Previous Events Below is a list of some of the events that I have been involved with: The Body Language of Negotiation Date: Sunday 21 October 2007. What does it take to negotiate a deal? How does your body language influence the other side? How do you recognise when the other side is about to crack, and how can you distinguish it from a moment before they are about to walk away from the table? Dr Harry Witchel uses science and audience participation to demonstrate the ins and outs of negotiation, which is at the very core of our daily lives, not just with our businesses, but with children, friends, strangers and partners as well. at the Brighton Science Festival Body Language and Dating: Date: Friday 29 February 2008. Do first impressions really determine what people think of you? Nonverbal communication is so much of the story about what happens when people go on a date, yet most people cannot put their finger on exactly how it makes things go right or wrong. In this interactive session Dr Harry Witchel of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School demonstrates the power of the subtle movements of rapport as well as the simple movements that turn a chat up line into a friendly conversation. By being able to transmit the signals you want, you can spend more time with the people you want and make the conversations more fun. Cheltenham Science Festival 2007 I appeared in several events at the 2007 Cheltenham Science Festival, including: Learning to Loaf Date: Thursday 7 June 2007. Regency Casino. Date: Saturday 9 June 2007. Ever wondered how card sharks hustle or poker players use 'tells'? Richard Wiseman shows how to get lucky, Harry Witchel, Big Brother psychologist, describes how to read your opponent and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy helps you factor the odds. Can science improve your chances of a win? A must for all budding James Bonds! Dr Witchel's Seven Rules of Dating. Date: Sunday 10 June 2007. Internet Dating Date: Tuesday 5 June 2007. Create a profile, upload a picture, write a witty yet lovable blurb and you're away – thousands of potential dates waiting for you... But how do people communicate without body language? And how do you write the perfect profile? Harry Witchel is joined by journalist and author Jennifer Cox as he explores the world of internet dating. 'The use of Antipsychotic Medication and Sudden Cardiac Death: the Formulation of a Life Saving Guideline' Date: Wednesday 25 April 2007. As part of the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust conference on Cardiotoxic Effects: the Cardiotoixic Effects of Antipsychotic Medication, I will be delivering a formal lecture for Consultants, Registrars and Advanced Nurses. The Brain: The Learning Brain. Date: Thursday 19 April 2007. This four minute short film shows Dr. Harry Witchel demonstrating unconscious learning occurring - that is, learning something without being told what you are learning, and not being certain that you have learned anything, yet the body responds in a new way that must have been learned. This is a brief example of the Iowa Gambling Task, made famous by Antonio Damasio. The 100 Most Annoying Pop Songs We Hate to Love Date: Saturday 31 March 2007. Cabaret: Science of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll! Date: Sunday 18 March 2007 Dr. Harry Witchel, Dr. Graeme Jones and Dr. Mark Lewney drag you down the slippery slope of the rock star lifestyle to hilarious discoveries about your three favorite vices. Not suitable for those with delicate sensitivities. Ages 16+ Body Language: Non-verbal Communication Laid Bare. Date: Saturday 17 March 2007 Dr. Harry Witchel, Big Brother psychologist, TV scientist and writer, opens your eyes to the secrets of body language that you may be missing! Hear fantastic new research about how body language affects the interactiosn you have everyday, and find out exactly when it comes in useful. A fun, interactive mix of explanations, videos and demonstrations on what boy language reveals about what's happening in a person's mind. A lecture at the Biophysical Society’s Annual General Meeting - "The hERG K+ Channel: Update on Structure, Function and Safety". Date: Friday 2 March 2007. This is a talk for specialists in the hERG field. It is part of "Drug Discovery for Ion Channels VII". Body Language: Non-verbal Communication Laid Bare. Date: Friday 16 February 2007. Is it possible to tell whether somebody is lying just by looking at them? How do some people seem to transmit an air of command that others feel compelled to respond to? And can you tell whether somebody fancies you before you take a chance on talking to them? Dr. Harry Witchel is your guide through the fascinating world of non-verbal communication, where decoding the hidden messages in appearance, tone of voice, facial expression, and subtle movements makes it possible "to hear between the lines." Public Thesis Defence: "Pharmacological activation of the hERG channel - a new antiarrhythmic principle?" Date: Friday 9 February 2007. I will be one of two examiner's at a public defence in support of a Ph.D. thesis. This thesis has resulted in 4 well-received publications already, and another two papers are planned based on the work, so the science should be excellent. I have never examined a thesis in Denmark before, so I do not know how accessible the event will be to non-scientists. The material being defended is very specialised to the hERG field, but the event is definitely a public event, and non-scientists (e.g., the candidate’s friends and family at least) will be in attendance. I presume it will be in English. The Dana Centre - "What Makes Us Laugh?". 29 November 2006. Advanced Night-School on the Science of Pleasure. This advanced course involves a mixture of lecturing on the brain, reliving some classic scientific experiments, and working with therapy based techniques for practical tips on increasing one’s experience of pleasure. It contained advanced material and is attended primarily by persons on my previous courses and lectures. The BA Festival of Science (Exeter) - "X-change with Quentin Cooper". 