FACE READING ON CNN 6/10/98

http://cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/9806/10/nsf.00.html

CNN Newsstand Fortune Corporations Learn to Read Faces for Clues of Character; Dell Computers: World's Fastest Growing Computer Company

Aired June 10, 1998 - 10:00 p.m. ET

[THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.]

STEPHEN FRAZIER, CO-HOST: Hello, and welcome to our first program.

WILLOW BAY, CO-HOST: Tonight, we're in New York's Union Square at a newsstand in the Century Building, which used to be a publishing house.

FRAZIER: When Henry Lou (ph) started "Fortune" almost 70 years ago, he called business "the most universal of occupations," and said he wanted to capture its dignity and beauty, the smartness and excitement.

BAY: Tonight, it's our turn to continue that quest. We'll take you inside the world of business with all its power and its drama.

We'll also show you how business affects our investments, our jobs, our lives.

FRAZIER: Thank you for joining us. We'll begin in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FRAZIER: Our first story tonight looks at you, at your face. Some corporations are learning to read faces for clues of character, not the expressions on our faces, but the features we were born with, the shape of a chin, curve of an eyebrow.

Sounds silly? GE has looked into how this works. So has American Airlines, MCI. So have a mirror handy as Sharon Collins (ph) explains this controversial technique. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SHARON COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From childhood, we're told, "Never judge a book by its cover." Well, what if you learned that was all wrong, that in fact you are judged by your cover, and your cover is your face?

ANN MARKS (ph), RECRUITER: You have a little arch in your eyebrow. And that means you like to be mentally in control.

COLLINS: Your eyebrow?

MARKS: Your chin tells me basically you're going to be able to take it.

COLLINS: Your chin, part of a job interview?

MARKS: These are all the reasons that I wanted to tell you, besides your resume, that I'm offering you the job.

COLLINS: Ann Marks hires counselors who do job placement for major corporations. They have no idea their faces are part of the test.

His chin is straight so she thinks he's an idealist. The shape of his nose tells her he likes to work alone. Ann Marks says those lines on his forehead show compassion.

It sounds bizarre. Since when is your face as important as your resume?

The answer lies with this man, Mac Fulfer (ph).

MAC FULFER, FACE READER: Eyebrows signal our mental thoughts. The shape of the eyebrow also tells you how the person is most comfortable in framing their world.

COLLINS: Mac Fulfer is a face reader.

FULFER: Round eyebrows are people whose mental focus is people-oriented. Straight eyebrows are people who need the facts. Angled eyebrows are people who want to stay mentally in control.

COLLINS: You may be skeptical. But Mac Fulfer has reason to believe this works. He's a trial lawyer who learned face reading to get an edge in jury selection.

FULFER: One of the things that I discovered in 20 years of practicing law is the least reliable information that we ever get from people is what comes out of their mouth.

COLLINS (on-camera): So the value in this comes in being able to look at someone and know immediately OK, this person is defensive, or this person is so stubborn they're not going to change their mind.

FULFER: Absolutely. What I have seen happen is the people who have taken the time to learn face reading have learned a new language.

COLLINS (voice-over): Mac studied hundreds of faces before writing an illustrated book, sort of a how-to on face reading.

The books says if your coworker is a perfectionist, they'll have more than two vertical lines between their eyebrows. If their chin sticks out, they'll always get the last word in a discussion, just like this guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: He's got a friend named Bob I want you to meet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: If they have a gap between their center teeth like these folks, it means they'll take risks the rest of us might run from.

This may sound like some new-age fad, but consider this list. All these companies have hired Mac to explain face reading.

[...LIST OF COMPANIES??!!...]

(on-camera): At Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, management is looking at face reading as the way to improve corporate communications. We watched as the top leaders of one of the world's busiest airports got their first lesson on how to read a face.

FULFER: Here's what I want you to do, look at Alvie (ph). He's got this mustache, you know, which is -- I'm no wuss, you know. I'm, hey, I'm macho. I'm tough.

Let's try Michael for just a second. One of the things I see is look how large his nostrils are. So he comes from a space emotionally of abundance.

COLLINS (voice-over): How could this help DFW managers communicate? And why would all those major corporations even try something this unorthodox?

KATHY FRAGNOLI, ATTORNEY MEDIATOR: I think we have to look at the number of lawsuits that are filed every year for things such as sexual harassment, race discrimination. There's just such a kind of explosion in that type of case.

COLLINS: Employee lawsuits are one of the fastest growing areas of litigation, costing companies an average $96,000 per case.

Kathy Fragnoli hired Mac because she's an attorney mediator, brought in by companies like DFW airport to help them avoid employment disputes.

