On Friday, Harry Reid accused Mitt Romney of not paying any taxes for the past ten years. In this video, Mr. Romney is defending these attacks by the Senate Majority Leader. While, like everyone else, we don’t have any of the
former Massachusetts Governor's tax records, and thus we can’t comment on
legalities as the IRS’s could, Mitt Romney’s body language tells us his honesty regarding these taxes. Generally, Mitt has a very bad habit of not using his hands as
illustrators during speeches and interviews – however this video is an important exception to his pattern. An illustrator is a facial, hand/arm or body dynamic
nonverbal configuration which emphasizes, underlines or animates the spoken word. When used in a congruent manner with the verbal message, illustrators indicate credibility, build rapport and increase learning/recall in
the audience. One must be very careful to not confuse illustrators with MAPs (Manipulators, Adaptors, Pacifiers).
Mitt tends to be “old school” when it comes to his lack of displaying
illustrators. In decades past, “speech coaches” often preached to not use one's hands/arms
when talking - based on nothing more than their own personal bias. Romney has heeded this bad advice - it is absolutely wrong. It is not to imply however, that haphazard movements
of the hands & arms are helpful or to be encouraged. Atypically for him, Mitt used his hands and arms in a highly congruent manner when verbalizing his defense against Harry Reid's accusations.
Romney's body language indicates high sincerity and honesty regarding his belief in his tax history. He just needs to achieve a similar level of congruency between his words and nonverbal displays in other interviews, speeches and debates.
Analysis # 2046: Romney, Sincerity, Truth and Bain Capital
Analysis # 2052: Dialing Up Empathy and Sincerity - Mitt Romney's & Barack Obama's Response to Aurora, Colorado "Batman Shooting"
Analysis # 1915: Mitt Romney's Response to Supreme Court's Decision on "Obamacare"
Analysis # 2063: Mitt Romney and Ed Miliband - Under-used and Backfiring Uses of Hands
Analysis # 2046: Romney, Sincerity, Truth and Bain Capital
Analysis # 2052: Dialing Up Empathy and Sincerity - Mitt Romney's & Barack Obama's Response to Aurora, Colorado "Batman Shooting"
Analysis # 1915: Mitt Romney's Response to Supreme Court's Decision on "Obamacare"
Analysis # 2063: Mitt Romney and Ed Miliband - Under-used and Backfiring Uses of Hands
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