Body Language Analysis No. 4269: Michael Cohen and the Joker Smile - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (PHOTO)

This image captures Michael Cohen during one of his Default Expressions. His "smile" in this moment is INSINCERE. More specifically this is a "JOKER smile" - named after the character from the original Batman comics.

Notice Cohen's forehead - it's contracted and elevated across its entire width - while the forehead of a person with a true smile of Joy-Happiness is always relaxed.

Coordinated with his elevated forehead are his elevated eyebrows. This brow dynamic is also a mark of insincerity.

However, his upper eyelids are lowered. More specifically, they are passively closed - with a droopy appearance. Crucially, when the eyelids are moving in the opposite direction than the adjacent forehead tissue - it's unnatural - a red flag for feigned emotions. Sincere (Duchenne) smiles ALWAYS require partially closed eyelids - but they do NOT close in this manner. With True smiles - the eyelids are actively closed - and they don't have this passive/droopy appearance.  

Now study the President Trump's attorney-fixer's mouth...

A Sincere smile does NOT display the teeth on the bottom - only the top (with the exceptions being at the beginning or end of true laughter [sincere laughter DOES reveal the lower teeth], a head tilted downward, and/or a superior camera angle.

The corners of his mouth are upturned - as we would expect with a sincere smile - but there is also significant lateral vectoring. Here, again, adjacent tissues are working against each other (another red flag) - simultaneously pulling the mouth both sideways and up

The tug-o-war of facial muscle near Cohen's mouth results in significant exposure of his lower teeth - and importantly, more so that his upper teeth - and thus resulting in the JOKER SMILE.

Summary: Michael Cohen commonly displays this particular variety of Feigned Smile - known as the JOKER SMILE. It's common and it's insincere. Whenever you see this expression on the street, in business, or in your personal life - be warned. Protect your flank.


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Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4268: Benedict Cumberbatch, Schadenfreude, and The Grinch

Body Language Analysis No. 4265: Donald Trump regarding Mike Pompeo's Chances of Being Confirmed as Secretary of State

Body Language Analysis No. 4263: Kellyanne Conway regarding James Comey's Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4261: President Trump's Address regarding the Retaliatory Strike on Syria

Body Language Analysis No. 4251: Cristiano Ronaldo's Bicycle Kick vs. Juventus F.C.

Body Language Analysis No. 4245: Security Video of Stephen Paddock (1 October Las Vegas Shooter) - My KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4209: Emma Gonzalez, Florida HS Shooting, and Emotional Processing

Body Language Analysis No. 4158: Michelle Williams regarding Kevin Spacey - "All the Money in the World"

Body Language Analysis No. 4000: Garbiñe Muguruza, Wimbledon, and Sincerity

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Body Language Analysis No. 4267: Donald Trump and Pretending to Pray - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (PHOTOS)

The image above (cropped, close-up below) was taken on 21 September 2016 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. In this moment, Mike Pence and Donald Trump were supposed to be praying. They were attending The Midwest Vision and Values Pastors and Leadership Conference. I say, "supposed to" because Donald Trump was absolutely not praying - and we can say this with 100% certainty.

The two emotions Donald Trump is expressing here are:

• Contempt
• Anger

Now, while it's absolutely possible for a person can be angry at God (e.g., Why did you take the life of my child?) - it's impossible for a human being to have contempt toward God. Why?

Contempt is actually a mixture of both Anger and Disgust - and fundamentally, experiencing contempt also involves the emotional context of placing oneself above another person or a group (or putting them below you). Thus when you feel Contempt - you are subordinating the other person or group. Because God, by definition, is the ultimate superior being - one cannot feel contempt toward God.

And make no mistake, Donald Trump has a significant element of Contempt on his face, therefore - he must not be praying to any being he deems superior.

The further a person is from their emotional baseline, the less self-aware they become as to how, exactly, they appear to others. This progressively diminished objectivity holds true whether the emotions are positive or negative. This phenomenon, at least in part, explains why then-candidate Trump behaved in a manner such that he did not care if people knew he was not praying.

