Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2982: Politicians Should Never Do This If They Want To Be Elected - Hillary Clinton's Body Language Faux Pas (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

If you want to build rapport with an audience or the voting public, don't do what Hillary Clinton does throughout much of this video clip. She is being poorly coached regarding her body language. While it is true that a conventional steeple does project power along with assertiveness and an alpha persona - it should be used extremely sparingly, only for a second or two and at very specific and important moments of a speech, interview or debate.

As with most alpha signals, those who use them tend to over-use them - which is exactly what Mrs. Clinton is doing during this speech. The logic that "more is better" absolutely does not apply here. So what in very small doses is an alpha nonverbal, when used just a bit more becomes a rapport destroyer. Too much conventional steeple projects arrogance, condescending and patronizing emotional tones. It destroys likability. And likability is THE primary influencing factor when it comes to winning over the swing-voter. The largest component of likability is the nonverbal portion followed by vocal qualities (aka paralanguage) with the actual words being spoken counting for a distant third.

When we like someone, we strongly tend to minimize our disagreements. And when someone is disliked, we artificially hyper-inflate those same points of contention. Likability is of course a commonly polled metric in the political world - yet essentially no one breaks it down to its components or has any systematic way of improving upon it. Thus politicians who rely on their autopilot will often crash and burn.

Mrs. Clinton's prolonged eyelid closure further amplifies her negative emotional projection. This nonverbal cluster is extremely disengaging and distancing.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2981: Wendy Davis, the Governor of Texas, Book Covers and Projecting the Wrong Emotions

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2304: It Came from Outer Space - Russian Meteor Event over Chelyabinsk - Don't Confuse this Reflex with Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2782: Hillary Clinton dodges a shoe - Body Language ... and Not

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2919: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - Friends? - will they Hug it Out?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2949: Hillary Clinton at Maya Angelou's Tribute - a Body Language Signal of ....  

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2847: Eric Cantor, Concession Speeches and Low Affection 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2414:  Sen. John McCain after his Trip to Syria -  Body Language of Regret and Contempt  

_________________________________________________________________________________

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2407: President Obama in Midst of Heckler - A Subtle Sign of Significant Anger with Emotional Dissonance (Video, Photos)

Yesterday President Obama spoke about his desire and plan to close the prison a Guantanamo Bay. During this portion of his speech at the National Defense University, he was repeatedly interrupted by Ms. Medea Benjamin of the advocacy group "Code Pink". She demanded he close the detention center immediately - without congressional approval.

When one takes an introductory physics course in classical mechanics, the instructor will have her/his class consider strings to be "mass-less" and wheels to be "friction-less" - even though neither exist. Rather these are constructs used to engender learning of Newtonian physics. Accounting for the mass of the string or the friction of the wheel is beyond the scope of a beginners' course. This post takes into account similar body language premises which are generally not taught to beginners and are difficult to capture and impossible to fully appreciate without the aid of video - and without first learning the basics.

Eventually Ms. Benjamin was removed from the room after which the President said, "...the voice of that woman, ah, is worth paying attention to. Obvious, obviously - ah, obviously I do not agree with much of what she said. And obviously she wasn't listening to me in much of what I said. But these are tough issues. And the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong." (3:52 - 4:22).

A fantastic body language moment was captured here - for during the earlier moments of this heckling, Mr. Obama showed a subtle sign of significant anger - relatively rare for the President.

This image was captured at 0:52 of the above video. Note the President's eyes - specifically the distance between his upper and lower eyelids. This configuration is consistent with the natural resting positions of his eyelids.

There is another subtle emotion being expressed nonverbally in this first photo - what is it?

This second image was taken at 0:53 in the video. Note his eyelids - while not extremely widely opened - they are significantly further apart than a one second before (above) or one second after (below). Whenever a smile is sincere - the eyelids will ALWAYS move closer together - NEVER further apart (as they have done in this moment). This expression is not quite as brief as a microexpression - yet it is still evanescent (lasting about one second) and just as significant.

One set of muscles (right and left) are trying to open the eyelids [levator palpebrae superioris & particularly the superior tarsal muscles which are sympathetically innervated and thus directed toward "fight or flight" responses of strong emotion] while another set are working to close them [orbicularis oculi (pars orbitalis)]. The former are winning this momentary tug of war with the net effect moving them further apart (versus his open eyelid resting state). This brief competing dynamic is a fantastic example of emotional dissonance - with the President feeling two emotions simultaneously (see below). Without the aid of the before or after pictures, or the video, this image would probably be falsely identified as "anywhere from a good social smile to a sincere smile" by many.

If the resolution of these images were higher, we would also see both of the President's pupils dilate along with his lid retraction. 

Another significant detail here is the direction of contraction of his cheek muscles (zygomaticus major). There is a significant lateral (sideways) component present - whereas with a PURE sincere (Duchenne) smile, the cheeks are contracted primarily in an upward direction.

The President is skillfully using a smile to suppress and shortly thereafter to melt away a very significant level of anger. He is very adept at recognizing negative emotions in their early stages (refractory period) and taking steps to negate them - something very few people can do.

