Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2835: Jay Carney Resigns - President Obama Shows Us a Body Language Tell (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Yesterday President Obama announced Jay Carney's resignation. Josh Earnest will be the new White House Press Secretary.

In the video above (beginning at 0:06), as he begins this announcement, Barack Obama says, " ... um .... One of Jay's favorite lines is, 'I have no personnel announcements at this time' ..."

Just after the President says "um" and then for the five words he displays an ear screw (a variation of ear scratch or ear rub). When occurring simultaneous or just before (and occasionally after) a declarative statement such as this - an ear screw is highly consistent with deception. Now such a "little white lie" is probably acceptable to most people - after all Barack is trying to open with a mildly comedic line here. And yet POTUS still displays a highly characteristic nonverbal signal consistent with lying.

Conclusion: President Obama is not a good liar. If he (or anyone else) cannot pull off the "little white lies" - then the big ones are practically impossible. The chances of displaying body language tells indicative of deception are proportional to the ramifications of getting caught in the lie.

There's a myriad of nonverbals in this video - which other ones are particularly telling? What characteristics of the President's and Carney's hug are sincere? Insincere?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2834: LeBron James, Lance Stevenson and False Intimacy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis 2832: Is Edward Snowden Telling the Truth? - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2582: Jay Carney Dismisses (and is Embarrassed by) Low Obamacare Enrollment Numbers

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2677: Jay Carney's Beard - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2495:  The White House, Josh Earnest, Egypt and a Coup -  Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2807: Barack Obama at 2014 White House Correspondents' Dinner - Body Language 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2511:  Barack Obama & Vladimir Putin  Handshake at 2013 G20 Meeting 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2817: Rep. Joe Garcia Picks His Ear & Eats it - What his Body Language Really is Saying (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

During a house judiciary meeting last Wednesday, Joe Garcia (D - FL) stuck a finger in his ear and then proceeded to eat the pickings. While this act is certainly repulsive to most, there is more going on here than just a lesson in hygiene gone wrong.

The body language Representative Garcia displays in this moment is an ear screw. He either does not believe the Rep. Suzan DelBene (D - WA) - (who is talking when he commits this nonverbal) - or the person(s) to whom she is addressing (primarily the chairman - Bob Goodlatte, R - VA).

Intriguingly Mr. Garcia is using his middle finger to commit the ear screw. This is one example of a class of nonverbals known as "Partial Emblematic Slips" (Ekman). These are defined as emblems (a local, regional or universal body language symbol) which is less-than-fully-displayed - and more typically but not always involves the hands - and is displayed in a non-standard position (here in ear and not fully isolated from the other digits rather than on direct display in front of one's body). Greater than ninety-nine percent of the time this nonverbal is initiated and carried out subconsciously.

This body language MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier) indicates that Representative Garcia not only does NOT believe what is being said or the person to whom it's being said - but he is also flipping them the bird as well.

It is not a coincidence that Garcia simultaneously is displaying contempt with the right side of his mid-face (do you see all of these contempt components?).

Here Rep. Garcia's contempt clearly continues.

The partial emblematic slip is again displayed a few seconds later.














See also:

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 343:  Nicolas Sarkozy's Clandestine Thumbs Up - an Emblematic Slip

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 743 and 744:  Sarkozy's Shhhh!  and a Partial Emblematic Slip

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1818:  Political Correctness, a Partial Emblematic Slip  at a Falcon, Colorado Elementary School

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2144:  President Obama's Body Language Tell -  Rescuing Big Bird (with help from another bird) &  Elmo's making a run for the border in a White Suburban 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2740: Matthew McConaughey Tells Us What He REALLY THINKS about the Motion Picture Academy - Body Language, Ear Screws and Deception

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2816: Donald Sterling Interview - Body Language Tells


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2709: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Can You Tell When an Oscar Winning Actor is Lying? Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

My condolences to the friends and family of Philip Seymour Hoffman. By all accounts he was a fantastic actor. Nominated for four Academy Awards and winner of Best Actor for his 2005 role in "Capote" in which he played the title role - he will surely be missed.

Within the above video (beginning at the 1:10 mark) there is a clip from a 2006 "60 Minutes" interview where Steve Kroft asks him, "... So this was, drugs or alcohol or both?"

