Thursday, February 12, 2015

Nonverbal Communication No. 3100: Bill Belichick on David Letterman - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)





Bill Belichick was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday. And to no one's surprise he stonewalled Dave when it came to questions regarding "Deflategate".

From a nonverbal standpoint, in the above YouTube segment, several moments of this short clip of Belichick's interview are particularly striking. Watch it with the sound muted once or twice, then again with the sound on. How does your impression change with sound?



This image (captured from 8:22) shows the Patriots' coach with an expression - for what many may would describe as "That's just the way Belichick smiles". They would be dead wrong.

This false-smile has clear elements of contempt, disgust and anger present. Can you isolate their features?





There was a clear microexpression of contempt seen at the 8:44 mark as he says "... scientifically ..."

[It's more than a slip of the tongue here that Belichick uses the world "deflate" rather than another word choice - for there is an important physical difference between pressure reduction as a function of lower air temperature and deflation - which involves the removal of air.]

Did you catch it the microexpression? YouTube has a feature ("settings" in the lower right hand corner) where the speed is adjustable. Watch it at full speed (with sound muted) and then at 0.25 speed. You should be able to isolate it.




Another display at 9:31 shows the New England Coach with a classic expression of disgust.












After watching this video, has your opinion of any cheating changed? What other microexpressions are present in this video which were not discussed in this post?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3099: Jon Stewart Announces he's Leaving "The Daily Show" - A Classic Body Language Cluster

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3097: Buddies at the Grammys? What Does Kanye West REALLY Think of Taylor Swift? Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2338: Why Does Keit Pentus-Rosimannus feel Fear? Body Language of Estonia's Minister of Environment

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2964: Eric Holder Interview After Announcing Resignation - Microexpressions and other Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3080: Bill Belichick's Press Conference - A Key Body Language Tell  

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3081: More Bill Belichick Body Language Deception Deflategate Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3082: Bill Belichick, Deflategate & Lip Smacking

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2999: Chris Christie to James Keady "Sit Down and Shut Up" - Body Language Congruent with .... 

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