Body Language Analysis No. 4029: Charlottesville, Heather Heyer, and Sincerity - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (PHOTOS)

Heather Heyer was counter-protesting against the White Nationalists on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was killed when a car driven by James Alex Fields deliberately sped into a crowd. At least nineteen other people were injured.

In the image above, Ms. Heyer can be seen displaying a sincere smile. Many people erroneously believe that sincere smiles must include teeth being displayed. Heather's smile is an excellent example of a sincere smile - yet where no teeth are visible.

The most crucial component of any sincere (Duchenne) smile are the eyes. The eyelids should ALWAYS be partially closed - AND there must ALWAYS be a temporary, concave-up furrows present in the lower eyelids. Heather Heyer's picture includes both of these features.

(Sometimes the lower lid furrow is reduced with Botox treatments - which is not the case here.)

Also, notice that Ms. Heyer's forehead is not contracted, but relaxed - which is another required element of a true, joy-happiness smile.

Heather's cheek muscles, along with the corners of her mouth, are vectored primarily upward. In distinction, with insincere smiles (aka social, acted, feigned) - there is a primary lateral (sideways) direction of the mouth's corners - and while the cheek muscles may contract - they barely move upward.

Whether or not teeth are visible is the least important component of any true smile - and, again, the exposure of teeth is NOT required in order for the smile to be sincere. Moreover, when teeth are visible - they should only the upper teeth (exceptions to this rule include a downward angle of the viewer/camera - or if the person is either beginning to, or just finishing with sincere laughter [for the lower teeth are exposed during sincere laughter - just not with sincere smiles]).

Notice too, that Ms. Heyer's head is tilted slightly to her left - and it's leaning somewhat forward. In this context, these features are "Sincerity Amplifiers". That is to say, a tilting and forward leaning of her head and neck up-regulate the warmth of her smile. These are green light signals - further "allowing us in" to a person's heart and mind. They are features which build rapport over and above that of a (baseline) sincere smile.

My deep condolences to the loved-ones of Heather Heyer. Stay strong.


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4028: Donald Trump's Response to Charlottesville Violence, "On Many Sides"

Body Language Analysis No. 4026: Aubrey Plaza, Ingrid Goes West, and Emotional Intelligence

Body Language Analysis No. 4024: Donald Trump Threatens "Fire and Fury" to North Korea

Body Language Analysis No. 4022: Jessica Alba's Rules for Naming Her Baby 

Body Language Analysis No. 4018: Alexis Bledel and "The Handmaid's Tale"

Body Language Analysis No. 4010: Lisa Murkowski Responds To Donald Trump's Criticism

Body Language Analysis No. 3992: Angela Merkel's Eye Roll for Vladimir Putin's Mansplaining

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3921: Kim Jong-un, North Korea, Alpha Status, and Clapping

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3875: Children Interrupt Dad During BBC News interview

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3857: Taunting a Snowplow Driver - Belleville, Ontario


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3847: Stephen Miller (Senior Advisor to Donald Trump) - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Trump, has just made the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows.

Some have commented that they find Mr. Miller "creepy". Why does he elicit these feelings? One reason for this, is that his voice is rather monotone (a property engendered by his reading from a teleprompter). Such lack of vocal variety feels very mechanical and is off-putting.

Another reason for this "creepiness factor" is that Stephen Miller's face is relatively hypo-expressive. Said another way - his face does not move very much when compared with how most other people would express themselves in a similar emotional context.

The most dramatic reason for Mr. Miller's threatening facial expression is his droopy eyelids. The medical term for this is ptosis. And although the cause of his ptosis is unclear, there's a high likelihood it's congenital.

Bilateral ptosis, such as Miller exhibits here, will act as an amplifier for the emotions of contempt, disgust and anger (Disgust is being expressed in the image below). Indeed, even without the presence of other nonverbal signals - bilateral droopy eyelids will project motives of secrecy and elicit distrust in others. It's not surprising that actors with bilateral ptosis will be typecast as antagonists with nefarious motives.

