As fear crescendos, we may see any number of multiple nonverbal tells. A cluster of behavior Donald Trump displays when he’s scared and feels backed in a corner includes:
• Tightening of his jaw • Extending his jaw forward (mild jaw jut) • Flaring his Lips outward (aka a Lip Curl)
Donald Trump also often Lips slightly when he’s frightened. Did you hear it?
It’s crucial to differentiate Trump’s Fear-Lisp from the separate and distinct phenomenon when he lisps on occasions when his oral prosthesis temporarily loosens.
Moreover, when he’s in a fear-state, Trump’s mouth doesn’t open as widely as it typically does as he’s speaking (a pattern commonly seen in people in low confidence, high emotional discomfort, and fearful emotional states).
The pitch of Trump’s voice also grows higher with his fear — along with the speed of his speech.
Trump’s eyes (eyelids) also open wider when he’s frightened (This is an expected and common fear response). It’s more prominent on his left, as Trump’s right upper eyelid is droopy (underlying ptosis).
Although his eyebrows are lowered, Trump’s central forehead muscles are contracted and elevated (partially obscured by his hair). This is also a configuration common with fear.
Simultaneously, another part of this fear cluster — Trump leans forwards (at his waist) and rounds/hunches his shoulders as his upper arms adduct (pull inward toward midline).
Trump exemplified this above-described behavior cluster multiple times during his interview on Fox News.
SUMMARY: During Donald Trump’s interview aired last night with Bret Baier, the former President displayed significant fear with both his body language and paralanguage (Lisp of Fear, increased speed, higher pitch).
Why isn’t Body Language taught in Law School? Stop wingin’ it. If you’re an attorney, please contact me at Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com to learn this crucial skill. Group, individual, in-person, and online instruction are all available.
Ω
This post and others accompanying it, serve 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.
A ‘Lip Curl’, when the lips flare/curl outward in disproportionate and melodramatic manner is a highly reliable indicator of the thought-emotions of:
• Hubris
• False Bravado
• Braggadocio
• Pretentiousness
• Righteous Indignation
• Deception
• Insincerity
• Agenda Driven (Manipulation is Present)
• This cannot be stressed enough: If a Lip Curl is displayed even with modest frequency, there’s a high likelihood of Machiavellian Personality (and very often, an accompanying Dark Triad or Dark Tetrad).
It’s a crucial tell, an out-of-context lip and mouth configuration — hyperbolic with respect to the word being spoken.
You’ve probably detected this subtle nonverbal behavior subconsciously (or at the edge of consciousness) but dismissed it.
It’s also commonly (but not always) accompanied by pseudo-accent sounding by word pronunciations — with an air of haughtiness (i.e., “Country Club Accent”).
In addition, there’s almost always a significant and simultaneous degree of jaw muscle tension/contraction present during a Lip Curl.
Interested in learning Body Language/Nonverbal Communication and Behavior Analysis in Group-Zoom sessions? We’ll be meeting the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month (90 minutes/session for 1 year, 36 hours total). Please email me at Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com for details (one-on-one and private corporate group instruction also available).
Ω
This post and others accompanying it, serve 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 the many varied contexts of personal and professional life.
Earlier today, during a White House roundtable discussion on immigration policy, President Trump said, "We have people who are coming into the country - or trying to come in - we're stopping a lot of 'em. But we're taking people out of the country - you wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people - these are animals..."
Just as he finishes saying the end of the word "... animals ...", President Trump displays what in nonverbal parlance is known as a Lip Curl.
A lip curl is a signal of:
• Braggadocio
• Hubris
• Bravado
• Bluster
SUMMARY: President Trump's nonverbal behavior - which is in full agreement with his verbal and his paralanguage displays - are all indicating strong egocentric emotional motives with respect to his policy on immigration. Such behavior points to high subjectivity, extreme bias, and impulsiveness in decision making.
Yesterday the FBI raided the office of Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. A few hours later, while meeting with senior military leadership, the President commented on this event - as well as on the recent mass-poisoning of civilians by Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Donald Trump during this statement.
