Saturday, September 21, 2019

Body Language Analysis No. 4397: Donald Trump Defends Himself Against The Whistleblower - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)


President Trump met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday 20 September 2019. After their meeting, the two men took questions from the Press in the Oval Office. What follows is a partial nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage analysis of a particularly important portion of that exchange. 


In response to a journalist saying, "We want to address this whistleblower story, Sir", the President displays what is known as a Tight Tongue Jut (5:11). A tight tongue jut is a signal for the thought-emotions of:

• Disgust
• Distaste
• Despising
• Refuting

— for what was just heard or seen.


Mr. Trump then immediately leans his torso away from/pulls away from the journalist to whom he's speaking (5:26) -  just after he says, "I've had conversations with many leaders, 're [sic] always appropriate."

This dynamic strongly suggests the President does not believe — and thus has low confidence in his own statement. Please view this portion of the video, as this still image does not capture his motion.

Crucially, there's also a simultaneous mild expression of fear on the President's face.


Trump then immediately says, "I think Scott can tell you that". Notice his somewhat subtle but highly significant, Suppressed Smile (5:27).

Why is the President smiling in this moment - during a question and answer regarding such a serious subject? A smile, when it's out of context, is always telling.

His partially suppressed smile is related to what Trump also said — Cracking a sarcastic, 'joke' (in a passive-aggressive manner) is a manipulative technique often used to escape/jump-start a person out of an emotionally uncomfortable situation/subject. Now watch this portion of the video again at 0.5 or even 0.25 speed. It's profoundly important to notice, that Trump never looks Prime Minister Morrison in the eye.

An additional component of this smiling out-of-context behavior is associated with a phenomenon known as Duping Delight. Duping delight is a smile which occurs when a person derives true, sincere pleasure from their belief that they've fooled you or gotten away with something. Thus, the real reason for Trump's smile/laughter is camouflaged - if he cracks a 'joke' (or pretends to), he's allowed to smile and/or laugh. But really he's taking pleasure in his belief that he's fooling us.

From a Statement Analysis perspective, Trump's multiple uses of the word, "appropriate" is also highly suspect (three times within five seconds, 5:25 - 5:30). "Appropriate" is a word which people often use to lend credibility to their opinion. It's a phenomenon of rationalization behavior — a word which pretends to be objective, but it really screams with subjectivity and confirmation bias.


As he says the word, "political" (5:38, "It's just another political hack-job"), the President also displays and interesting expression - an amalgam of both Contempt (note how his mouth is asymmetrical, elevated on his right) and Fear (seen in his forehead and eyes).


When a journalist asked, "At some point did you discuss Joe Biden, his son, or his family?" the President responded, "Ah, it doesn't matter what I discuss, but I will say this,  ...". As he says, both "discuss" and "say this", Mr. Trump displayed a Lip Curl (5:46 and 5:47)

A lip curl signals the thought-emotions of:

• Bravado
• Hubris
• Braggadocio

A common paralanguage tell often accompanying a lip curl is a slight lisp - in the context of a person who doesn't typically have a lisp. Trump does tend to have this characteristic slight lisp simultaneous with his lip curls.


Just after he says, "... annnd, I always look for the — ah, conversation that's going to help the United States the most, that's very important", Trump exhibits another Tight Tongue Jut (additional disdain, disgust, distaste, and/or repulsion), (6:28).

Take care not to confuse a Tight Tongue Jut with a Loose Tongue Jut or a Wide Open Tongue — for all three behaviors have completely different meanings. 


When asked (beginning at 6:26), "Do you know the identity of the whistleblower? Do you know the identity?"

The President responded, "I don't know the identity of the whistleblower, I just hear it's a partisan person — meaning it comes out from another party. But I don't have, ah, any idea. But I can say it's a totally appropriate conversation. It was actually a beautiful conversation — "

Donald Trump looked down to his right at many times during this segment of this video. One such episode occurred as he said, "have, ah" ("But I don't have, ah, any idea."), (6:37).


He looks down to his right once again (6:42) as he says, "It was" ("It was actually a beautiful conversation — ").


And once again after he says, "and all of those ridiculous charges and all of thee [sic] mistakes made at 'The New York Times' and other places ..." (6:55).

The lower right is the quadrant to which we often look when we're feeling Sadness, Shame, Guilt (both Guilt-Remorse and also Guilt-Culpability) — and Deception.