Only a second later (0:54), Barack's anger is not able to be seen. There is however another new emotion subtly showing - what is it and what are its nonverbal characteristics?







See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1858:  What the Eyes Do - Transitioning from Mild to Severe Anger

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 353:  Brad Pitt's Smiling Eyes - Sincere and Insincere Smiles

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1834:  Chelsea FC vs. Bayern Munich and the G8

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 1167:  Danica's Lips, Danica's Eyes - Subtle Anger

Negotiation Secret # 40: Can You Spot Mild Anger?

Negotiation Secret # 12:  Subtle Anger with Disrespect/Mistrust/Dislike

Negotiation Secret # 405: Carli Bruni & Dagger Eyes

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2152:  Second Presidential Debate - 16 October 2012 -  Barack Obama's Duping Delight -  Benghazi, Libya Attack was an "Act of Terror" -  Alpha, Beta, Confidence & Acquiescence ...


___________________________________________________________________________________

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2342: Barack Obama at Jerusalem Convention Center in Israel What the President's Body Language Says to a Heckler

Yesterday the U.S. President revealed two key emotion-thoughts via his body language during his speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center.

First:

Mr. Obama is telling lie - a small lie - but none the less he is still lying. Touching one eye (here the brow at 0:59) during a statement or when answering a factual question is highly indicative of a lie. Though POTUS knows everyone is aware he is joking-lying when he says, " I have to say we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home", it is still displayed with this nonverbal flag of deception (be wary, for touching both eyes simultaneously has a completely different meaning).

Second:

He is using his middle finger in this MAP (manipulator, adaptor, pacifier). Thus he is "flipping off" the heckler/protester at the same time he prepares to tell his joke-lie. This is but one example of a "Partial Emblematic Slip" (Ekman) wherein the Emblem (here "The Bird") is only displayed in an abbreviated fashion and not in its typical conscious display - for this nonverbal subconsciously initiate and displayed (as 99.9+% are).

The President (like all of us) tend to commit these (and similar tells) with our non-dominant hands when the lie is small (here he uses his right, non-dominant hand) and our dominant hands for higher levels of deception. 

Here, as part of this "Deception Cluster", the President bites his right lower lip as he prepares to lie at the 1:00 mark.

Prolonged eyelid closure is manifested as the lip bite continues - a subconscious "blocking-out" of the lie (also at 1:00)

Barack Obama juts his tongue out (at 1:01). Just before the lie. In this cluster, his "Tongue Jut" is akin to a child pushing out food he/she doesn't like. For he doesn't really want to lie - no one does - it tastes bad.







All these body language tells are package in a nonverbal sentence which follow in rapid succession. In body language parlance, this is known as a "cluster".

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2156:  Barack Obama's Body Language at Al Smith Charity Dinner -  Comedy, White Lies and Facial Touching MAPs

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2152:  Second Presidential Debate - 16 October 2012 -  Barack Obama's Duping Delight -  Benghazi, Libya Attack was an "Act of Terror" -  Alpha, Beta, Confidence & Acquiescence ....

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2138:  President Obama's Anger-Frustration During Debate -  An Under-Appreciated Body Language Signal

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2150:  Body Language Advice for  President Obama and Governor Romney in Tonight's Debate

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1907:  Governor Rick Scott tells a Lie

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

___________________________________________________________________________________

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1881: Interrupting the President & Contempt Display - Neil Munro shows us his Body Language and His (Lack of) Etiquette

Question: Who interrupted President Obama yesterday in his Rose Garden speech? 

Answer: Neil Munro a reporter from The Daily Caller. 

Strong negative emotions are difficult for people to contain. Neil had contempt and anger for Barack - and Barack gave some anger back. Yesterday, the Commander in Chief announced his "stop gap measure" for immigrants who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and are now younger than 30, have lived here for five straight years, never been convicted of a crime, and have graduated from high school or received a GED - to be eligible for renewable two-year work permits after temporary status has been granted. 

Munro displays multiple microexpressions of contempt directed toward the President - at the 0:13, 0:16, 0:53, 1:01 and 1:21 time marks. These are good examples of these contempt displays disguised (subconsciously) and/or blended with a "sniffing" action with the nose. The last of these of these microexpressions is accompanied by an eye-roll - which occurs consciously or sometimes at edge-of-consciousness - and thus a largely deliberate and theatrical contempt display.

The whole event has, naturally, made Munro rather anxious. He can be seen taking at hard swallow - a classic nonverbal of anxiety - at the very end of the video (1:29). No doubt it will be some time before Munro is let back in the Rose Garden.

In the image below, in addition to Munro, there are two other male reporters (both in jackets and ties) displaying interesting body language tells? What are they thinking-feeling?

See also:

Analysis # 1548: Trayvon Martin's Death - George Zimmerman and his 1st Court Appearance

Anaylsis # 151: Openly and Honestly Considering Alternatives

Analysis # 1877: John Boehner's Open Consideration

___________________________________________________________________________________