The President begins the meeting by saying, "So I just heard that - they broke into the office of one of - my personal attorneys — Ω good man. And, ah, it’s a disgraceful situation. It’s a total witch hunt. I’ve been saying it for a long time. I’ve wanted to keep it down. We’ve given, ah, I believe, over a million pages’ worth of documents to the Special Counsel."
Just before he says, "... a good man ...", Donald Trump elevates his both of his eyebrows - however, his right eyebrow elevates much more than his left. Such asymmetrical (or unilateral) eyebrow elevation indicates doubt/disbelief. Importantly, this nonverbal signal also occurred right after he said, "So I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys". Thus Donald Trump's disbelief could be directed toward either one of thesestatements (e.g., doubting Cohen is a good man, or in disbelief that the FBI raided Cohen's office).
From a paralanguage/statement analysis perspective, Trump's use of the words, "broke into" is inaccurate and hyperbolic - as it was, of course, a legal act by the FBI.
Additionally, notice that the President didn't say "FBI" - rather he used the nonspecific plural pronoun, "they". Use of the word "they" in this context, without at least first saying "FBI" - indicates the President's low confidence/emotional discomfort in his position.
Moreover, it's difficult to interpret the President's statement of, "I’ve wanted to keep it down" - as anything other than a personal desire to Obstruct Justice.
In the early portions of this video, the President exhibits several displays of what is known as a Lip Curl. A good example occurs during 1:02 and is captured in the above image (during the sentence, "So when I saw this and when I heard it - I heard it like you did - I said, that is really now on a whole - new level of unfairness.")
A Lip Curl involves the lips protruding outward - which primarily happens while speaking. The lips acquire a momentarily and characteristic flaring-outward morphology as they extend away from the teeth in a brief exaggerated motion. A lip curl indicates the alpha emotions of False Bravado, Hubris, Hyperbole, and Braggadocio. Additionally, there's often a component of Sarcasm present.
Now jump ahead to 6:35 - when President Trump displays a characteristic, hyper-alpha mid-level steeple. But this only lasts about three seconds...
He immediately crosses his arms (6:38) - and importantly, with his hands forming fists. Additionally, the fists are hidden beneath his arms. This dynamic occurs immediately as he's asked two simultaneous questions:
• "Mr. President, did you have an affair with Stormy Daniels?"
• "Why don't you just fire Mueller?"
The President uses this same posture throughout a large portion of the video. Crossing the arms - and crucially with one's hands in fists and hidden - is a profound and classic sign of defensiveness-related anxiety. This projects a highly beta emotional tone of low confidence and insecurity.
In the context of public appearances, it's extremely rare for any President to cross their arms - (On 17 November 1973, President Nixon crossed his arms just after he said, "Well, I am not a crook. I've earned everything I've got!"). Yet President Trump displays this body language frequently. Thus, it's not unreasonable to consider the very real possibility that Donald Trump has a movement disorder or a tremor-like condition (either a medical condition of the Central Nervous System or a secondary side-effect from a drug).
Intriguingly, his arms remained crossed - but his right hand becomes partially exposed when he begins talking about Syria and American Military 4:37. This display demonstrates that his relative comfort level has momentarily increased.
And although his right-hand retreats back to cover - with his arms remaining crossed - his index finger remains extended (4:47 - 4:49) as he says, "... and
we’re making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible
attack that was made near Damascus."
In this moment, the President was essentially pointing his right index finger at Bashar al-Assad.
At 5:34, President Trump again slips into a more comfortable mental state - with his right hand again being exposed as he says, "... so - we're going to make a decision tonight, or shortly thereafter..." (with respect to military action on Syria).
Beginning at 7:12, Trump continues, "One of the things they said, 'I fired Comey'. Well, I turned out to do the right thing, because you look at all of the things that he’s done and the lies, and you look at what’s gone on at the FBI with the insurance policy and all of the things that happened - turned out I did the right thing. Ah, But he signed - as you know, he also signed the FISA warrant. So Rod Rosenstein, who’s in charge of this, signed a FISA warrant, and he also, he also f- [stutter] signed a letter that was - essentially saying to fire James Comey. And he was right about that. He was absolutely right."
