Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3734: SNL's spoof on the 3rd Presidential Debate - and 3 Insincerity Flags - Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Once again Saturday Night Live delivered another hilarious performance of Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton and Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump - this one satirizing the final 2016 Presidential Debate of three nights prior in Las Vegas, Nevada. Guest Tom Hanks even played moderator Chris Wallace.

As expected, all three actors did an amazing job - not only did they 'bring the funny', but they uncannily replicated the three characters ... and some of their flaws.

What follows are some particular nonverbal signals by Hanks, McKinnon and Baldwin acting as Wallace, Clinton and Trump - and these expressions captured elements of insincerity that Chris, Hillary and Donald routinely project.

If we were working with Chris Wallace, we'd be telling him to not speak out of the side of his mouth. While some people do this routinely as an idiosyncrasy (or facial tic) - it's statistically relatively unusual. Medical causes - such as peripheral facial nerve palsy or stroke are potential causes which should be considered.

Depending on the other nonverbal signs with which it's clustered, asymmetrical speaking can also indicate an admission of fault or acquiescence. Much more commonly however, particularly when being interviewed on TV or in some other significant spotlight - speaking out of the side of the mouth is a signal of bravado and/or insincerity (the Venn diagrams of which overlap). Tom Hanks does a fantastic job capturing Wallace's mouth movements.

One question I routinely get asked is, "What the most important nonverbal signal to look for when assessing for insincerity?" Of course, the nonverbal tells of insincerity are many, however the most common one is an over-use of the forehead muscles (both in amplitude and in frequency). It's also very common, although not required, that excessively opened upper eyelids often accompany such over contracted forehead displays.

Now of course, in the context of an emotional debate, it's normal that people will open their eyes wide and elevate their forehead muscles when emphasizing a particularly important opinion or recommended course of action. And although Secretary Clinton has improved this body language faux pas of late, she did slip back into this previous pattern multiple times. She tends to do worse on this issue during her speeches and interviews - and improves when it comes to debates.

When people over-use their forehead muscles, they are trying to hard to sell you a thing or more commonly an idea/opinion.

Kate McKinnon was spot on.

It's hard to believe, but Alec Baldwin improved even further in his near perfect portrayal of Donald Trump. One striking pattern Trump has - is a very low variability of his facial expressions. Said another way, his face goes into its default settings easily and routinely - which acts as a living mask. The expressions he does make tend to be more extreme - but the overall variety of his expressions are relatively minimal. Depression and other conditions of a blunted affect are possible causes to consider when we see faces adopting these physiologic masks - but it's also is a method some psyches use to minimize mental workload - thus making it much easier to multitask - and therefore to also tell lies. Insincerity takes more work - and if one's face isn't moving quite as frequently, this frees up more mental energy for deception.

Summary: Tom Hanks, Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin near perfectly portray Chris Wallace, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump - and in so doing, also accurately captured some of their classic insincerity signals.


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3733: The 3rd Presidential Debate - Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton - Part IV - The Turning Point of the Debate

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3731: The 3rd Presidential Debate - Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton - Part III - "Such a Nasty Woman"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3729: The 3rd Presidential Debate - Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton - Part I - Vladimir Putin, Body Language & Emotional Intelligence 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3718: Donald Trump's "Access Hollywood" Hot Mic Video

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3699: The Tulsa Police and the Shooting Death of Terence Crutcher

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3669: Jordan Spieth, Bill Murray and the Asymmetrical Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3610: Star Swain sings The Star-Spangled Banner at the Lincoln Memorial - Why Do Singers Close Their Eyes?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3574: Selena Gomez's Body Language Reaction to Fans in Montreal


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3141: Carly Fiorina "Higher than 90%" Chances She's Running for President - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Today on "Fox News Sunday", Carly Fiorina, all but announced her intention to run for President in 2016. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO, who also ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 (California) but lost to the incumbent Barbara Boxer - stopped just short of an official announcement.

Ms. Fiorina's VERBAL statement was straightforward - "Higher than 90%". Most people would judge, and rightly so, when reading between the lines this - this is essentially saying 99% or higher - but why? It's because of her body language (and paralanguage). What specifically does her body language say? Is it congruent or is there disparity between her verbal and nonverbal messages?

When Chris Wallace asks, "What are the chances - that you're going to run for President?" - Fiorina answers, "Very high."

Wallace then says, "You, You're a former business woman, give me a number."