Although not required for contempt - in this scenario, Donald Trump's "Side Eye" amplifies this emotion. We do not look directly at someone who we:

• Don't Like
• Don't Respect
• Don't agree with

Summary: In this moment, Donald Trump was not praying - he was pretending to pray. Rather, Trump was feeling contempt. Because Contempt involves putting oneself above another person (or them below you) - we know with absolute certainty he was not thinking, meditating, or praying to any being he thought to be superior. Moreover, as Contempt (or any strong emotion) facilitates diminished self-awareness, it contributed to his lack of caring that others saw him in this moment of feigning.


Group Appearances and One-on-One
Online Courses Available 
702-239-8503
Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4265: Donald Trump regarding Mike Pompeo's Chances of Being Confirmed as Secretary of State 

Body Language Analysis No. 4263: Kellyanne Conway regarding James Comey's Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4261: President Trump's Address regarding the Retaliatory Strike on Syria

Body Language Analysis No. 4259: Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad

Body Language Analysis No. 4236: Andrew McCabe, Jeff Sessions, James Comey - and Sincerity

Body Language Analysis No. 4202: Saoirse Ronan, Ed Sheeran, and Galway Girl (Galway Grill)

Body Language Analysis No. 4196: Trey Gowdy on "Face The Nation"

Body Language Analysis No. 4106: Jordan's Queen Rania meets with Rohingya Refugee Children

Body Language Analysis No. 4017: Elisabeth Moss, Anthony Rizzo, and a Signal of Sincerity

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Body Language Analysis No. 4261: President Trump's Address regarding the Retaliatory Strike on Syria - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On 14 April 2018, the United States, United Kingdom, and France carried out a coordinated retaliatory military air strike against the Syrian government. This act was in response to the chemical weapons attack the Syrian forces perpetrated upon their own people on 7 April 2018 in Douma. The Syrian government has denied they carried out this mass-poisoning and have called the retaliation a violation of international law.

Shortly after the retaliatory attack, Donald Trump addressed the nation from the White House. A video of this speech is included above. What follows is a nonverbal and paralanguage analysis of one crucial segment of his address. 


PRESIDENT TRUMP (continuing at 6:38): ... We saw the anguish that can be unleashed and the evil that can take hold.  By the end of World War - One - more than one million people had been killed or injured by chemical weapons. We never want to see that ghastly specter return... 

During 6:47, just as he's finishing saying the word, "... War ..." the President:

• Contracts and Elevates his Central Forehead Muscles
• His mouth hyper-gesticulates
• Crucially, his mouth does NOT take on a saddened configuration
• Tilts his head/neck to his right
• Raises his right shoulder

When a sincere person is feeling emotional or physical pain for her/himself - or experiencing these feelings for another person/group of people via empathy - their:

• Central Forehead Contracts & Elevates
• Mouth takes on a sad, scared, or painful configuration

The elevated central forehead contraction (an elevated CFC, not the entire width of the forehead - but just the central [medial] portion) is a monumentally important nonverbal display - which the vast majority people don't nuance. This includes those individuals who constantly attempt to feign empathy - and this is exactly what the President is doing here. Although we certainly don't welcome their bad behavior, we should be thankful for their poor acting skills - for it allows us to suss out the insincere people from the sincere ones.

A split-second later (still during 6:47), as the President says, "... One ...", he shrugs with his:

• Shoulders
• Hands
• Eyebrows
• Forehead

• He also Rapidly torques his head 

§ Note: Although Donald Trump's forehead is moderately treated with Botox, we are still able to see these important contractions/dynamics. 

A shrug indicates the thought-emotion of:

• I don't know
• I don't care
• What does it matter?

A shoulder shrug (or any of the lesser-appreciated shrugs) are COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT HERE. Why would a person be thinking-feeling such emotions when talking about the issue of deaths in chemical warfare? In waging war? If one is operating from the foundation and premise of empathy - there is NO REASON.

Another excellent insincerity tell is exhibited in this same moment from a Paralanguage/Statement Analysis perspective:

• The hyperbolic emphasis of the word "One" (both in tone and in volume).

Why is this word emphasized? Always remember: When the less important words of a sentence are emphasized - while the some of the more important ones are monotone/homogenized -  it's a monumentally classic signal of insincerity.

Additionally - when you observe both nonverbal signals of insincerity simultaneous with paralanguage flags of insincerity - you can be 100% certain that the person's thoughts and feelings are not congruent with their words. They are lying. They have other agenda. Protect your flank.

