Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Pricing
Podcast Image

97% Effective

EP 127 – Susan Ibitz, Founder of the Human Behavior School – Face Reading: A Real Superpower — or Something Else?

08 Oct 2025

Description

Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.com** Watch to see Susan read Michael’s face, HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@97PercentEffective **You’ll love or hate today’s guest, Susan Ibitz, who boldly says: “I’m the only person in the world who does what I do.” Dubbed “freaky” and “the top expert in her field” by the Chicago Tribune and Pyschology Today, Susan draws on physiognomy, micro-expressions, and body language – practices often accused of shaky pseudoscience -- to profile and read people. A former political influence consultant, profiler, and civilian hostage negotiator, she’s helped top law firms select high-stakes juries, coached Shark Tank’s fastest deal-closer, and advised everyone from television producers to sales reps on how to “hack” human behaviour to get results. But here’s the question: Can she really profile anyone in just 90 seconds? Is her ability a legitimate superpower … or something else? You decide. In this episode of 97% Effective, watch as she turns her methods on host Michael Wenderoth, and then listen as they discuss her background and training, the art and science of her craft, and the myths that swirl around in her field. SHOW NOTES:Susan profiles Michael – in 90 secondsThe breakdown: What Michael’s flat forehead, neanderthal bump eyebrows, resting face, upper eyelids, the four quadrants of his mouth, bigger ears and earlobes, hair… all say about his personalityAre facial features universal across gender, race, culture, age?A short history: how face reading got incorrectly associated with phrenology (reading the shape of the head), Mengele and the NazisStudying under Paul Ekman and the problem with microexpressionsHow face reading catapulted Susan’s careerMichael challenges Susan: What was her confidence level that she read him correctly?Top reasons why a face profiler can be wrong: Normalization, fighting the process, being too tired, and confirmation biasWhy listening to someone’s voice and tone is critical – lessons from hostage negotiationsHow Susan’s Dyslexia and Aspergers enhances her skills to read context and peopleDiagnosing vs Profiling and reading people’s tendenciesThinking in terms of percentages and propensities“Assessments are not tests”Susan is not for everyone: Are you open to change?The bad apple effectThe top things organizations don’t pay attention to: The importance of stepping away (because you can be the problem), and that people are not always in the positions they need to be (so reallocate them)A critique of “thin slicing”41 Shots and the importance of never assuming you are right 100% of the timeSusan busts 3 myths: 1) That using the number 3 means you are lying, 2) That 93% of your communication is body language, and 3) That “mirroring” will make people instantly love youThe way you say things is 30% more persuasive than anything you can do with your bodyHow to protect yourself from being persuaded – or connedCon artists play with your ego; narcissists and pyschopaths go after people who are highly intelligentWhen ego gets in the way and we become victims because we are too cockyWhen it smells, looks and tastes like poo poo, it’s _______.The guts are your first brain: you can smell fear“Always doubt”Susan on AI vs humans: her record vs Big Blue, and how AI can make you dumberHow one of Susan’s students outperformed AI to solve a murder mysteryToo many tik tok’ers, not enough plumbersLightning round: Susan’s biggest influences; Favorite Sci-fi movie; Her drink of choice BIO AND LINKS:Susan Ibitz is a former political influence consultant, profiler, and civilian hostage negotiator, with expertise, study and degrees in Human Behavior, Behavioral Economics, Neuroscience – with a deep nerd-like love for data. From physiognomy to micro-expression and body language, she incorporates numerous forms of studying human behavior to “hack” each person’s personality traits. She uses that skill and experience to “works on the humans that grow your business,” offering her expertise to television producers to sales trainers to the FBI, to now the general public. Past engagements have included work with the U.S. Navy, Harvard University, and the Secret Service.Watch Susan read Michael’s face -- on the 97% Effective video channel, here: https://www.youtube.com/@97PercentEffectiveSusan Ibitz Behavior Consulting: SusanIbitz.comSusan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-ibitz/ENOUGH PLEASE! Susan’s article: ‘93% of communication is driven by body language’ is NOT what Mehrabian said: https://tinyurl.com/356sjkwwPaul Ekman and the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_EkmanReprint of profile of Susan in the Chicago Tribune: https://tinyurl.com/4aj65fbt“How to make questions to get the answers you need”: https://tinyurl.com/ywxwctfkThin-slicing, featured in Blink (Malcolm Gladwell): https://tinyurl.com/2ws268aa41 shots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Skin_(41_Shots)Book by Gavin De Becker - The Gift of Fear: https://a.co/d/b6jvWVmMichael’s Award-Winning book, Get Promoted: What You’re Really Missing at Work That’s Holding You Back https://tinyurl.com/453txk74Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Audio
Featured in this Episode

No persons identified in this episode.

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes
🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.