This image captured at 0:30 shows a suppressed smile (Please watch the video as the dynamics of her facial movement better demonstrates this subtle yet significant tell). What does this tell you?

0:32

Ms. Fiorina answers, "Higher than ninety-percent".

During the word "Higher", her eyes close for an extended blink. In this context, particularly timed to this word - indicates a significantly elevated level of confidence.

During the 0:32 - 0:34 segment (as she says the words, "ninety-percent", Carly Fiorina displays a mild-to-moderate and classic Self-Righteous Head Wiggle (SRHW) nonverbal signal with a torso component (Please watch the video as a still image simply cannot capture this dynamism).

A self-righteous head wiggle - as the names implies - is side-to-side movement of the head/jaw and or torso (with usually a moderately high frequency of oscillation). It may involve just the head & neck with little or no torso component, while sometimes it's almost entirely a torso signal and to varying degrees with jaw involvement. It's very important to not confuse the SRHW with the more common and mundane "no" head signal or head-wag (however negative words may be used) or other head and neck body language. 

When displaying the SRHW, people very much feel that they are in relative alpha position. Such alpha mindsets of course feel very passionately about the subjects of which they are speaking - however it's possible, even common to see this nonverbal dynamic in the absence of any verbalization.

It's also interesting to note that the frequency and volume of the spoken word often increase during or just before displaying the self-righteous head/torso/jaw wiggle. Moreover, a forward motion vector (in addition to the primary side-to-side movement) is often superimposed. This second motion dynamic is often seen when there is a component of scolding or reprimanding. In contrast, when a backward motion is seen (again, superimposed on the side-to-side movement) - this often indicates an incredulity or an overlapping emotion of disgust.

When Chris Wallace says, "Really?", the former HP CEO answers, "Yes sir." (0:34 - 0:35) - During which she displays another extended blink. 

Both the self-righteous head wiggle (with torso and/or jaw components) as well as the prolonged eyelid closures (extended duration blinking) when used very sparingly will send signals of high confidence and an alpha emotional tone. However many who use these and other alpha nonverbals (99.8% of the time subconsciously driven) will very often end up over-using them. Thus what in small doses sends signals of confidence and assertiveness - when used only slightly more (and here Ms. Fiorina does indeed overuse these during this interview) will project arrogance and a condescending mindset. This will not build rapport - it will destroy it. A candidate or any leader must certainly look the part - yet arrogance does not capture that middle third of the electorate. And without the emotional buy-in of the swing voter, no one can win in November.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3140: Italian Court Overturns Murder Conviction - Amanda Knox is She Sincere?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2398:  Self Righteous Head Wiggle, Alpha Behavior &  First Drone Flight Off of an Aircraft Carrier

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2561: President Obama's Self-Righteous Jaw Wiggle

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3134: Ted Cruz to Announce his Candidacy for 2016 Presidential Race - Why He Will Never Win - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3127: Hillary Clinton's Press Conference and a Body Language Down-regulator of Sincerity

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2909: John Kerry's Open Mic Gaffe, Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On 20 July 2014, during a commercial break on a Fox News interview, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an open microphone gaffe when discussing plans for the Israeli-Gaza conflict. Several times he displayed a facial nonverbal indicative of regret. Two of the better examples of this emotional display are included in the screen captures below.

This asymmetric, but not completely unilateral expression of regret is seen more prominently on John Kerry's left side of his mouth (image captured at the 0:42 mark in the video).

The U.S. Secretary of State's central forehead is mildly contracted here (CFC).

Here we see another expression of regret (captured at 0:48) - this one with better camera angle. Note also Mr. Kerry's central forehead is more prominently contracted.








Many people mistake the asymmetrical (and often nearly or entirely unilateral) expression of regret for that of contempt or an insincere smile. Do you know how to differentiate these nonverbal facial expressions?

What other highly significant body language is seen during this interview?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2508: Anne Frank, Sincere Smiles and Emotional Comfort

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2746: John Kerry and Hugh Robertson - Eye Rub, Mouth Covering - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2711: John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov - Tell Me How You Really Feel - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2368:  John Kerry & Xi Jinping in Beijing to Discuss North Korea -  Body Language of Anxiety & Assertiveness

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2811: Jason and David Benham are Dropped from HGTV - Body Language of Subtle Contempt, Anger & Disgust

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2724: Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan Twenty Years Later

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