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Body Language
(Eye Contact)

More than half of what we communicate has nothing to do with our words: it's body language. Patients read confidence, trust, and sincerity through our eyes before they hear a thing we say.  This week walks through how body language influences the other person, then dives into being intentional with the one habit that shapes almost every encounter: eye contact.
   5:34 Watch Time [Week 5 from the Weekly upSKILL series]
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 Real Help 

Solve these 'people problems'

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For upSKILLers:

  • Knowing the difference between a quick glance and real, connecting eye contact  
  • Making sure patients, or people in your own life, feel your full presence even when you're mid-task or looking at a screen
  • Making the most of the first few seconds of an interaction to build trust through eye contact
  • Feeling more confident and connected in every interaction, with patients, teammates, and people in your personal life, just by holding a gaze with intention
  • Knowing exactly how long to hold eye contact so it builds trust instead of feeling like a stare

For Leaders:

  • Making sure patients feel truly seen, not just glanced at
  • Helping team members bring more intentional eye contact into fast-paced moments
  • Creating a more consistent experience across the whole team during greetings
  • Team members who build instant trust and credibility through a few seconds of real eye contact
  • A simple, repeatable habit (the 50/70 rule) every team member can apply the same way
 Data 

It's science

A landmark study by Albert Mehrabian found that only 7% of how we interpret communication comes from our words, 38% is from tone, and 55% is from body language.(1)
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That means patients are absorbing far more from our tone and body language than from anything we're actually saying.
Body language researcher Dr. Amy Cuddy's work on presence shows that roughly half of a first impression is formed through body language alone.(2)
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Trust starts building before we say a single word.
Body language experts Allan and Barbara Pease recommend holding eye contact for 60 to 70% of a conversation to build trust and connection.(3)
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Too little reads as disengaged. Too much can feel intense, so the balance matters.
 Note 

From The Experts

"If we are telling a patient, 'I understand,' but our tone sounds flat, and maybe we're not looking at them, we're turned away from them, we're writing something down, looking at a screen, 93% of how they feel is based on our tone and body language. That means they will actually feel the opposite of 'I understand,' because our body is telling a different story."
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- Christine & Lauren, The Patient Whisperers
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 SERIES 

This is adapted from Weekly: Mastering Soft Skills

by The Patient Whisperers:
Soft skills that make work and life better.
For everyone who works with patients - or interacts with humans.

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Ralph Chu, MD
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Chu Vision Institute

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 WHO 

Meet the experts

The Patient Whisperers
Christine Scarlett
& Lauren Weaver
Former practice leaders leading change by bringing relational intelligence, soft skills + emotional connection into healthcare as authors, speakers, and upSKILL instructors. 
Get to know them here or connect on social media:
Christine Scarlett
Former CMO
& Director of Patient Experience
From counseling patients, to Director of Patient Experience, to CMO, Christine's worn nearly every 'hat' in a healthcare practice. The driving force? Her love for people... creating exceptional patient experiences and empowering those who serve them.
Lauren Weaver
Former
Director of Brand Development
Bringing her PR, branding, social media influencer status, and love of storytelling with her, Lauren turned how we market and build a brand for ourselves in healthcare upside down by redefining how we connect with our patients, both in practice and online.
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(1) Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent Messages. Wadsworth. (2) Cuddy, A. J. C. (2015). Presence. Little, Brown Spark. (3) Pease, A., & Pease, B. (2004). The Definitive Book of Body Language. Bantam.