During 7:23 - 7:30, just after the President said, "... and you look at what’s gone on at the FBI ...", for about 7 seconds,the President displays a nonverbal signal which is very rare for him: He grasps his right index and middle finger with his left hand. This nonverbal signal indicates a very high level of anxiety.
Summary: Nonverbal and paralanguage analysis of President Trump's statement yesterday indicate:
• The FBI raid on Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has the President extremely worried.
• The President's personal feelings are strongly influencing his military decision making. Donald Trump is more
comfortable talking about an act of war, than he is regarding
Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, James Comey, Robert Mueller, or the FBI.
• President Trump very directly admitted his desire to Obstruct Justice when he said, "It’s a total witch hunt. I’ve been saying it for a long time. I’ve wanted to keep it down."
Journalist: Do you have any comment on Mr. Porter?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we wish him well. He worked very hard. I found about it - recently and I was surprised by it. But we certainly wish him well. It's a-ah ... obviously tough time - for him. He did a very good job when he was in the White House. Ahum, we hope he has a - wonderful career and - hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But ah, it was very sad when we heard about it, and certainly he's also, ah, very sad. Now he also, ah, as you probably know, he says he's innocent– Ω – and I think you have to - remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent - so you'll have to talk to him about that. But we absolutely wish him well - did a very good job while he was at the White House. Thank you very much everybody.
During 0:35, as he says, "... ah ...", the President displaces his derriere backward in his chair in a classic Butt Adjustment. A Butt Adjustment is an Alpha Up-regulation signal triggered by anxiety. The President feels nervous when he's preparing to say, "... as you probably know, he says he's innocent ..."
Additionally, his prolonged blinking is an epiphenomenon of psychological blocking - as the President's psyche is attempting to insulate itself.
One to two seconds later, during 0:36 - 0:37, as he is saying, "... he says he's innocent ...", Donald Trump displays a Lip Curl. A Lip Curl is a signal of Braggadocio, Hubris, and Bravado.
Another second later, during 0:38, just before he says, "... and I think you have to - remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent ...", President Trump exhibits a Jaw Jut (notated by the Ω symbol). It's important to note this is not a jaw jut associated with anger (e.g., there are no other anger signals present). A Jaw Jut in the absence of Anger is indicative of Hubris.
Summary: Intriguingly, Donald Trump became anxious during his defense of Rob Porter - specifically just prior to saying, "... as you probably know, he says he's innocent ...". The President also felt significant hubris-braggadocio-bravado.
During 2:56, at the end of the sentence, "... and so, we really had to quite literally trust each other, because he had to hold my weight and I had to hold him, you know, so it was just kinda like, a - great icebreaker..." , Zendaya displays what is known as a "Lip Curl".
A lip curl involves the lips protruding outward with a slight to sometimes dramatic momentary concave shape as they extend away from the teeth in a brief exaggerated dynamic. This is a moderate example and involves mostly her upper lip. It projects the (primarily) alpha emotions of Hubris, False Bravado, Hyperbole, and Braggadocio. Very often there is also a component of Sarcasm present.
This photo was taken approximately 0.10 second earlier. While blurrier (due to her motion) than the preceding image - it captures a Zendaya's upper lip in a configuration more typical of a "Lip Curl".
During 4:03 - 4:04, just after the blooper video of her and Zac Efron colliding, Zendaya displays a Loose Tongue Jut. This nonverbal signals the thought emotions of "I've made a mistake", "I've been caught", "I've been bad" (Navarro). It very often has components of self-deprecating emotions - and in such scenarios, it's helpful to think of it as a nonverbal equivalent of the common verbal expression, "My Bad!"
Take care not to confuse a "loose tongue jut" with a "tight tongue jut" - as they have completely different meanings.
Just after the viewing of a portion of the film trailer, Zendaya retracts/hyper-flexes her left ring finger - touching it with her thumb (during 4:42).
A few seconds later, she grabs and twists that same, left ring finger (during 4:45).
In this setting, these left ring finger manipulations/MAPs (Manipulators, Adaptors, Pacifiers) are signals of Zendaya's affection and sexual attraction for Zac Efron - as well as her accompanying anxiety.