Hoffman answers, "Yeah, it was all, all that stuff, yeah [strained and acted laughter] it was everything I could get my hands on [continued strained laughter], yeah, yeah, I liked it all, yeah ...."

Kroft returns, "And why did you st-, decide to stop?"

[Hoffman then keeps a relative stoned face - after all he is an accomplished actor yet this is a conscious effort. A moment later his unconscious takes over though] he answers, "You get panicked, you get panicked, [Ear screw from 1:31 - 1:34] it was um ..... I was twenty-two and I got panicked for my life ...."

In this context, this particular nonverbal is highly indicative of deception. Hoffman felt that he was lying in some manner by answering this question in the way he did. Of course the most logical explanation for this lie was that he in fact never stopped or had since resumed his recreational drug use.

As Dr. Paul Ekman has noted, when actors are acting they reside in an interesting psychological space wherein they are both lying and telling the truth. We as the audience give them license to lie. We want to be deceived. And they grow to be quite good at it. Hoffman was outstanding. And yet when these stars are not acting, they default to their humanness - just like the rest of us.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2674: Did Chris Christie Orchestrate Bridge Closure or Cover Up His Subordinates Actions? Body Language Tells Us ....

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2620: President Obama Tells a Couple Fibs - "Norming" Barack's Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2033:  Lie Detection, Sergei Lavrov and Syria

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2642: Tom Hanks Can't Act Away a Fib - His Body Language Tells a Little Lie

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2652: Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live - Trying to Suppress the Laughter 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1880: Obama admits "The Private Sector is Doing Fine" Gaffe

In this video, President Obama pokes fun at himself concerning his recent gaffe of, "...The private sector is doing fine..." There are three body language signals that are of particular interest here.

At the very beginning the President commits, what for him, is a very rare nonverbal faux pas - the "ear screw". It's nearly always the index finger (aka fore finger), but occasionally another digit, that makes a screwing motion in the ear canal (external auditory meatus). This is a specific nonverbal where the person committing it is in disbelief about what they are hearing - whether uttered by oneself or another. Therefor it is a very common body language signal of deception. Here however, while Barack Obama, is in disbelief for what he is about to say - it's not a signal of lying - he's embarrassed, regretful and is having a bit of trouble - and thus he's emotionally processing the fact that he's about to admit to the World he put his foot in his mouth big time. He knows that with respect to crisis management and common sense, it's a wise thing to do (and should have done it much earlier) - but he's still in some disbelief for what he's about to do.

It is disbelief - but here it's not deception.

In addition, at the 0:33 second mark just after he says, "...You may have heard I just made my own unique contribution to that process...", Barack Obama bites his bottom lip with his upper teeth. In this context it is a signal of embarrassment and the President and the rest of us display this nonverbal often in the presence of self-deprecating humor.  Just after that at the 0:36-0:37 mark, the President's displays an Inward Lip Roll (ILR) which is a signal of anxiety and more specifically it means the subconscious is trying to hold in negative emotions (usually anger).

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1835: Dario Franchitti Wins His Third Indianapolis 500 - His Disingenuous "Thank You"

Dario Franchitti won his third Indianapolis 500 today. During an emotional interview after the race, he speaks of his friend Dan Wheldon - last year's winner who perished this past October in the IZOD IndyCar World Championship at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This video is loaded with body language, however there's one tell in particular that should catch your attention. At the 0:43 mark, just as Franchitti finishes saying, "... thank you to this Target team ...", he displays an nonverbal classic "ear screw" with his left index finger in his left ear canal as he looks down to his right. This ear screw is a clear signal that this particular "thank you" is insincere, and he's discontented with someone on the "Target team" or the team as whole. Although we cannot see his eyes, his head & neck move down and to his right. It would be highly unusual if his eyes were also not gazing in this same direction. Looking down and to one's right (particularly for the right-handed) is an extremely common saccade during negative emotional moments.

See also:

Secret # 1236: Kofi Annan Does Not Believe

Secrets # 394 & 496: Rick Perry's Nonverbal Mistakes in Iowa

Secret # 199: When a Lie is Told, Heard or Visualized by Vladimir's Eye

Secret # 29: Eye Rub When Someone Else is Speaking - Angela Doubts Vladimir

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