Congenital ptosis is amenable to surgical correction.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3846: Donald Trump, Shinzō Abe and Handshake Faux Pas

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3843: 84 Lumber Super Bowl Ad - "The Entire Journey"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3841: Tom Brady's and Roger Goodell's Handshake after Super Bowl LI

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3833: Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson and a Yacht

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3805: Mariah Carey's New Year's Eve Lip Sync Fail On Live TV

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3767: Joseph Gordon-Levitt on playing Edward Snowden - but How Do Tom Hanks and Gemma Arterton feel?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3717: Creepy Clowns, Body Language and Emotional Intelligence

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3656: Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and the 100 M Olympic Final


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3065: Meryl Streep "Not Pretty Enough" To Be In King Kong - The Graham Norton Show - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

This is an entertaining and intriguing video clip from The Graham Norton Show. In it, Meryl Streep recounts (at the prodding of Graham) a negative experience she once had with Dino De Laurentiis. For the first remake of King Kong (which De Laurentiis produced in 1976), Streep had shown up for a sort an audition for the female lead (which eventually went to Jessica Lange). What follows is a partial body language analysis of her telling of this awkward event.

According to Ms. Streep, Dino De Laurentiis said to his son, ''Why do you bring me this ugly thing?" - referring to Streep. The producer did not realize that although he was speaking in his native language - Streep was also fluent in Italian.

This is Graham Norton's nonverbal response (1:17). His eyes are also widely opened - a necessary component when the surprise is real. Now this is a point of considerable body language nuance - yet if you look at Norton's mouth here, while it does have a definite vertical oval shape (as is also required for significant and sincere surprise) - his lips are not pulled in - rather they are relatively non-contracted and loose.

Moreover a few seconds later (here at 1:21) notice Norton's hands stayed in his lap and his leg remained crossed. If his surprise were more significant, his legs would have become uncrossed - and his hands would have moved towards and probably touched his face.

Here - about a second after the above image, Norton's body remains relaxed and his mouth shuts quickly (his surprise lasted 4 seconds) without an immediate significant ensuing emotion. This is very unusual with sincere surprise (there is virtually always a second emotion evident and rapidly appearing after sincere surprise) - and although the lack of higher resolution images/video of Graham's face in this moment - along with his lack of contraction and inward turning of his lips noted above - suggest rather strongly that although Norton was NOT sincerely surprised. We know that he had had some foreknowledge of this event - and thus his surprise was of course significantly muted or even partially faked or exaggeration.

This image taken after Streep tells everyone what her come-back was to De Laurentiis, "... I understand what you're saying. I understand that I'm not beautiful .... ENOUGH!" (1:32)

This facial expression is made up of both true surprise - note the widely opened eyes AND the tightened lips - yet the mouth is drawn in - in a small oval/circle. This is a blending of two emotions - that of sincere surprise and that of fear - but a social type of fear (rather than danger associated fear) which also very much has an anticipatory component being projected here - as if to say, "Oh! WHAT happened next!?"

This image taken a half a second after the one immediately above - has lost much of its surprise component (again, sincere surprise is truly short lived) and has taken on an element of empathy as evidenced by the changes in Graham's eyelids and eyebrows (and sincere surprise almost always is rapidly replaced by another emotion).

Now looking a few of Ms. Streep's nonverbals we go backwards in the video a bit to 0:37 - and we see that she has suddenly crossed her arms. This dynamic tells us that she is emotionally uncomfortable discussing this story in a public forum.  This is but one of many examples of a MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier). Most MAPS indicate a generalized component of anxiety.

At 0:38 Meryl leans forward with her arms crossed. This body language acts as an amplifier - putting further emphasis on her emotional discomfort, anxiety and temporary and partially beta behavior.

A Jaw Jut along with tightening of her mid-face and chin dimpling in this cluster-context - taken together are indicative of anger (1:01) as she is partially reliving the emotionally painful event.

1:02

Ms. Streep displays a very brief and classic disgust display (thus a microexpression) as she is recounting her memory of Dino De Laurentiis and his misogynistic behavior. Interestingly this disgust example is associated with a "sniff" - it's as if the person's subconscious is trying to camouflage the disgust (this also is commonly seen in contempt).

