Peter Collett

For many years Peter Collett was a member of staff at the Oxford University Department of Experimental Psychology, where he taught and researched topics including body language, culture, management style, personality and television audiences. He has made numerous TV appearances and was one of the resident psychologists on Big Brother for the first four series, as well as on Celebrity Poker Club.

Peter is known for his research on body language, some of which he published with Desmond Morris. His books include GESTURES: THEIR ORIGINS AND DISTRIBUTION (with Desmond Morris et al) and DRIVING PASSION: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CAR (with Peter Marsh). He is the author of FOREIGN BODIES: A GUIDE TO EUROPEAN MANNERISMS, and most recently THE BOOK OF TELLS: HOW TO READ PEOPLE’S MINDS FROM THEIR ACTIONS. THE BOOK OF TELLS formed the basis of Body Talk, a two-part TV series that he presented on Channel4.

For several years Peter ran a consultancy that carried out research on communication and marketing for clients including the Newspaper Publishers Association, BSkyB, Euromedia, First Direct, Zurich Bank, Crown Paints and Intel. He and a colleague recently launched www.brandaffinity.com, a consultancy devoted to the understanding and measurement of consumers’ emotional attachment to brands.