The above image was captured on January 6th 2024 in Newton, Iowa – three years to the day after the insurrection.
It demonstrates an expression that Trump displays relatively rarely – and in light of his legal troubles, its evaluation is particularly important.
Note Trump's jaw is extended forward. This is a manifestation of an Adrenaline Surge (which, in isolation, could indicate a number of different thought-feelings – but read on for the full analysis).
This jaw jutting is photographically highlighted by the evanescent empty space/temporary cavity behind Trump's jaw and below his ear (tissue stretching forward). The shading from the angle of the light in this moment makes it especially easy to see.
Next look at Trump's mouth – the corners are pulled laterally w/ an additional downward vectoring. Due to the angle of this image, we're unable to evaluate the symmetry of this dynamic, however it appears to be more prominent on his left.
This is a mouth expression indicative of fear.
Now observe the direction of Trump's gaze. He's looking down to his right. Although there could very well be an unrelated and valid reason to otherwise look in this direction, it's also the quadrant we tend to look toward during highly emotional moments.
Crucially, pay close attention to Trump's neck. Although he's not a thin individual (making it more difficult to visualize), we can see his neck muscles (sternocleidomastoids ['ropy' muscles] and his platysma [nearly thin paper-thin muscle just below neck skin] TIGHTEN).
This dynamic is a 'Neck of Fear'.
SUMMARY: This expression of Donald Trump is highly-indicative of FEAR, particularly his:
• Neck of Fear • Mouth of Fear • Jaw Jut
All individuals, professionals, and businesses/organizations who want to (need to) dramatically improve their Body Language skills and nuance their understanding of Emotional Intelligence please email me: Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com Group and individual sessions available.
Carey Mulligan was recently a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Livepromoting her recent film, Mudbound which takes place in rural Mississippi just after WWII. Among other things, the English actor spoke about performing with American accents. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis.
JIMMY KIMMEL (beginning at 0:03): I mentioned it to Idris Elba last
night, and I'm gonna say the same thing to you - it always [stutter]
amazes me and impresses me when, when you're from England - you come
over here and do our accent so well.
CAREY MULLIGAN: Oh, thank you - well § see the film first ...
During 0:14, right after she says, "Oh, thank you - well" - and just before she says, "see the film first", Carey Mulligan displays a classic unilateral combination of both a:
• Neck of Fear (pulling laterally and down)
• Mouth of Fear (with tension and a "tenting-up" of the superficial neck muscles
[platysma and the sternocleidomastoid])
A split second earlier (also during 0:14), Ms. Mulligan was repositioning in her chair (a common anxiety tell).
She also displayed a suppressed smile - simultaneously as her eyebrows pulled together and were vectored downward. This nonverbal cluster displayed her questioning/disbelief/emotional discomfort with Kimmel's compliment.
A moment later, during 0:16 - 0:17, Carey displays a false-adjustment of her jacket/shirt. This MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier) is general anxiety indicator.
MULLIGAN (beginning at 0:32): I think for someone from Gr-, I think if you do Southern, you just slow everything, you just talk very slowly Ω ... I think?
During 0:37, Just after she says, "... you just talk very slowly ...", Carey Mulligan displays another fantastic example of a Unilateral Neck of Fear - as well as a Mouth of Fear.
And again, just after she says, "... Oh, it was my strategy - I don't know ...", Ms. Mulligan displays her third example of a one-sided Neck of Fear/Mouth of Fear cluster - along with a suppressed smile (0:40).
Notice her left-hand gesture (Illustrator) - which was partially palm down (and an alpha-beta hybrid) - during 0:35 - 0:38, flips to a palm-up configuration during 0:39 (thus projecting a more beta mindset as she says, "... I think?").
Summary: Care must always be taken to never interpret body language signals in isolation. If we only looked at Carey Mulligan's right neck and mouth - we may very well interpret her emotion as fear (e.g., pure fear/physical fear/deep visceral fear). Yet if notice that her displays are almost completely on her right side - and we see her other accompanying facial and body signs in her nonverbal cluster (e.g., suppressed smile, disbelief/questioning, some subtle alpha displays, etc.) - we can see that her fear is not deep - it's not physical fear - but rather that of a milder, social embarrassment fear.
Many have noted the poorly feigned facial expressions of the North Korean people when they're in the presence of Kim Jong-un.
In the image above, notice the government official on the left side of the photo - particularly his lower face. The corners of his mouth are pulled outward and most importantly, down. The soft tissue covering his jaw dramatically calls our attention to this dynamic. His lower lip is significantly protruding - barring his lower teeth. This is classic "mouth of fear" display.
Compare this to the image below - taken in the midst of a crash in the Tour de France on 2 July 2017 (Fortunately no one was seriously injured and all riders were able to return to the race). The mouths' of each man are pulled outward and down. Their lower lips are protruding. Their nostrils are flared. Obviously, no one is acting here. These men are each in a sincere moment of fear.
Now, look at the North Korean general on the right side of the above image. While he's doing a better job at pretending at feeling joy and laughter - his expression is also insincere. His mouth is pulled straight laterally (directly out to each side). This is a very common default expression - one variation of a "social smile".
Summary: Most people are not good actors - not even close. When they feign
emotions (many times a day), while they often fool some
people - yet they are destroying rapport and relationships with others. Are you being fooled or are you destroying?
This image was captured during the 12 second segment. Mr. Trump's nonverbal facial signals are indicative of his fear. This is particularly noticeable regarding his mouth. Note how the corners of Trump's mouth are pulled down and backward. The cluster of the flaring of his nostrils along with his mid-facial tension are also congruent with the emotion of fear.