FRAGNOLI: As a mediator, if I can look at someone's face and try to understand where they're stressed or how I think they -- what motivates them or how they tick, then I'll be able to work for them better.

FULFER: Eyes, what we hold in our eyes is anger. But it's anger about feeling put upon. So we say to Sybil (ph), "I know it's already 5:30, but you don't mind staying and finishing up all these reports before you go, do you?" And she goes, "OK."

Even if she says, "OK," what she really said was, "You SOB. I don't believe you asked me to do that."

LESLIE ZEBROWITZ, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: This reminds me of astrology. It also has some similarities to what you see on late-night TV when they're advertising psychics.

COLLINS: Brandeis University psychology professor Leslie Zebrowitz has written extensively on face reading.

ZEBROWITZ: As a scientist, I'm very interested in the subject of what we can learn about people from their face. I think it's possible that we can learn a little bit. But I think it's unlikely that we can learn enough that I would want to rely on that when I'm hiring someone rather than relying on how they performed in their last job, what they tell me in an interview.

COLLINS: Maybe so. But we stayed with Mac three days and watched him read about 60 faces. Not once did anyone tell him he was wrong.

FULFER: What did I point out that was in error? What did I say about you that was like not correct? Raise your hand if you have a response.

COLLINS: No one raised a hand in response here, or here, or here.

ZEBROWITZ: People tend to notice what they're looking for or what is true. So they'll notice the hits even if there are misses.

COLLINS: We tested Mac to see if he would get hits or misses on some famous faces. We'll let you judge his accuracy.

FULFER: Interesting thing about this forehead, this is a person that can take a problem, and even if it seemed overwhelming to other people, can break it down into smaller parts and see, well, here's how to do it.

I see a little bit of teeth in this one, holds himself to impossibly high standards, hates being wrong.

COLLINS: That's Mac's read on Kenneth Starr.

FULFER: Some of these lines here are kind of interesting. I haven't seen enough of it yet. But those are courage lines. On a personal side, faced some things that felt overwhelming.

COLLINS: Look who it is.

[...WHO IS IT??!!...Steinbrenner? Thatcher? (see below)]

FULFER: We see jowls here, a person who's comfortable exercising power and authority, incredible stamina. Once they lock on, they're bulldogs. They don't let go. They're absolutely going for it.

COLLINS: On both George Steinbrenner and Margaret Thatcher he read power and authority from their jaw line.

(on-camera): Let's say someone has altered their face. How can you truly read that person?

FULFER: When a person is altering their own face, it's because their self image is not being met by what nature gave them.

(voice-over): Face reading may sound far-fetched. But it's been used for centuries. In the days of ancient Rome, Cicero believed facial expressions reflected the soul.

In China, Confucius said, "Look into a person's pupils. He cannot hide himself."

And England's William Shakespeare wrote: "God has given you one face. And you make yourselves another."

MARKS: I know that you're a people person. What confirms that is, you know, your eyebrows [are] round.

UNIDENTIFIED APPLICANT: I'm glad I didn't pluck them this morning.

MARKS: Yeah, that's right. Good you didn't.

COLLINS: This man had the right eyebrows. He got the job.

But listen to what Marks has to say about another applicant.

MARKS: His jaw, that's repressed anger. He's a volcano waiting to erupt. There's an energy drain on him.

ZEBROWITZ: The fact that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that this man didn't have the energy for the job, for example, makes me find it disturbing that it would be legal to deny him the job on those grounds.

COLLINS (on-camera): You used the word "horrified." Are you really horrified?

ZEBROWITZ: Yes. I find it appalling.

COLLINS (voice-over): But according to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, there's nothing illegal about these hiring practices. The law prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, ethnic or religious background. But it says nothing about face reading.

FULFER: If you're using face reading for the purpose, like I said, of discrimination or for -- to attempt to judge people, I think you've missed out on the best opportunity. The opportunity is to be able to communicate with that person and see how they feel about it.

Alvie, why don't you do that? There you go, have a seat.

COLLINS (on-camera): What about some poor guy who really needs a job and doesn't get it because he has the wrong kind of eyebrows?

FULFER: Are you doing someone a favor to hire them in to do something that is really a struggle for them? If you can see what this person really has to offer and what they have to give, you can utilize them to the best -- to their best advantage and to your best advantage.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BAY: Mac read a few other faces for us. Elizabeth Dole, he said the shape of her eyebrows shows she's a visionary.

Michael Jordan's ear indicates his biggest challenge is avoiding boredom. And when we showed him a section of this face, he said it belongs to a man who has a great capacity for listening. It's the pope.

FRAZIER: Mac Fulfer analyzed a picture of your face, Willow, and said you too have a great capacity for listening.

BAY: Oh.

FRAZIER: We'll be right back.