On Wednesday 29 November 2017 President Trump gave a speech in St. Charles, Missouri. Among other issues, he spoke about the current proposed tax bill. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of a key portion of his speech.
Beginning at 1:21, President Trump continues, "... So right now, America's tax code is a total, dysfunctional, mess. The current system has cost our nation, millions of American jobs,
trillions and trillions of dollars, and billions of hours wasted on
paperwork and compliance. It is riddled with loopholes that let some special interests - including myself in all fairness, it's going to cost me a fortune, this thing - believe me - belief, this is - not good for me Ω. Me, it's not so -, I have some very wealthy friends..."
As President Trump speaks the words, "... myself in all fairness, it's going to cost me a fortune, this thing ..." he displays a Lip Curl. Simultaneous he speaks will shallow breaths - with the anterior (front portion) of his nose and mouth. His voice is therefore momentarily nasal-sounding. This nonverbal-affectation cluster is highly indicative of Sarcasm and False Bravado.
During 1:47, as he says, "... believe me ...", the President's mouth briefly becomes very asymmetrical - favoring his right side.
A second later, during 1:48, as he says, "... belief ...", Donald Trump again speaks out of the right side of his mouth - although it's not quite as pronounced. Curiously, he seems to have cut himself off/misspoken (saying, "belief" rather than, "believe me") - thus his nonverbal asymmetry was also mirrored with similar truncation.
This statement analysis/paralanguage axiom stands on its own: When a person says, "believe me" (particularly when they repeat themselves), with high probability, they're lying.
A sudden asymmetrical mouth configuration is classic for both Deception and False Bravado.
The appearance of Trump's "Believe me" and "belief" - both coincident with his repeated one-side mouth speaking - indicates with very high probability President Trump was lying.
During 1:50, at the end of his statement, "... this is not good for me" as he says "me" and for a split second after (connoted by Ω), he touches himself on both sides of his chest. This gesture, because he only is using the tips of his fingers, is correlated with a low degree of sincerity.
Moreover, Trump touches his chest, with all probability, with only the
tips of the three middle digits - not his pinky or his thumbs. His
thumbs are - in a classic tell - pulling/pointing away from his chest.
Conversely, a high sincerity quotient is indicated with the touching of the full palm(s) to the chest (a full "palmar touch") - as well as the palmar surfaces of all the digits.
Notice too, how in the third and fourth pictures above, Trump's eyes are momentarily closed. Prolonged and/or frequent blinking is an anxiety indicator. It's crucial that these phenomena occur during his declarative statements. Blinking frequently and/or in a prolonged fashion is also a form of diminished eye contact.Suddenly decreasing eye contact is correlated with lying.
Summary: Based on his nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage/statement analysis behavior during this segment of President Trump's recent speech - with very high probability he is being deceptive when he claims the proposed tax plan would cost him a fortune.
This morning Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney gave a press conference regarding the yesterday's attacks on the American Embassies in Egypt and Libya. Four members of the staff of the embassy in Libya were killed including ambassador Chris Stevens.
Governor Romney displayed multiple subtle-to-moderate examples of contempt during this press conference. He tends to speak with his mouth in an asymmetrical configuration - distorted to his right when he's nervous (the obvious stutter at the beginning of this video further demonstrates his anxiety). His mouth looked similar to this during portions of his speech at the RNC two weeks ago. Most anyone would have some anxiety during such a convention scenario - though hopefully "good-nervous".
Romney displayed this same anxiety tell during this morning's press conference - however he also exampled many instances of contempt as well. The emotion of contempt is also an asymmetrical nonverbal signal - with the mouth taking on a one-sided snarl-like appearance and a bit of a curl to the lip - which Mitt showed us multiple times. Less noticeable was his nostril dilation/flaring.
Most people can spot severe contempt (as well as other emotions). But what is astounding is the extraordinary number of professionals who miss moderate, let alone subtle displays of emotions on others' faces/bodies - and moreover they continue to send out these same signals to others. Learning to read AND display the subtleties will give you a distinct and dramatic advantage.