Although the camera angle does not afford as much detail with regard to Secretary Clinton in this view, we can she's in the initial stages of sincere laughter. Notice how her torso, head and neck are rocked backward. In addition, her jaw is retracted (pulled in) as well. Both of these dynamics are telling signs of sincere laughter.
One-second later (during 0:13), Secretary Clinton turns toward the camera - allowing a better view of her expression. Her smile is sincere with all the required components of a relaxed forehead, eyelids partially closed, concave-up furrows in her lower eyelids, upward vectored cheek muscles and only her upper teeth visible.
Looking at Mr. Trump, we see that after a split second hiatus, his face has returned to a second expression of fear (although somewhat less dramatic that the first).
Mr. Trump then turned away from the camera, Secretary Clinton and Mr. Becker - further signaling his dislike for this question and Clinton. Simultaneously co-moderator Martha Raddatz asked, "Mr. Trump would you like to go first?". Clinton then glanced over at Trump, turned back and answered the question.
The candidates' nonverbal responses indicate that Secretary Clinton anticipated this question - while it caught Mr. Trump off guard.
Note how the corners of woman's mouth are pulled out (laterally) and down. Her mid-face is very tightened and her nostrils are flared. This nonverbal cluster is highly indicative of fear.
At 2:27 in the image below Eddie Murphy continues, "Bill - Bill has one of these." Immediately after he says "these", we see Murphy display an excellent example of a microexpression of a "Mouth of Fear" (During 2:30). Moreover this expression is highly asymmetric, essentially unilateral (Murphy's left). As obvious as this body language tell may seem when it's isolated and highlighted in this case study - the vast majority of the time it's completely overlooked in day-to-day interactions.
If you observe carefully, you will also see involvement of Murphy's neck muscles. And although both neck and mouth components are manifested here, sometimes only the neck displays this subtle sign of fear.
Trump pointed [with an index finger, palm-down point with his left (non-dominant) hand] to a man in the audience and said: “Okay, this man. I like this guy.”
Man in Audience: “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one [Trump nodding his head up and down]."
Trump [over-talking]: “Right [continues to nod]."
Man in Audience [over-talking]: "You know, he’s not even an American."
Trump [over-talking]: “We need this question [looks away, palm-up with opposite hand-arm asking for the audience's acknowledgement and approval]"
Man in Audience [over-talking]: "Birth certificate, man."
Trump [over-talking]: "This is the first question [laughing]”
Man in Audience: “But any way, we have training camps growing - where they want to kill us.”
Trump: “Um hmm,”
Man in Audience: “That’s my question: When can we get rid of them?”
Trump [over-talking]: “We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things - and you know, a lot of people are saying that, and a lot of people are saying - that bad things are happening out there. We’re going to look at that and plenty of other things.”
Donald Trump has been widely criticized for not correcting the
questioner as to President Barack Obama's nationality or his religion - as well as to the alleged presence of any "training camps" in the United States. Mr.
Trump's campaign staff said that he didn't hear the question - yet there
is not any type of nonverbal signal typically associated with any difficulty
hearing. As can be clearly seen, Mr. Trump nods his head up and down in
acknowledgement as well as making very overt verbal affirmations and even forms of celebrations - with
laughter.
In the image below, eleven of the more dramatic facial expressions of various audience members have been captured and isolated (This was imaged from a different video which affords a more complete audience view. However the video above is slightly different and gives us lengthier capture, more audio, etc. Together they allow a more complete and accurate recounting of these moments).
A. Woman with mouth of fear
B. Man, eyelids open wide, slack-jawed. Surprise/Disbelief,
C. Woman, Eyes wide open, surprise with some fear component
D. Woman, Eyes wide open - fear and surprise, beginning of mouth of fear
E. Man, Disgust and Disbelief, recoiling with body, head and neck. Central eyebrows elevated.
There's also a component of anger
F. Man, Anger, Eyelids wide open, central eyebrows lowered
G. Man, Disbelief, Shaking his head side to side, recoiling, narrow eyelid openings [see below]
H. Man, Prolonged and pronounced fear evident in widely opened eyes and classic mouth of fear
I. Man, Surprise-shock, eyes opened wide, slack-jawed
J. Woman, Some surprise, beginning fear-mouth [see below]
K. Woman, Similar to H, Widely opened eyelids with mouth of fear
Captured two seconds after the above image, this moment highlights two of the individuals seen above as their expressions evolve:
J. Woman, a more complete expression of fear with widely opened eyes and yet another classic mouth of fear
G. Man, A near complete eyelid closure, shaking his head side-to-side in disbelief of what he's just seen and heard. He's emotionally processing what's just transpired.
While there are other expressions here and some subtler changes seen in these video segments, this spotlighting demonstrates the surprise-shock, disbelief, disgust, anger and fear which some of the audience members were clearly were feeling. It also clearly shows that Donald Trump heard and understood the question clearly.
John Kasich gave this post-debate interview earlier this week. Governor Kasich did well in the debate and has subsequently climbed significantly in the polls. One question some critics felt he did not go into sufficient detail on however, was the issue of illegal immigration and how his views compared to Donald Trump's hardline.
Chris Wallace once again asks the Ohio governor - and specifically regarding building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. At multiple times Governor Kasich displays microexpressions of fear. One of these moments is captured in the image below (during 2:29). Take notice his "Mouth of Fear" - with the corners very briefly pulled down and laterally. What is less noticed by most and rarely ever discussed is his simultaneous "Neck of Fear" - with a tightening and tenting-up of the neck muscles. Please watch the interview above as these fear signals (and most nonverbals) are much better exampled via the dynamic context of a video.
These crucial body language displays tell us Governor Kasich has trepidation regarding immigration reform - for although taking a firmer stance here may help him win the Republican nomination - it may also cost him in the general election.
