Body Language Analysis No. 4230: Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump, and the Home Field Advantage - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (PHOTO)

On Thursday 8 March 2018, President Donald Trump announced he will meet with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. The next day, White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders cast some considerable doubt on such a meeting when she said, "We're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea."

Kim Jong-un is accustomed to meeting on North Korean soil. Like Vladimir Putin, he skillfully uses his geography as a valuable "third negotiator" to very much give him the home field advantage. But to the careful observer, such behavior also betrays a weakness.

In the choreographed image above we see Kim Jong-un, third from the left - together in Pyongyang (the capital of North Korea) with five members of the South Korean envoy.

Note the position of Kim's feet. They are further apart than any of the men in the South Korean delegation. This indicates his more alpha emotional tone. Yet he's already on his home soil - why does he need to "feel" more alpha?

One reason Kim is standing like this - is because he (again, like Putin) is not very tall. He's trying to be more alpha/more confident - but he's over-compensating. Kim is listed at 5'7" - but he's actually one to two inches shorter (e.g., Donald Trump is listed at 6' 3", however, he's 2.5 inches shorter at 6' 0.5").

Kim Jong-un's hand position is also quite telling. Clasping one's hands behind one's back - while generally speaking, is certainly is more alpha - like garlic, it's often used in excess. In this particular setting, his hand position carries greater nuance. Here, his configuration sends signals of a non-compromising stance and a failure to disclose. In the context of a negotiation, an unwillingness to show one's hands is a reliable signal of a clandestine motive.

The photo is also uncentered and poorly-cropped. This quality makes it look odd, unprofessional, and unbalanced. Why did North Korea's minister of propaganda release this picture? Because Kim wanted the powerful symbolism of the image of the Sun above his head.

Intriguingly, his photo is also unbalanced because Kim Jong-un is - respect to the other individuals - not in the center. This positioning, choreographically at least, forces Kim has to "share his power".

Summary: This and nearly all pictures of Kim Jong-un are not candid - but highly choreographed. These betray his low confidence, low emotional comfort, over-compensatory behavior, and his obsessive need to control his public image and projection of power. He relies more heavily than most leaders on the "Third Negotiator" of home-field advantage. Thus, one prerequisite upon which Donald Trump should absolutely insist - is having the meeting either in a third country's capital - Reykjavík, Geneva, or Paris - or, more preferably, in Washington, D.C.


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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4229: Sam Nunberg (Part II) • Roger Stone, Robert Mueller, and Lies

Body Language Analysis No. 4227: Sarah Huckabee Sanders comments regarding Stormy Daniels and President Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 4225: Sam Nunberg Interview - Part I • Roger Stone, Donald Trump, and Russia

Body Language Analysis No. 4223: Donald Trump to Republican Senator, "You're Afraid of the NRA"

Body Language Analysis No. 4136: Seminole Heights/Tampa Florida Serial Killer - Criminal Profiling 

Body Language Analysis No. 4006: Vladimir Putin and Melania Trump at the G20

Body Language Analysis No. 4058: Cara Mund, Miss America 2018

Body Language Analysis No. 4165: Kim Jong-un's New Years Faux Pas

Body Language Analysis No. 4051: Predicting Kim Jong-un's Behavior


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2440: Vladimir Putin Dials Up His Alpha ...Foot Position, Projecting Leadership, Confidence & Body Language

Vladimir Putin is shown in the above image with his feet slightly greater than his shoulder-width apart. Although neither a video or the translation is currently available for this moment, we can certainly diagnose his emotions in the moment this photo was taken.

Mr. Putin is rarely feeling a lack of confidence. And this is no exception. He felt particularly alpha & adamant about an issue when he was speaking here. The Russian President is only 1.70 meters (5'7") in height - and some shorter men have an aversion of standing in such a way because it momentarily decreases their height. However standing with your feet about shoulder width apart or slightly closer projects (outwardly to others as well as to one's own psyche) confidence, strength of purpose, leadership, courage and increases the over-all "Alpha Quotient". It even engenders greater fluidity to speech and increases confidence in vocal tone. Those who stand with their feet too close together will experience the opposite. And while it is not advocated for women to stand with their feet separated as widely as men - the same phenomena holds true for both genders - as well as the animal kingdom (women configure their feet about 20- 25% closer in equivalent scenarios). Too often women avoid doing so for fear of looking masculine/not looking feminine. However, women need to take advantage of this nonverbal principle too. 

Very occasionally, if one wants to place a powerful punctuation regarding a particular point - a momentary slightly wider stance of the feet will add alpha. This is exactly what Vladimir is doing here.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2043:  Foot Position at a Funeral/Receiving of Remains Ceremony -  Respect vs. Disrespect

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2313:  Elisa Lam Video in Elevator at Cecil Hotel -  What Her Body Language Tells Us ...

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2137:  Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama - First Presidential Debate -  Barack's Bad Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2199:  Thailand, Body Language,  Barack Obama and Yingluck Shinawatra -  Mirroring and Foot Point

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 337:  Michele Bachmann's Low Confidence Stance

Nonverbal Communication Analysis #1843:  United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice  in Response to Syrian Government's Houla Massacre

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2155:  Body Language Tells at the Second Presidential Debate  Mitt Romney at Attention &  President Obama's Disapproval-Subtle Contempt

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1867:  Ann Romney - Demure vs. Assertive Stance

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2426:  Remembering Ronald Reagan,  "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall"  Body Language at the Brandenburg Gate

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2436:  Vladimir Putin next to Barack Obama - G8 Body Language

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 337: Low Confidence Stance

All other things being equal - a person will project significantly greater confidence and be perceived as a superior leader and more successful - if they stand with their feet a bit apart. The ideal distance is about a shoulder's width for men and slightly less for women. Congress person Michele Bachmann, R-MN, shown here (Politico/NBC Debate held at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA), is by most accounts a confident person. Earlier this year however, she enjoyed a top or near-top ranking in most polls for the U.S. republican presidential nomination. However, since mid-summer 2011 her poll ranking has precipitously dropped to single digit percentages. Her foot position here may be a by-product of this decline - indicating her own emotional tone about her relative lack of success of late; but it almost never should be displayed by anyone in a leadership position - certainly not a head-of-state or anyone seeking such office. 

If you stand like Representative Bachmann is, you will feel more beta, act more demure and with a strong tendency to acquiesce. Among other things this would be very poor debate-coaching advice. Your ability to "think on your feet" is significantly heightened by the more confident, feet apart Body Language. Incredibly this will even be reflected verbally in your word choice, volume, cadence, etc. Simply standing with your feet a shoulder's width apart (give or take) - will truly engender feeling, speaking and acting more alpha, more assertive and more confident - thus embodying the qualities we all want and need in our leaders.

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