Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3396: President Obama's Oval Office Address - Dialing up The Alpha - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Unlike his only other (two) Oval Office Addresses, last night Barack Obama was standing.

With the "Resolute Desk" behind him (rather than between him and his audience), the President (or anyone) will project and feel significantly more strength and resolve while standing. And even though this was a traditional speech (written in advance and read, as opposed to a press conference or debate), standing strongly engenders greater fluidity and confidence versus saying the same things while seated.

Standing has also been shown to temporarily increase testosterone (in both males and females) while also lowering cortisol (a "stress hormone"). This effect should not be trivialized or ignored. If you want to increase your assertiveness and look as well as feel more determined - take this one standing up.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3395: President Obama's Oval Office Address, ISIS and the Split-Finger Fastball - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3371: John Kasich at the Republican Debate 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3112: John Travolta Chin Holding and Face Touching Idina Menzel at the Oscars - What Makes it Extra-Creepy 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3337: Barack Obama regarding Vladimir Putin on 60 Minutes 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3210: Matteo Renzi, Christine Lagarde, Barack Obama and Up-Regulating Alpha Emotions

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3285: Donald Trump Dialing Up His Alpha - Body Language 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3328: PewDiePie on Stephen Colbert's Late Show - a Common Body Language Alpha Up-Regulator 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3046: Chris Pine Dials Up His Alpha - "Into the Woods" 
  
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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3395: President Obama's Oval Office Address, ISIS and the Split-Finger Fastball - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

A reminder: This website serves as an objective reference source for the science and art of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. 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.

Due to last week's San Bernardino mass shooting, and the subsequent discovery that the perpetrators had terrorist motives, President Obama gave an address from the Oval office tonight - only the third of his seven years in office.  

Beginning at 9:01, the President continues, " ... The strategy than we are using now - air strikes, special forces and working with local forces, who're fighting to regain control of their own country - that is how we'll achieve a more sustainable victory ..."

During 9:07 - 9:10, as Mr. Obama says, "... local forces, who're fighting to regain control of their own country ...", he displays a particular variety of nonverbal illustrator known as a "Split Finger Fastball". This body language signal acquires its name from the very similar configuration of the hand needed for a baseball player utilizing that specific pitch.

In the nonverbal world, the split finger fastball is a fantastic example of one type of an alpha-beta hybrid. Said another way, it projects alpha qualities (e.g., strength, assertiveness, a sense of urgency) without being too aggressive. To many "leaders" and others who use alpha body language signals have a strong tendency to OVER-USE them - and thus become hyper-alpha signals. Index finger pointing at an audience is a type of hyper-alpha nonverbal which is, unfortunately, rather common. Another one is the palm-down gesture, particularly with the fingers closed (e.g., Hitler's raised arm, palm-down salute). Hyper-alpha gestures will alienate all but your staunchest supporters.

Those who Have a multitude of alpha-beta hybrids in their repertoire place themselves at a profound advantage in establishing and building rapport.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3394: People react to being called beautiful - Body Language of a Sincere Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3393: Syed Rizwan Farook, Tashfeen Malik, San Bernardino Shooting and Predicting Violent Behavior

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3247: Barack Obama's Response to Question regarding Revoking Bill Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3337: Barack Obama regarding Vladimir Putin on 60 Minutes

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2588: Body Language Reaction to a Racially Prejudice Halloween Costume 

Nonverbal Communication Secret No. 222: Palms Down vs. Palms Up - Angela Merkel

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret No. 1933: Iran's Aggression and their Military's Salute - A Visual Metaphor of WWII & Nazi Fear 

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret No. 1212: Sudden Mouth Covering

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2963: Barack Obama at the United Nations General Assembly regarding ISIS/ISIL, 24 September 2014 - Body Language Faux Pas (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Barack Obama, along the other heads-of-state, has been meeting at the United Nations General Assembly the last several days. During this segment of his speech where he spoke of ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State, President Obama committed a highly significant body language faux pas on multiple occasions - which for him is rare. In this brief video (above), the President used the index finger (forefinger) point nine times. Some were certainly less obtrusive - such as pointing downwards (3:06 - 3:10) and others when he pointed briefly at himself or to his right (2:48, 2:45 and 2:19 - 2:21), however with the majority of these - he pointed directly at the audience (see below). Index finger pointing is a profoundly negative nonverbal and moreover it's considered universally offensive in virtually every culture and subculture on the Earth. This has been true throughout recorded history.

The President has much better body language instinct than average - so why was he off his game yesterday? People who point with their forefingers with high frequency (and not just on a given occasion) have an extremely high rate of narcissism. It is also important to consider the autism spectrum disorders. Barack Obama does not point frequently. Two other possible causes include anger and/or alpha emotional tones - both of which are playing out in these speeches. What are some other thought-emotions correlative with a forefinger point?

Politicians will often point at their audiences when in front of their political base - which is still not recommended (yet there is wider latitude for mistakes is allotted in such scenarios). However it is very unwise to do so when seeking rapport, votes or trying to building a coalition - all of which are needed here.

There were several other highly significant nonverbal errors used in this speech. How many of these have you also committed recently?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2962: Denzel Washington, Lenny Kravitz & David Letterman - Body Language of ....