Why did Mr. Trump feel the need to define 'partisan'? This over-explaining behavior is a common verbal/paralanguage phenomenon accompanying deception. The lying psyche often rationalizes out loud.

Note also the detail of Trump's using the pronunciation 'thee', rather than 'the' (often followed by a pause). This stretching of the word is a common paralanguage tell often performed in the act of deceiving. It gives the speaker a split second (or longer) to formulate their lie.


A couple seconds after he says, "... and keep asking questions, and build it up as big as possible, so you can have a bigger downfall" — the President displays an amalgam of anger, regret, and anxiety (7:29).  Taken in isolation, in these couple seconds, it's difficult to differentiate between the feelings of:

• Regret arising from being caught
vs.
• Regret an unethical act

However, when taken in toto — in the context of the entire video, his feelings become clear. The President regrets being caught.

The President is projecting here — he feels the "built it up" and the "bigger downfall" apply to him. This Freudian slip is foretelling and particularly frightening.


Now go back — a second earlier (7:28), just after he said, "downfall". You'll see that the President, yet again, looked down to his right.

Another significant tell is Mr. Trump's claim, "I don't even know exactly who you're talking about" — and yet he also says, "But I can say it's a totally appropriate conversation. It was actually a beautiful conversation ..." — betraying that he knows the specific the conversation and alleged act which is being referenced.

SUMMARY: Not surprisingly, Donald Trump has significant disdain, disgust, and repulsion toward the Whistleblower. The President's body language — as well as his verbal and paralanguage behavior, indicate he's lying during the portion of the video analyzed above. He knows the Whistleblower's identity.

Crucially, the President exhibits cognitive-emotional dissonance, for while he displays braggadocio and hubris — he also shows significant fear and anxiety. Mr. Trump also regrets being caught.

The President's Freudian Slip — when he says, "... and keep asking questions, and build it up as big as possible, so you can have a bigger downfall"— is projection. He feels this advice applies to himself. It shows us he's a man sensing his own fall — and that he's desperate.


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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4396: Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearing — Reading Between the Lines — Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence

Body Language Analysis No. 4395: Mike Pompeo - "Just the Past Ten Days Alone, We've Killed Over a Thousand Taliban"

Body Language Analysis No. 4394: Donald Trump, "I am The Chosen One"

Body Language Analysis No. 4392: The Secret Tells behind Donald Trump's Statement, "No Puppet. No Puppet. You're the Puppet"

Body Language Analysis No. 4393: El Paso Mass Shooter - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Body Language Analysis No. 4379: Katie Bouman, Black Holes, and Emotional Processing

Body Language Analysis No. 4380: Tiger Woods Wins his first Masters in 14 years

Body Language Analysis No. 4360: GE's CEO Larry Culp's CNBC Interview and Subsequent Stock Sell-off


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Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Body Language Analysis No. 4396: Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearing — Reading Between the Lines — Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)


New allegations have been made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In addition, multiple witnesses have indicated that last year's investigations regarding Justice Kavanaugh's alleged behavior were grossly incomplete. What follows is a partial nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage analysis of a portion of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing.


Many times during his testimony, Brett Kavanaugh dramatically sniffed. No doubt some of his sniffings were secondary to his tears. Possibly a portion of his sniffing was associated with allergies, perhaps a case of post-nasal drip, or maybe a side effect of medications. Yet, without a doubt, a large fraction of his sniffing was not associated with any of these aforementioned etiologies - but they were behavioral. They were body language tells.

One such occasion occurs at the beginning of this video (0:03), just after Senator Dianne Feinstein says, "Mr. Kavanaugh, it's my understanding that ...". This was indeed disgust camouflaged as a sniff.


Just after Senator Feinstein says, "All three of these women have asked the FBI to investigate their claims. Ahum, I listened carefully to what you said ...", Kavanaugh displays a Forward Lip Purse (Primary emotion) along with a component of Anger (secondary emotion), (0:21).

Forward Lip Pursing is a signal of a person withholding information (clandestine disagreement and/or undisclosed plans). Anyone making a forward lip purse believes themself to be an alpha relative to the others with whom he's communicating — he perceives his audience to be beta. A person displaying a forward lip purse also believes they have a good chance of implementing their plan.

If you see a forward lip purse directed toward you by anyone — protect your flanks!


He then busies his hands moving a binder. This is a Manipulator/Adaptor/Pacifier surrogate - in lieu of touching a body part and is significant for Anxiety. 