Summary: President Trump was insincere during this address. He was feigning empathy. He's parroting this emotion. He's character acting. It's one thing to be insincere passively - it's more nefarious to actively fake it.

While you may or may not agree with President Trump's decision (or the UK's or France's) to retaliate against Syria (or the precise manner/timing of their retaliation) - that is not what this analysis is discussing. I'm here to analyze and teach nonverbal behavior.

What many people do NOT understand, is when the central forehead is contracted and elevated - but the mouth is not simultaneously sad, scared, or expressing pain - the person is experiencing a completely different set of emotions (e.g., CFC with Sad/Scared/Painful Mouth vs. CFC with other types of mouth expressions). While this may sound like geeky-detail - it's one of the most important nonverbal distinctions you'll ever learn. It will save you time, money, hassle, a bad marriage, and maybe your life.

Commit yourself right now - to collecting images/screen-grabs and their corresponding URLs of these two expression variations. Study them and refer to them often. And whenever you see these displayed by others in your own, real-life experiences - take detailed mental notes.


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Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4260: James Comey on Good Morning America re: Trump, Russia, and the Steele Dossier

Body Language Analysis No. 4258: Sarah Huckabee Sanders' reaction to the question: "Has the President at Any Time thought about Stepping Down?"

Body Language Analysis No. 4256: President Trump's Reaction to FBI Raid on Michael Cohen

Body Language Analysis No. 4254: Tony Robbins, Nanine McCool, and the #MeToo Movement

Body Language Analysis No. 4242: Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, and Deception (Part II)

Body Language Analysis No. 4198: Lupita Nyong'o, Black Panther, and Attention to Detail

Body Language Analysis No. 4166: Logan Paul's Apology

Body Language Analysis No. 4039: Blue Angels, Surprise, Emotional Processing, and Empathy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2922: Evacuating Yazidis from Iraq's Mount Sinjar - A Daughter's Anguish, Empathy and Mirror Neurons

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Body Language Analysis No. 4247: Donald Trump says Goodbye to Hope Hicks - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Thursday was Hope Hicks' last day as the White House Director of Communications. She had served at this post for approximately six and a half months - and another month as acting Director.

The video above shows her saying goodbye to President Trump just prior to his departure on Marine One. While the nonverbal elements in this brief exchange are numerous - the one highlighted here, while not as dramatic, is quite telling. 

The instant captured in the image above (and the cropped-close up below, during the 0:09 mark in the above video) shows Donald Trump with his left arm around Ms. Hicks' waist, waving at the camera with his right hand - and smiling.

But wait - that's not really a smile.

Notice the left corner of Trump's mouth is elevated, while the right side is vectored downward. Such asymmetrical "smiles" - with one side up and the other side down - are always duplicitous. They're universally insincere.

Yet, even if the President's right side exactly mirrored the left side of his face - it would still not be a sincere smile, for all the other components of sincerity are missing in this moment (Can you name them?). Moreover, at no time during this departure did President Trump display a true smile of Joy-Happiness (aka a Duchenne Smile).

Fascinatingly, the side of the President's mouth which is feigning joy - is the same side as Ms. Hicks.

Summary: As he says his final goodbye to Hope Hicks, President Trump's expression is insincere. His "smile" and emotions are duplicitous.


Group Appearances and One-on-One
Online Courses Available 
702-239-8503
Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4246: Former senior KGB spy - says he was warned that Sergei Skripal and his daughter were in danger

Body Language Analysis No. 4244: Stormy Daniels' 60 Minutes Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4243: Mark Zuckerberg's CNN Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4241: Vladimir Putin responding to a question regarding the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal

Body Language Analysis No. 4226: Roger Stone, Donald Trump, and Wikileaks

Body Language Analysis No. 4188: Donald Trump Gets Booed at Davos for Calling the Press "Fake"

Body Language Analysis No. 4155: Luis Elizondo Interview - Former Military Intelligence Official Who Ran AATIP (The Pentagon's Secret UFO Unit)

Body Language Analysis No. 4088: Kit Harington's April Fools' Prank on Rose Leslie

Body Language Analysis No. 4065: The Murder of Laci Peterson - Scott Peterson's Red Flag

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