Mentalization skills for Professional Advancement
The Smell of Fear
Basic mentalizing can prevent misinterpretation of affects and behavior. Republished from www.centerforappliedtheoryofmind.com
IF YOU START TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE, maybe a little anxious in the presence of others, even though you might not (be able to) see their behavior or hear their voice, it could be that you picked up on someone else’s odor of fear. Here is what happened to me years ago when I was attending a training session on presentation techniques.
The training started early morning in a small conference room at a hotel nearby the company I worked for. When the trainer came into the room, she initially sat down next to me while waiting for her introduction. While she sat there, a whiff of her perspiration odor made its way to my highly sensitive nose. It was the kind of smell that people exude when they feel anxious. I wondered if the trainer felt nervous about conducting the training, but I couldn’t detect any other sign of unease in her. On the contrary, the trainer seemed very confident in her mannerisms and appearance.
During the training, participants were asked to perform short public speaking exercises in front of the group. I volunteered to go first. Shortly after I started, the trainer asked me to stop, turned to the group and asked, “Do…