Kavanaugh immediately then repositions his hands beneath the table (0:22). Hiding one's hands often signals dishonesty and/or clandestine behavior and the withholding of information. At the very least, it demonstrates heightened anxiety.

Every observant judge and attorney should be aware of the profound nonverbal tell of suddenly hiding one's hands.

He also performs a false suit jacket adjustment - in an attempt to up-regulate his alpha emotional tone (please watch the video, as the dynamic nature of this maneuver is not captured with a single still image).

Kavanaugh's (near-constant) disgust continues.


Hard swallow after Senator Feinstein says, "If you're very confident of your position ..."
(0:31 — Please view the video and note the rise and fall of his 'Adam's Apple' [Laryngeal prominence]).


Another dramatic disgust display disguised as an extreme sniff is displayed just after Senator Feinstein continues, "... why aren't you also asking the FBI to investigate these claims?" (0:36).


As Senator Feinstein says, "And the terrible and hard part of this is ...", Mr. Kavanaugh displays another hard swallow (1:27).


Two rapid sniff-disgust displays (with a secondary component of anger) can be immediately be seen in response to Senator Feinstein saying, "We're not in a position to prove it or disprove it, therefore we have to depend ..." (1:33 and 1:34).


We see Kavanaugh display another example of Forward Lip Pursing (1:39) just after Feinstein continues — saying, "... on some outside authority for it. And it would just seem to me then ..."

(again, significant for clandestine planning and/or undisclosed significant disagreement)


Kavanaugh conveys particularly strong disgust after Feinstein continues, "... when these allegations came forward..." (1:41)


— Followed immediately by yet another Forward Lip Purse (1:42)

Notice the highly specific questions Mr. Kavanuagh asks: "This happen'd on a weekday? Well was it, whut, a, whut, whu, no, [sic], I'm not at a Blair — auh, High School for summer league game? I'm not at Tobin's house workin' out? I'm not at a movie with Suzanne?" (2:22 - 2:31).

This is an example of a manipulative technique whereby Kavanaugh is getting the audience to believe his premise — that those places he listed were (of course) where he always was during the time in question. He paints a highly specific picture — so, before we prove that he was with Ms. Ford at a party - we have to first prove he wasn't on a date with Suzanne, working out at Tobin's, or playing a summer league game at Blair High School. He's manipulating Senator Feinstein.


After Senator Feinstein says, "Well, the unfortunate thing is, these Hearings are set — set by the majority ...", Mr. Kavanaugh tightens his mustache area as his lips become thinned and taught. This dynamic indicates he's feeling significant anger (2:49).

His right eyebrow also elevates - showing that Mr. Kavanaugh does not believe Senator Feinstein.


He then immediately turns away from her, to his left — and displays another Forward Lip Purse (2:50).

He's also looking up to his left — the quadrant to which we primarily look when we're recalling a visual memory.


A series of highly profound microexpressions then occur in rapid succession during and immediately after Feinstein says, "Wel-, We hear from the witnesses ..." (3:03)

Simultaneously with Feinstein saying, "witnesses", Kavanaugh looks down to his right - the quadrant to which we look during moments of Sadness, Regret, and Guilt.


This is followed by another expression of extreme Disgust (3:04)


Followed rapidly by a highly significant Jaw Jut - signifying Anger (3:05). Please view the video as the dynamics are not well demonstrated with a still image.


Followed immediately (3:06) by a hard swallow (indicating high anxiety) coincident with eyelid closure (attempting to block the events from the psyche).


And then, quite profoundly, Kavanaugh's mouth displays a subtle Microexpression of Regret (3:06)

Note, this one moment, taken in isolation, does not differentiate between Culpability-Regret vs. Remorse-Regret (i.e., "I regret the fact that I was caught" vs. "I regret my actions because they are unethical").


Immediately after his regret display, Kavanaugh then looks up to his left - the quadrant we look to most often look when visually recalling a memory (3:07).

Kavanaugh's response of, "You're interviewing me! You're interviewing me!" to Feinstein's statement of, "But the FBI isn't interviewing them [the witnesses] and isn't giving them any facts ..." - demonstrates another manipulative technique. Kavanaugh implies that he is the only witness of the alleged crimes that the FBI would interview. He is trying to manipulate Senator Feinstein - and us. 


Kavanaugh continues, "... You're, you're doing it Senator. I'm sorry to interrupt, but you're doing it. That's, th, the, there's no conclusions reached."