5 September 2006. National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth - “The Physiology of Big Brother: Stress, Arousal and Lying”. A lecture to ~50 gifted 17-year-olds at a science summer school. The Dana Centre - Speed Dating for Gay and Lesbians. A two-hour event with a 30 minute lecture on body language and 60 minutes of speed dating for gay and lesbian members of the general public. Watershed (Bristol) Tunnel Vision Series - "How to really detect lies told on television". Part of art and science collaboration (SciArt) programme. London Science Museum and Dana Centre for the Brain - "The Body Language of Love". 14 Feb 2006 and again 22 Feb 2006. Oxford University (Modern Art Oxford, with the Department of Astrophysics) - "Body language and detecting lying – art and science: a response to Jem Finer's sculpture 'the Centre of the Universe'". This lecture was part of a series of lectures celebrating the completion of Jem Finer's year as artist in residence at Oxford University's Astrophysics Department. Each lecture brought in an expert of a diverging discipline to give their response to Finer's work. Birmingham Future - "The Truth about Body Language". With Dr. Andrew Bass and Paul Clusker of BassClusker Consulting Birmingham futures is the organisation for young business professionals (esp. accountants and lawyers) in Birmingham (it is the part of Birmingham Forward for professionals under 35). We demonstrated as part of its personal skills development series. In this 90-minute event we presented our contrarian view about Body Language as presented by the "Comic Book" body language books. We base our interpretation upon the original research. A variety of personal development exercises were included. Debating Matters. I judged a local heat of a competition at Hanham High School between four high school debating teams. The question debated was: "Embryonic stem cell research is good — agree or disagree". 11 October 2006. Fame Lab 2006. I was a judge at the second Fame Lab. 11 March 2006, at Life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Fame Lab. I was a judge for the first-ever Fame Lab. Fame Lab is a national competition to find the best new talent for Science Presentation to the Media; the winner receives £2000, a programme on channel 4 television, and a lecture tour set up for them. Contestants could be teachers, technicians, government workers, or anyone in science; most of the contestants were between 25-45 years of age. Judging was extremely high pressure, with 43 three-minute presentations being judged in a morning by a panel of three judges; we were on stage in front of an audience almost continuously, and we were allowed to confer amongst ourselves only once per hour for 5 minutes. The BA Festival (Norwich) - "The Beautiful Brain". I was the host of an entire day of neuroscience presentations by seven academics at the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) festival. As host, I was responsible for the entire day, also making sure that presentations were on time and went well, and encouraging questions and answers at the end, which was incredibly active. Biosciences Federation - "Life Sciences Career Conference 2005". 5 Nov 2005. Dana Centre for the Brain, London Museum of Science - "Making Sense: experiencing the world around us". This three hour event with one hundred attendees and three simultaneous events. As MC my functions were to introduce the speakers and events (without notes), to run a large roving question-and-answer session at the end of the event, and to keep people entertained and circulating throughout. Improvement process. I organised a 90 minute group activity entitled "How do we reconcile excellence and efficiency in teaching?" This process involved soliciting and discussing suggestions, assessing them in small groups, and then voting as a department. This was part of an initiative by a new head of department to find improvements for our departments already excellent teaching (Bristol University was recently rated # 1 in Physiology by the Times). The Cheltenham Science Festival - "Music and Film with David Puttnam". 8 June 2005 When the Cheltenham Festival asked me if I would like to present an event about 'Music and Film' with Oscar award-winning director David Puttnam (Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, The Killing Fields, The Mission, Local Hero), I thought things could not get any better. But we were also joined by composer Howard Blake, who composed the soundtrack for the animated film "The Snowman". The event involved a series of short film clips and discussion with the audience on how music contributes to the film and its effects on the audience. I came up with a demonstration of how TV advertisements can use sound to create powerful effects that specifically work at the level of the unconscious mind. The Royal Society - "The Hollywood Science of Spiderman". 26 November 2003 This was a plenary lecture for the Genetic Futures National Forum, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA. It was meant as a 'reward lecture' for ~100 specially selected young people from throughout the UK. Sponsors of the lecture included MRC, Royal Society, the BBSRC, DFES, DTi and NESTA. Pittsburgh SciTech Spectacular - "Pow! The Science of Superheroes". Oct 2006 How do you make an interactive and fun science event that teaches young people about gene transfer technology and is perfect for young people from age 11 all the way to 17? Superheroes come to the rescue again! Timandra Harkness and I collaborated to make a unique 'show' — more than a lecture, it was an experience. We did six of these, and on the Wednesday we had an audience of almost all 12-13-year-olds, the most discerning/demanding audience; they were cheering and yelling so loudly that Timandra and I both thought we were going to go deaf. The Cheltenham Science Festival - " The Subjective Experience of Time". 7 June 2003 I have been presenting science at the Cheltenham Festival since its inception, and for the first two years they asked me to do lectures on their festival theme. The second year of the festival the theme was "time", and the psychology, brain chemistry and physiology of time and how we perceive it made for a fascinating show. More... Please also see: My television and radio appearances. My articles and interviews, many of which are availabel to read online. My upcomming events. |
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Copyright © 2007 Dr. Harry Witchel. |
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