Here at 1:01, Ms. Streep gestures very briefly to her ear (when she explains that she understood Italian). If this story was fabricated, even this three-time Oscar winning actor would not have displayed this body language. In this context such a nonverbal speaks to her high sincerity quotient.






This guest appearance is a great reminder that even though she is one of the greatest actors of our era, when she is just being herself (and not "in character"), Meryl Streep or any of us display nonverbal behavior which indicate our true emotions and thoughts. Being able to decipher body language will give you at an extreme advantage in all facets of life - business and personal.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3064: Pastor Recounts Punching a Child in the Chest

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2424:  Giada De Laurentiis on Conan O'Brien  Beautiful Teeth but Insincere Smiles and  Some Body Language Signals of Waning Love

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3046: Chris Pine Dials Up His Alpha - "Into the Woods"

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1261:  True Surprise - Rarely Captured  IMF Director Christine Lagarde 

>Negotiation Secret No. 56:  Surprise with a Touch of Fear - with Bill Clinton

>Negotiation Secret No. 133:  Blake Lively - Surprise or a Smile or Neither?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2507:  Secretary of State Kerry's Disgust  An Oft Overlooked and Camouflaged Body Language Signal

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2504:  Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez and a  Commonly Missed Body Language Signal

 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2864: Mary Barra asked by Matt Lauer, Can you Run GM and be a good mom too? - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Matt Lauer is taking heat (and deservingly so) for asking whether Mary Barra can be a good mother and run General Motors well. Unfortunately the camera was pointed too much on Lauer - so a full nonverbal analysis of Barra's response for this specific question is not possible. What follows however is a partial analysis of this interview.

At 3:41 Lauer begins, "[lip smack] You're a mom, I mentioned ..."

Barra: "ah hm" [humming]

Lauer: "two kids, you said in an interview not long ago, that your mom, that your kids said are going to hold you accountable for one job."

Barra:  "ah hm" [humming]

Lauer: "And that is being a mom."

Barra: "Correct."

Lauer: "Given the pressures of this job ..."

Barra: "ah hm" [humming]

Lauer: "at General Motors and being a mom, can you do both well?"

In this moment (3:52), Ms. Barra is displaying a partially suppressed sincere smile. There is a high probability she is recalling the conversation with her children which Lauer is  referencing her .... or the thinking of ridiculousness of Lauer mentioning it.

Barra's eyelids are partially closed and she has dynamic concave-up furrows in her lower eyelids - which are both absolute requirements of a sincere smile. Her cheeks are also vectored upward. Note we cannot see any of Barra's teeth. The exposure of teeth is not required during a partial or suppressed sincere smile.

 

This low resolution image is the first frame of Ms. Barra once the camera is re-directed on her (3:56) after Lauer's parenting question. If we would been able to see her face directly when he was asking this deliberately inflammatory question - it is very likely we would have seen subtle expressions of anger and contempt. However the CEO recovers nicely - and very quickly.

An extended blink (prolonged eyelid closure) - or partial closure can often be seen as part of a contempt or disgust amplifier. It can also be associated with anger and emotional processing (as in, "I can't believe he just asked me that!").

It is very important to note that during the other portions of this interview, Ms. Barra projects a high sincerity quotient and specifically displays no signals of deception. 

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2863: Gary Oldman's Apology on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" - Sincere or Insincere? - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2322:  Jeb Bush & Matt Lauer - Which one is the Narcissist?  Body Language Red Flags

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1912:  Ann Curry's Tearful Goodbye  Matt Lauer's Insincerity

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2093:  Ann Curry's Tearful Goodbye -  Matt Lauer's Classic "Tongue-in-Cheek" and Duplicitous Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2741: Lupita Nyong'o Wins an Oscar - Signal of high sincerity and empathy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2836: Phil Mickelson, Insider Trading Allegations and Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis 2790: Head Touch & Head Touch Surrogate - Body Language of Affection 
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