Then Kavanaugh displays a Loose Tongue Jut. A loose tongue jut signifies the thought-emotions of:

• I've been caught
• I've been bad
• I've done a stupid thing
(Navarro)


Kavanaugh then looks up to his left again (recalling an event visually), and displays an amalgam of a Forward Lip Purse (Clandestine disagreement and/or Failure to Fully Disclose) along with Disgust (3:25).


Beginning at 3:22, Senator Feinstein continues, "And, and what you're saying, if, if I understand it, is that the allegations by Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez, and Ms. Svetnick [sic] - Swetnick, um, are - are wrong."

During 3:31, just after Senator Feinstein mispronounces Ms. Swetnick's name — and then, continuing during her re-pronunciation, Brett Kavanaugh displays yet another one of these dramatic disgust-sniffing moments. He also hard-swallows, once again, during 3:32.

Brett Kavanaugh then goes on to say, "Yea-, that, that is empatically what I'm saying! Emphatically! The Swetnick thing is a joke! That is a farce!"

This Paralanguage/Statement Analysis tell is another profound moment in Kavanaugh's testimony. Here, during a time when he was far from his emotional baseline, he slipped. He twice points out (shouting) his opposition to Ms. Swetnick's allegations ("a joke" and "a farce") — but conspicuous in its abscence were any equally vigorous denials against Ms. Ford or Ms. Ramirez. In so doing, Kavanaugh is showing us that while he doesn't believe Ms. Swetnick — he lacks an equally vigorous objection to Ms. Ford and Ms. Ramirez. This behavior pattern strongly suggests Kavanaugh believes he is guilty of Ms. Ford's and Ms. Ramirez's allegations.


After Senator Feinstein asks, Mr. Kavanaugh, "Would you like to say more about it?", he leans forwards (rather than sitting forward - a person of high confidence would have already been sitting forward), his hands beneath the table (low confidence, withholding information, deceptive) and says, "No" (in a low confidence, whiny, up-talking manner, as if "No" had two syllables). His answer drew laughter from some of those in the room.


After Senator Feinstein says, "That's it. Thank you Mr. Chairman",  Kavanaugh turns to his left and makes one last extreme disgust display at the very last frame of this video (3:54).

It's profoundly important to point out that on many occasions during this exchange (and at a multitude of times during Kavanaugh's entire testimony) he became melodramatic and often tearful. His facial expressions showed extreme anger, contempt, disgust, sadness, and fear. Why did he have these reactions? When a person can't act convincingly (and in this context, can't lie convincingly) — with nuance and finesse — they most often default to hyperbole. Because they can't keep a 'poker-face, they overact — rather than underact. In so doing, they're attempting to disguise their tendency to give away obvious deception tells by turning up their emotion to extremes (turning up the background 'noise') - so as to emotionally flood their behavior (and our senses) and thus camouflage their deceptive tells. This is akin to putting extra garlic in the spaghetti sauce so the victim won't taste the poison. Kavanaugh has given us yet another fine example of such deceptive poor acting, hyper-dramatic, drowning-out behavior.

SUMMARY: During his testimony, then-Supreme Court Justice nominee, Brett Kavanaugh projected numerous disgust displays throughout this hearing. In addition, he demonstrated extreme anxiety, withholding of information, clandestine planning, and deception. Moreover, Judge Kavanaugh's need for such a strong and frequent emotional display is one of his several behaviors highly correlative with Impulse Control Disorder.

Furthermore, Judge Kavanaugh's nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage behavior, indicates with very high probability, that he believes he is innocent of Ms. Swetnick's allegations, however, he believes he's guilty of those allegations brought forth by Ms. Ford and Ms. Ramirez.


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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4395: Mike Pompeo - "Just the Past Ten Days Alone, We've Killed Over a Thousand Taliban"

Body Language Analysis No. 4394: Donald Trump, "I am The Chosen One"

Body Language Analysis No. 4393: El Paso Mass Shooter - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Body Language Analysis No. 4392: The Secret Tells behind Donald Trump's Statement, "No Puppet. No Puppet. You're the Puppet"

Body Language Analysis No. 4391: Donald Trump, Buzz Aldrin, and Variations on the 'Side-Eye'

Body Language Analysis No. 4390: Mike Pence visits 'Detention Center' in McAllen, Texas

Body Language Analysis No. 4295: Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, and Red Flags

Body Language Analysis No. 4336: Alita: Battle Angel, Large Eyes, and Sexual Attraction

Body Language Analysis No. 4282: When Public Displays of Affection are More Frequent than those in Private

