Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2888: Hillary Clinton, Jon Stewart and Destroying Rapport (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

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Hillary Clinton was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday. By now there can be no doubt that she will run for President in 2016.

Critics and supporters alike have pointed out Hillary has had some difficulty at times bonding with her audiences. In the 2008 campaign, her numbers in the polls rose significantly when she projected high sincerity - and thus bonded with her audience.

There are many body language signals which build rapport - and many that destroy it. The former Secretary of State displays several nonverbal rapport destroyers in the video above - two of which are captured in images and described below.

Although she has a suppressed smile, here Hillary Clinton shows us emotional dissonance - for her hands are configured in a partial (near) "Double-L".

She is making a strong effort, yet is unable to suppress this display of critical evaluation for Jon Stewart.

Although she only does so relatively briefly, the conventional steeple (here a fairly high one) should almost never be used by a President or a Presidential Candidate - or anyone who professes to be a leader.

In small doses, the conventional steeple can project confidence and an alpha emotional tone. But it must be very evanescent and choreographed to specific and important moments - lest it project hyper-alpha emotional tones, arrogance and a patronizing attitude. Most people who use it - overuse it - and thus push those away whom they are attempting to influence.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2887 Derek Jeter, Smiles, Laughter and Body Language Nuance

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2783: Hillary Clinton asked again about 2016 - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2855: Hillary Clinton, 2016 Presidential Race and Duping Delight - Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2569: Hillary Clinton, Visibility, Trust and a Harbinger of 2016

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2533: Angela Merkel's Low Steeple "Trademark" - A Major Body Language Mistake

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2751: Oscar Pistorius, Reeva Steenkamp, Gina Meyers and Body Language  

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2523: Hillary Clinton, Body Language and the 2016 Presidency - Rapport Builder vs. Rapport Destroyer (PHOTO, VIDEO)

During her 2008 campaign for the Democratic Presidential ticket, one of the primary criticisms directed towards Hillary Clinton's was that she had difficulty connecting with people emotionally. Indeed one moment where she enjoyed a surge in the poles was after her eyes welled up with tears during a "town meeting" type gathering in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This act made her "feel more human" to the common person. It transmitted more sincerity and made her more emotionally accessible. In short this one act increased her rapport to the masses.

President Clinton was and still is a master at building rapport. Even staunch republicans will be enamored (for a while) upon meeting him. One of the many ways Bill builds rapport is within the context of his handshake. While he will shake fewer hands per minute during any given gathering compared with most other politicians - he connects more deeply with the emotions of those he does greet. So even if you don't get to shake his hand and exchange five or ten words with him - watching others do so (even if on a news video) will help build his rapport with you. Never forget - watching a sincere interaction engenders the same experience in others - by surrogate.

A key component of President Clinton's handshake (but certainly not the only one) is how he points every part of his body during the handshake. Note in this photo, Hillary's feet (although not seen directly) are not pointed at the man whose hand she is shaking. Neither are her hips. And her shoulders are also not square to him. Never mind that he's not doing so - in order to gain the maximum rapport and make a person feel, if only for a few seconds that they are the only person in the world of whom we are thinking, the feet, hips and torso should always point directly at them. Hillary is omitting this crucial communication component. Moreover, when the rest of the body is pointed away we must turn our head and/or eyes in order to look at them - as are hers. This "non-direct" gaze gives them the feeling they are not respected, not trusted, not valued and/or not believed.

Also notice carefully a component of Hillary's expression - her eyes are opened wider than baseline in a pseudo-surprise expression. During a sincere smile (Duchenne smile) the eyelids are partially closed in a very particular fashion - with a temporary coexisting concave-up furrow in each lower lid. The lack of these specific eye findings signals the existence of a false-smile. This is not to say that Hillary Clinton, another politician, you, I or any other person is "insincere as a whole" (e.g. the whole personality) - however it does indicate that in that moment she (or anyone else who expresses this or any other of the numerous varieties of non-sincere social smiles) is having to push out a less than sincere expression. People feel this false sincerity. They don't describe it in psychological bullet points, but they feel it none-the-less.

See also:

Negotiation Body Language Secret # 441:  Bill Clinton's Rapport and His Temporary Universe

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2379:  Bill Clinton's Speech at the  George W. Bush Presidential Library Opening  Body Language of Former and Current President

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2128:  Mitt Romney's & Bill Clinton's Body Language  during Mitt's Joke at 2012 Clinton Global Initiative

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1499:  Bill Clinton's Empathy for Eric Fehrnstrom and  Mitt Romney ... What's Your Sincerity Quotient?

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2126:  Bill Clinton on whether or not Hillary will run for President in 2016

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2125:  Presidential Debate Body Language - George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot 1992



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