.

      Lets look at the clip and analyze a bit. For times sake I will focus on the very first of clips, that of the animator acting out reference for the scene where the mayor speaks to another character. We see the actor with arm crossed over his chest and tucked under his arm, a sign of defensiveness or perhaps nervousness.

His other arm lifted, hand open and it is pointed in the direction of whomever the character is supposed to be talking to. This is helpful in multiple ways. It can remind an audience of where the character is in relation to the character of whom he or she is talking to. Also the open hand gesture is one of a positive nature. Had the hand become clenched we might get a feeling of anger or frustration. The last thing I will analyze is the actor rubbing his hands together in a clasped together fashion. What this tells us is that the character is supposed to be nervous. This could be either for what the character is saying or in anticipation of ridicule from whomever that character is talking to.

Now you may be saying to yourself, “I don’t think that this animator is thinking that hard about body language when he is acting.”

To that I will say that I somewhat agree. While the animator may or may not be thinking about body language as deeply as we have here, they do however use what they know of emotion. After all, if asked to make an angry look and pose. Most everyone will furrow their eyebrows and clench their fists. Which mean that animators use what they know about emotions like anyone else, except that they have more of a tendency to pay attention to such things as clenched fists, furrowed eyebrows and cross body gestures.

Well that is a “short” look into the business world of animation. Tune in next time for more tips and tricks to non-verbal communication. Good bye.

This video is brought to us from YouTube posted by the user BobAMTV. 
The animation clips are from Horton hears a who, by Blue Sky Studios.

Things to Notice in a Team Meeting

     In this post I will be showing you a few things that you may want to pay attention to when involved in a team meeting. Lets start with a gesture that we see here in this photograph.

     The man second from the left and the man in the center in front of the window are both doing a very similar gesture. This is a problem, at least for whoever is talking. The reason being is that this particular gesture is one of boredom. Their hand supports their head to stop them from falling asleep. If you see these sings then you may want to look into making your presentation / speech a bit more interesting and "exciting". 

          "Drumming the fingers on the table and continual tapping of the feet on the floor are often misinterpreted by professional speakers as boredom signals, but in fact a signal of impatience." - Allan Pease  (body language book writer)

     

      As Mr. Pease has shown, knowing some of the sings of impatience will allow you insight on if your speech or meeting is starting to go on too long. 

      Now for the final bit of info to look for at a meeting, at least that this particular post will provide. This last piece of information is more so a facial and head movement. Former FBI counterintelligence special agent Joe Navarro explains this expression as, “Looking askance.”

          “It can take the form of a sideways or tilted head motion accompanied by a single glance or a brief roll of the eyes.” – Joe Navarro

      This gesture shows lack of trust or that they are unconvinced in what the current speaker is saying. If you notice this particular head and eye movement, it may help to give an example of whatever you are talking about. This will add validity to what you are speaking about.

     If you start looking for these warning signs in team meetings, even if you are not the speaker, you may be able to save time, add credibility to your speech, and even know when people are ready to get going. That is it for this post. Have a great day.

      How can you use this in animation?
   You can use the hand supporting head gesture in the obvious fashion. Whether the character be at school or in the office this is a landmark gesture for boredom, push the idea by adding an action such as nodding off. 
      Second, drumming a characters fingers could be used perhaps in a doctors office while waiting to be helped by a nurse. Just have the character at the counter, and some time in have him start drumming his fingers. 
      Lastly is looking askance. You can definitely use this affectively in dialogue pieces. If the character sounds as if they don't believe the other character push this expression. 
    
     References & Sources:
Navarro, P. (April 15th, 2008). What everybody is saying. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
Pease, A. (July 25th, 2006). The definitive book of body language. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.
Unknown Author. (2007). weekly creative team meeting [photograph]. Retrieved October 5th, 2010 from:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tifotter/544669881/

Getting Direction

"We point at things that are of interest to us and feet, being down on the ground are often not noticed."

http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/parts_body_language/feet_body_language.htm

      The above quote is of course talking about one of the most honest parts of the human body. The feet. Paying attention to another persons foot direction can potentially let you know who is interested in talking to you and in general will give you insight on to where a particular person would prefer to go / be.

     This post will be considerably short, as this particular analysis is very simple. Using the above picture as an example we will see a business man and business woman each with their feet pointed directly towards the other person. What this tells us is that, at least for the moment, these two people are generally interested in meeting with each other.

    If the business woman had one of her feet pointed outward away from the business man, this would tell us that while she is interested in what the business man has to say, she would also like to start heading in whatever direction her foot is pointing.

     Often you can see this non-verbal communication in action during a presentation. You can see if a person would prefer to leave, if their feet were pointed towards the door. If their feet are pointed towards the listeners this may signify that they are comfortable enough that they would like to communicate their point.

      So, the next time you stop someone in the hall to talk, try to notice their feet. They may prefer to continue walking instead of stopping to talk. Observing and utilizing information of non-verbal behaviors like this could help another persons subconscious image of you.

     Animators: This could potentially help you in the subtlety department. Using hints with a foots direction, you can essentially give a very subtle and early anticipation to almost any character.

     Reference:
Lane, C. 2006. Business meeting [photograph]. Retrieved September 15th, 2010 from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colleen-lane/4523323053/

The Art of the Handshake

     This is the very first post of a soon to be weekly blog on non-verbal communication and how both entrepreneurs and animators can use it to their advantage. Today I will be talking a little bit about how one of the most simplest of formal greetings, the handshake, could affect a persons first impression of you.

     In the picture above, we see Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown and Us President Barack Obama shaking hands at a joint press conference. What we also see is Brown getting the left-side advantage on Obama. Now what does that mean? By placing himself on the right side of Obama or the left side from our perspective, Brown has placed himself as the stronger of the two.

    Why is this? If you look carefully, Obama's palm is facing up, opposite to Browns face down palm. Essentially, by taking the "left-side advantage", Brown has taken the "upper hand" in the handshake. By getting the "upper hand" Brown seems the stronger of the two in the picture.

     This kind of handshake is not uncommon in the business world. If you use such a dominant handshake you could potentially send a subconscious message to whomever you are shaking hands with.  If you use the dominant handshake they could be thinking in the back of their mind, "He's trying to be dominant. I had best be careful of him." You may be thinking, "Why would being the "dominant" one be a bad thing?"

    Well if they do feel this way and they are being cautious of your motives, they may not trust you completely.

     Conversely allowing yourself to be on the down side of a dominant handshake could be detrimental to the image the other hand shaker has of you. They could get a message that you are weak or submissive. I am sure that you could imagine multiple scenarios of how being seen as weak or submissive in the workplace could hurt you.

     So, how are you supposed to do a handshake? I am sure you could guess, but if not, then here it is. You shake their hand in a way where both of your palms a faced to the side. What if they try to do a dominant handshake? It's pretty simple. If you find yourself in a dominant handshake, take your other free hand gently grab the back of the persons hand that you are shaking, and equalize it.

Palm vertical (let's work together).

The most generous way to offer a handshake is palm vertical. It sends the signal of cooperation. "I want to work with you."

 http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/oct03/hands.html

     How can animators use this? If you are an animator you could simply exaggerate this fact. Bringing the big CEO in from the left of the frame and shaking a nervous entrepreneurs hand in a dominant manner, pushing the feeling of dominance.

    In the future I will explain other types of handshakes to avoid. I hope you got something out of this post and I will be back next week.

                 Reference
Downing Street. (2009). PM and US president Barack Obama [photograph]. Retrieved September 9th, 2010 from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/downingstreet/3403580377/