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Monday, September 9, 2019

Body Language Analysis No. 4395: Mike Pompeo - "Just the Past Ten Days Alone, We've Killed Over a Thousand Taliban" - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)


On Saturday afternoon, less than four days before the 18th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, President Trump, via Twitter, told the world he had called-off what had been, up until that time, a clandestine plan for negotiating with the Taliban at Camp David. The next morning, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo made the rounds on the Sunday morning political TV talk shows. What follows is a partial nonverbal and paralanguage analysis of a crucial portion of one of those interviews.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (continuing at 2:02): "But there have been periodic 'tacks [sic] throughout the talks. Why pull the plug after this one? In the past, when there have been attacks, you've said, 'that was a reason to continue the talks'."

MIKE POMPEO (continuing at 2:10): "Yeah. It, it's, it's true. There have been attacks during the talks. Ah, attacks from the Taliban on Americans - ah, and eNORmous attacks from American forces, putting en- [stammer] REAL pressure on the Taliban. George we've [inhale, pause] 'n just the last ten days alone, killed over a thousand Taliban."

Note that Pompeo is stuttering as he begins his answer, saying, "Yeah. It, it's, it's true". In the very next sentence, he also stammers as he begins to re-use the word "enormous" and, instead, changes to the world "real". On its surface, these paralanguage behaviors signal significant anxiety.

Moreover, Pompeo feels the need to emphasize, both in volume and in tone, the words, "eNORmous" as well as "REAL". This verbal/paralanguage pattern is over-compensatory.


As Stephanopoulos asks his question, we see Pompeo inhale deeply. At the same time, he subtly nods his head up-and-down in a 'Yes' gesture. He also tilts his head backward - as his midface muscles tighten. This is particularly noteworthy in his 'mustache area' along with the flaring of his nostrils.

This nonverbal cluster demonstrates a classic example of cognitive-emotional dissonance - for while he is nodding his head in agreement with Stephanopoulos, he's also displaying strong disgust for him and/or his question.


Immediately after Pompeo says, "George we've", he, once again, inhales deeply and pauses. He then immediately closes his eyelids.

Closing one's eyes for longer durations (which is subtle but highly significant) - along with increased blinking and rapid blinking are varieties of decreased eye contact. These are examples of Distancing Behavior.


As Pompeo says, "... 'n just the ...", he begins to shake his head in a side-to-side motion - which, of course (in the overwhelming majority of cultures throughout the world), is a nonverbal signal of 'No'. Whenever the verbal message contradicts the simultaneous nonverbal signal - it's the nonverbal communication which is telling the truth.


Pompeo then rapidly blinks as he looks briefly down to his right as he says, "ten days". This is the quadrant to which human beings overwhelmingly look when feeling guilt (both remorse-guilt as well as culpability-guilt).

His accompanying extremely rapid blinking is, on its surface, associated with significant anxiety.

SUMMARY: Mike Pompeo's behavior in this segment of this interview exhibited the following rapid sequence of behaviors:

1. Anxiety
2. Overcompensation
3. Cognitive-Emotional Dissonance
4. Disgust
5. Contradiction (Verbal and Nonverbal Disparity)
6. Distancing behavior
7. Guilt (most probably, culpability-guilt)

While no single nonverbal or paralanguage signal - when viewed in isolation - is 100% indicative of deception, Mike Pompeo's rapid series of behaviors in this short segment of this interview, taken in toto, with high probability, indicates he's lying when he says, "George we've - 'n just the last ten days alone, killed over a thousand Taliban."


Media Inquiries and Keynote Appearances 
One-on-One and Online Courses Available 


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4394: Donald Trump, "I am The Chosen One"

Body Language Analysis No. 4393: El Paso Mass Shooter - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Body Language Analysis No. 4392: The Secret Tells behind Donald Trump's Statement, "No Puppet. No Puppet. You're the Puppet"

Body Language Analysis No. 4391: Donald Trump, Buzz Aldrin, and Variations on the 'Side-Eye'

Body Language Analysis No. 4390: Mike Pence visits 'Detention Center' in McAllen, Texas

Body Language Analysis No. 4389: Jeffrey Epstein's Default Expression

Body Language Analysis No. 4388: Donald Trump regarding Drowned Father and Daughter in the Rio Grande

Body Language Analysis No. 4295: Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, and Red Flags

Body Language Analysis No. 4284: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Deadpool 2, and Alpha Up-Regulation


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