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2360:  Bill Clinton and the Body Language of a  "Loose Hand, Palm Up Point"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2672: Dennis Rodman, Kim Jong Un and the Finger-Point Hand-Chop, Body Language from North Korea

Nonverbal Communication Analysis #2160:  Index Finger (Forefinger) Pointing in Politics -  The Third (and Final) 2012 Presidential Debates -  Body Language of Being an Alpha Male without Offending

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2490:  Hillary Clinton and the Two-Handed Point -  The American Bar Association, Body Language and  Variations on a Theme

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2322:  Jeb Bush & Matt Lauer - Which one is the Narcissist?  Body Language Red Flags

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2914: François Hollande, Anxiety and Dialing up his Alpha

0:40 - 0:41

1:58 - 1:59

2:19 - 2:21

2:23 - 2:24

2:45

2:48

3:06 - 3:10

3:37 - 3:39

4:19 - 4:21













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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2946: Barack Obama's 10 September 2014 ISIS Speech - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

During Barack Obama's speech tonight addressing ISIS-ISIL-The Islamic State, the President displayed some subtle and very short-lived expressions of disgust. For anyone familiar with this terrorist organization's actions, and in particular given the President's role, such an emotion is very expected and normal for the context.

During the 0:35 mark just after the President says, " ... Now let's make two things clear ....", he displays disgust as manifested by mild bilateral nostril flaring, accentuated nasal labial furrows as well as tightening of the mustache area, a very slight upward vectoring and protrusion of his lips. It's important to note that this is not a fully manifested example of disgust.



While eyelid involvement is not a required component of the disgust nonverbal - their partial closure does act as an amplifier of this emotion.

Once again, during the 0:38 mark, just after the President says, "... ISIL is not Islamic ...", he again displays contempt.

Both of these examples are subtle and evanescent - and thus are particularly difficult to catch in "real-time". How adept are you in spotting moderate or mild nonverbals? For it is such a profound skill that it will give you a dramatic advantage.



What other body language do you see in this video? Did you catch the microexpression of contempt?


See also:

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2943: Barack Obama on Meet the Press - Microexpression of ....

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2939: Barack Obama in Tallinn, Estonia

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2842: Barack Obama in Normandy regarding Edward Snowden

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2443:  Kristen Wiig's Disgust & Fear Face -  Graham Norton, Chris O'Dowd and Fly Eating


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2938: Josh Earnest, Steven Sotloff and ISIS - "Nonverbal Monotone" (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Josh Earnest, the current White House Press Secretary, got news of Steven Sotloff's beheading by ISIS during today's press briefing. The above video and the photos below are excerpts from this briefing.

Mr. Earnest repeated uses his left hand in what in body language parlance is termed an "illustrator" - a subset of what most people term a "gesture". Illustrators are good nonverbal practice - when used in congruency with the words and vocal qualities (paralanguage). In this example Mr. Earnest does nothing of the sort. While he does have some variation - his over-use of identical and/or highly similar gesture results in what amounts to "nonverbal monotone". This practice tells us that he is either significant anxiety, insincerity, naiveté or he's parroting another speaker's behavior (probably President Obama). Which of these emotions/behaviors is responsible?

In addition (and very obvious to most) - not only is the repetitive body language used out of context - why wasn't Mr. Earnest using his right hand/arm? Again - anxiety, insincerity, naiveté or poor mimicry. This unilateral quality amplifies and engenders his lack of variety.  

Think an orchestra conductor doing the exact same thing - yet the music is dramatically variable. If we saw this incongruity, we would know that he was a "fake conductor" and that the orchestra was playing to its own emotion and instincts. This is an identical behavior being displayed by Mr. Earnest.

My condolences to Steven Sotloff, his family and loved-ones.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2937: Vladimir Putin - “If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks” and Critical Evaluation

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2835: Jay Carney Resigns - President Obama Shows Us a Body Language Tell

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2061:  David Cameron Defends London Olympics against  Mitt Romney's Remarks -  Alpha Dominance and Illustrators -  Matching Hands and Feet as Sincerity Amplifiers

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2818: The Caring Hand, Palms Up and Building Rapport 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2605: President Obama and Health Insurance Cancellation Fix - and an Alpha-Beta Hybrid Body Language Illustrator

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2910: Becky Hammon, First Female Full-Time NBA Assistant Basketball Coach and an Under-used Body Language Illustrator 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2935: David Cameron and ISIL-ISIS-IS, Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Despite the fact that he is a very good speaker and for four years the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, David Cameron, like everyone, suffers occasional anxiety. In this recent video wherein he speaks about heightened security/terrorism threat level in the U.K. due to ISIL-ISIS-IS as well as drawing a clear distinction between Islam and Islamic extremism, Mr. Cameron displays several body language signals indicating elevated anxiety. Two nonverbals in particular are well exemplified here.

Note that during this entire 3:32 video segment, Mr. Cameron frequently rocked back and forth on his feet - shifting his body weight from one to the other. In addition, there was not a single hand gesture used (known in body language parlance as "illustrators") throughout the length of this segment of his speech. These two nonverbal findings are highly correlative with anxiety - in particular when clustered together. And although this is a well accomplished leader and head-of-state speaking on a subject involving the entire planet - these same nonverbal beacons are just as accurate in a court room, board room or sales floor.

What other significant body language does Mr. Cameron display here?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2933: Will Hayden ("Sons of Guns") Arrested - Body Language of His Mug Shot 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2934: Little Boy Goes Off On His Mom for Getting Pregnant - A Body Language Signal of Emotional Processing




Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2409:  David Cameron & François Hollande -  Variations on the Hand Chop & Palm Orientation

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2064:  David Cameron & Boris Johnson - Wincing at Wimbledon

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2844: Vladimir Tells a Lie To Obama at Normandy - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis 2759: Vladimir Putin, Annexation of Crimea and Mouth Asymmetry - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2794: Lupita Nyong'o's Speech on Black Beauty Essence, Body Language and Anxiety

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