Health aNd Fitness Guide

Next time you are trying to settle down a distraught friend or a loved one, say this: “Look at me!” Eye-contact will quickly help regain composure, says Mardi Kidwell, a communications professor at the University of New Hampshire. Kidwell’s research examined how law-enforcement officials often successfully use eye-contact to soothe distressed or hysterical suspects and emergency workers. “It’s the first step to listening and obeying — whether they know it consciously or not,” she says. The trick is to get into the person’s line of sight, tell them to take a deep breath, and don’t let them look away until they acknowledges your words.