(Anti)-Social Distancing

At this very moment in time, around the world, millions of people are adjusting to the restrictions that have been put in place by governments dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Those restrictions range widely in their severity and impact on all our lives both personally and professionally. But as we’ve all begun adjusting to these […]

What was it that triggered ’emotional contagion’ in the Boris NHS Speech?

A few people have said to me that the Boris post-NHS hospitalisation speech triggered sadness in them… and yet the trigger seemed subconscious. ‘I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that connected with me’. There were some very subtle signals that combined to create this powerful force that psychologists call emotional contagion – […]

Basic Behaviour Analysis for the First 7 Seconds of Zoom Meetings

It’s Monday morning and you open up a ‘Zoom’ virtual video chat with a work colleague with a smile on your face, gently enquiring, “Good morning, how are you?”. Your colleague snaps back, “I AM… FINE!!”, using a loud tone that has an edge to it. Unless this is normal (baseline) behaviour for this person […]