Saturday, January 21, 2017

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3825: President Trump's first Expression after Being Introduced - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)





What were the first emotions expressed by President Trump after he was introduced yesterday?

Many people in his shoes would exhibit a sincere smile, a social smile or a perhaps a nervous smile. But joy and happiness (or even an attempt at these) were not the expressions (nor the emotions) which Donald Trump displayed (nor felt) when he was introduced by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) - just after he was sworn-in and immediately prior to his inaugural address. The first emotions President Trump felt and displayed upon being introduced were that of regret and anger (captured below from 0:24).

























In the real world, emotions do not always appear in their textbook, pure and isolated forms. Often two or more emotions are experienced simultaneously. Although, because the motion-capture nature of this telephoto video image (immediately above) is of a bit lower resolution, several key features on Mr. Trump's face in this moment delineate the emotions of both regret and anger. This combination can be also thought of as "bitter-anger" or "bitterness".

Note the lateral, backward and down retraction of the corners of Trump's mouth - this cluster is highly characteristic of regret. The thinning of his upper lip along with the jutting forward of his jaw are highly indicative of anger. Moreover, the muscular tension/contraction of the area above his upper lip and below his nose (termed the "mustache area" regardless of the level of facial hair) - along with the flaring of his nostrils - also projects anger. A third anger indicator is the particular type of tension of his lower eyelids and the partial closure of his upper and lower eyelids. Remove for a moment any political bias you may have - if you have no formal nonverbal training at all, but otherwise have good interpersonal and social skills - these emotions should jump out at you.


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3824: Donald Trump's Inaugural Speech - Three Ways of Pointing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3822: Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3820: Mr. Trump: "Who would you trust more, Angela Merkel or Vladimir Putin?"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3807: Sarah Paulson's Fear of Flying

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3790: Senator John McCain Believes Russian Election Interference Could 'Destroy Democracy'

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3728: Barack Obama Tells Donald Trump to Stop Whining

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3664: Benjamin Netanyahu, Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3601: Casey Neistat & Candice Pool - Water Spit Challenge

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2320: Estonian Skier Andrus Veerpalu - Denies Performance Enhancing Drugs - What his Body Language Tells Us

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2586: Harrison Ford in "Ender's Game" - Microexpression and Macroexpression of Regret - Harrison's Brand and the Stanislavski Method 


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