Body Language & Emotional Intelligence: Eyelid Flutter

Showing posts with label Eyelid Flutter. Show all posts

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3073: Russell Westbrook - Execution Interview - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Yesterday the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors, 127 - 115, and after a triple double (17 pts., 17 ast., 15 reb.) Russell Westbrook was doing his best Marshawn Lynch impression. Now being referred to as "The Execution Interview" because the three time NBA all-star answered, "We did a good job executing" (and very slight variations on that script) six times in the 89 second interview.

What follows is a partial body language analysis of Russell Westbrook's "Execution interview".

0:14

A partially "Suppressed Smile" is displayed by Westbrook after he says, "... execution ..." for the second time. This is a form of "Duping Delight" since his answers are a thinly veiled acting job.

0:15

Shortly after this duping delight display, Westbrook shows us a "Tongue Jut" (aka "Lizard Tongue") which in this context is a nonverbal indicator for "I've been bad" or "I just got caught".

Depending on the other nonverbals with which it's accompanied, a tongue jut has what other meanings?

0:50

Eyelids opened very wide along with Tongue Jut

After a report asks, "Are you upset with something?" and then Westbrook pauses and says, "I just don't like you .... nah." ... he then displays another tongue jut.

While the reporter and Westbrook may not have been best friends before this moment - Westbrook already had reasons for his near monosyllabic responses - and this reporter's question led to this particular answer and added to Westbrook's negative attitude, yet their lack of friendship here was not the initiating factor in this awkward interview (e.g. for Westbrook's absence of diplomacy).

0:57 - 0:58

Westbrook's rapid fluttering of eyelids here as he asks reporter, "You got enough questions?" Is a strong signal of contempt, condescension and anger.

(What other nonverbal signals are present in this cluster?).

1:12

Yet another Tongue Jut just after Westbrook says, "Good execution"

1:26

A Tongue Jut again

1:28

Another occurrence of Duping Delight is seen once again in the last fraction of a second of the video.

When a person turns away or even puts his/her head down for a moment, the concentration to suppress their joy is often broken and the duping delight "leaks" out.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3072: Alison Lundergan Grimes - Body Language Tells

Negotiation Secret No. 140: Duping Delight Microexpression

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2236: John Boehner & the Fiscal Cliff Plan B Failure - Body Language of Duping Delight

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication No. Analysis 1492: Ben Bernanke's Duping Delight & Partial Emblematic Slip

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2216: Senator Jim DeMint's Body Language - Lip Purse, Suppressed Smile, Duping Delight & Retiring Early

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret No. 1482: George Clooney's Lizard Tongue (Tongue Jut)

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2764: Embarrassment, Affection & Flirtation - Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher - Kiss Cam Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2547: Amanda Knox's ex-Boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, Piers Morgan Interview, Body Language Tells and Avoiding the Othello Error

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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2945: Roger Goodell's Interview regarding Ray Rice - Denies NFL saw Video before Monday - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

During his interview regarding Ray Rice's assault on his then fiancée (now wife), Janay Palmer (Rice), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell displayed several significant nonverbal signals indicating insincerity and others, more specifically that he is lying regarding whether someone in the NFL - either he or a subordinate - had seen the (second) newly released tape, where Rice is seen hitting and knocking Ms. Palmer unconscious inside the elevator. What follows is a partial body language analysis.

During this entire video with Norah O'Donnell, Goodell's forehead was constantly contracted. We of course all contract our foreheads and it is important to recognize there are different varieties of this forehead contraction. Yet it is a strong indicator of insincerity when a person's forehead is constantly contracted. This behavior is akin to a child who places an exclamation mark (or two or three) at the end of every sentence. It is an example of over-compensatory behavior when the spoken word lacks conviction, truth and sincerity.

At 1:17 Goodell displays a subtle "Duping Delight. This is a very minimal and rapid suppressed smile indicating a form of joy/pleasure being experienced (and leaked) in the pulling off of a lie.

This is best seen in the dynamic context of a video. Please watch it several times. This is no way a context for smile.

Goodell's blink rate was very high throughout this interview - and although we don't know his baseline blink frequency his is significantly above normal - which is a very reliable sign of elevated anxiety.

One time in though is particularly of note - at 1:23 Norah O'Donnell asks, "So did anyone in the NFL see the second video tape before Monday?"

"No." answers Goodell.

Ms. O'Donnell then clarifies, "No one in the NFL?"

Goodell answers, "No one in the NFL [stutters] to my knowledge and I've been asked that same question and the answer to that is no."

When he says "... NFL and during the stutter, his eyelids blink very rapidly a flutter. This nonverbal is highly consistent with deception.

When evaluating for truth vs. deception as well as sincerity vs. insincerity - one should always ask if the verbal content, vocal qualities (paralanguage) and nonverbal are all congruent. It they are - then truth and sincerity are present - when any one of these becomes divergent insincerity and/or deception is present. All three of these qualities diverge during this interview. What other body language signals do you see? How many examples of deceptive statement analyses do you hear in this exchange? There are several beauties.

Taken in toto, Mr. Goodell has clear signals that he is not coming clean here. While he may not have seen this second video until Monday - he had prior knowledge of someone who had viewed it at an earlier date.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2944: Derek Jeter Answers Reporter's Cell Phone - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2904: Roger Goodell's Defending the NFL's Punishment for Ray Rice - Bad Crisis Management & Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Quiz-Analysis No. 2902: How Sincere was Ray Rice's Apology?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2438: Sincere Surprise Body Language Three Year Old Receives Brain Stem Implant and Hears for the First Time

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2459: Was Eliot Spitzer Sincere? Apology, Sincerity and Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2855: Hillary Clinton, 2016 Presidential Race and Duping Delight - Body Language Tells

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2167:
Colin Powell Endorses President Obama -
His Body Language Display of Anxiety, Contempt & the
Self-Righteous Head Wiggle

Colin Powell appeared on CBS This Morning on Thursday 25 October and in that interview by Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell, he endorsed Barack Obama for President. There are a lot of Body Language examples here, but here is a particularly interesting nonverbal tell:

Probably the most interesting signal occurs at 0:31 - 0:32 when Colin Powell bites his right lower lip just before he endorses President Obama. Interpreting lip biting is very contextual and its meaning depends on the other signals present in the "nonverbal sentence" - thus an example of a "Nonverbal Homonym". At the 0:32 he also displays a bilateral eyelid flutter (very rapid opening and closing). This nonverbal cluster is a outward display of anxiety. The former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a very accomplished and highly experienced professional - yet he is still human. And for some reason this endorsement or proclaiming it on T.V. makes him nervous. We cannot know the precise reason for his anxiety, but we can be absolutely sure he experienced it here.

Colin Powell's mouth is noticeably asymmetrical when he speaks - this is his baseline. Such asymmetry makes some nonverbal interpretation more difficult. However at several times he displays subtle microexpressions of contempt. Examples of these are seen at the 2:42 and 2:47 speaking with reference to his recent conversations with Mitt Romney and again at 5:11 when speaking about the need for a country with the U.S.'s size and wealth to have universal health care. All these mouth-lower face, unilateral, contempt displays are on Powell's left.

Colin Powell also displays multiple "Self-Righteous Head Wiggles" (SRHW) and similar analogs in this interview - well exemplified at 3:28 - 3:29 (when speaking about his view of Mitt Romney's foreign policy) and again at 4:55 - 4:56 (when he said, ".... you have to fix some things in that plan ...." in reference to Obamacare).

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis #1806: Hot, Homonyms, Clusters & Context - Interpreting Body Language Accurately

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This website serves as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts – not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.

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