You are contagious | Vanessa Van Edwards | TEDxLondon

Summary

Vanessa, a self-proclaimed recovering awkward person, delves into the science behind social interactions and TED Talk popularity. She reveals through extensive analysis that successful speakers use an average of 465 hand gestures in 18 minutes, emphasizing non-verbal communication's impact. Vanessa also explores the contagious nature of emotions, backed by studies on body language and its influence on perception. Her talk encourages embracing positive emotions, effective communication, and the power of enthusiasm to make an impact.

Takeaways

• 😄 The speaker, Vanessa, humorously shares her past social awkwardness and how it led to her career in understanding human behavior.
• 🔍 Vanessa and her lab conducted an extensive experiment analyzing TED Talks to identify patterns that make some go viral while others don't.
• 🤔 They investigated various factors including body language, hand gestures, vocal variety, and even outfit choices to understand their impact on audience engagement.
• 👀 It's revealed that people first look at hands when meeting someone, a behavior rooted in our evolutionary past to assess potential threats.
• 🙌 The study found that popular TED speakers use an average of 465 hand gestures in an 18-minute talk, significantly more than less popular speakers.
• 📈 Hand gestures are crucial as they underline concepts and are given more weight by the brain, enhancing the speaker's message delivery.
• 🌐 Vanessa's big idea is that humans are 'contagious,' constantly sending and decoding body language signals, which also applies emotionally and chemically.
• 😖 A study demonstrated that emotions like fear can be transferred through non-verbal cues, even via smell, activating similar responses in others.
• 😃 Genuine happiness expressed through facial expressions can be contagious and improve one's likability, as shown by the University of Finland's research.
• 📞 The speaker suggests that even on the phone, emotions can be conveyed and picked up by others, impacting how likable one is perceived to be.
• 🗣️ Vanessa emphasizes the importance of using conversation starters that trigger dopamine release, leading to more pleasurable and memorable interactions.
• 🎉 She concludes with a challenge to use excitement-inducing conversation starters and to spread positivity and enthusiasm, making oneself more infectious in a positive way.

Q & A

What was Vanessa's personal phase humorously referred to as during her talk?

Vanessa humorously referred to a personal phase as her 'plaid vest phase' during her talk.

What did Vanessa and her lab researchers set out to discover about TED Talks?

Vanessa and her lab researchers set out to discover why some TED Talks go viral and others do not by analyzing thousands of hours of TED Talks for patterns.

What was the surprising initial pattern Vanessa's team found in TED Talks?

The surprising initial pattern Vanessa's team found was related to the use of hand gestures, which they later quantified in the most and least viewed TED Talks.

Why do people tend to look at someone's hands first when they meet?

People tend to look at someone's hands first due to an evolutionary trait from caveman days, where it was important to check if the stranger was carrying a weapon.

How many hand gestures do the most popular TED Talkers use on average in 18 minutes?

The most popular TED Talkers use an average of 465 hand gestures in 18 minutes.

What does Vanessa suggest is the impact of hand gestures on the brain's perception of the speaker's message?

Vanessa suggests that hand gestures underline concepts and are given 12.5 times more weight by the brain, thus reinforcing the speaker's message.

What study did Vanessa refer to that demonstrates the contagious nature of emotions?

Vanessa referred to a study where participants smelled sweat pads from treadmill runners and skydivers, with the latter causing the participants' fear response to be activated in an fMRI machine, demonstrating that emotions like fear are contagious.

How does Vanessa suggest we can be contagious in three different ways?

Vanessa suggests we can be contagious non-verbally, verbally, and emotionally. Non-verbally through hand gestures and expressions, verbally by using dopamine-triggering conversation starters, and emotionally by expressing excitement or nervousness.

What experiment did Vanessa conduct in Portland, Oregon, to demonstrate the contagious nature of non-verbal cues?

Vanessa conducted an experiment in Portland where she stood in the street looking up at nothing to see if passersby would mimic her behavior, demonstrating the contagious nature of non-verbal cues.

What is the facial feedback hypothesis mentioned by Vanessa?

The facial feedback hypothesis is the idea that not only do our emotions cause our facial expressions, but our facial expressions can also cause our emotions.

How did Vanessa's experiment with phone greetings aim to understand the impact of emotions on likeability?

Vanessa's experiment with phone greetings involved recording different emotional tones in hellos and then having participants rate the speakers on likeability to understand if expressing happiness, sadness, or anger affected perceived likeability.

What advice does Vanessa give for improving the quality of conversations and making oneself more memorable?

Vanessa advises to avoid typical conversation starters like 'What do you do?' and instead use ones that trigger dopamine and excitement, such as asking about exciting recent events or upcoming vacations.

What was the result of the singing experiment Vanessa mentioned, and what does it suggest about the power of mindset?

In the singing experiment, students who were asked to express excitement before singing into accuracy software scored an 80% accuracy rate, suggesting that mindset can significantly influence performance and that expressing excitement can enhance outcomes.

What is Vanessa's final challenge to the audience, and why is it meant to be infectious?

Vanessa's final challenge is for the audience to yell out 'I'm excited' with all their energy. This is meant to be infectious as it embodies the idea of expressing excitement to trigger positive emotions and make oneself more memorable and impactful.