Nonverbal Communication Analysis No 2893: Petro Poroshenko - Downed Malaysia Air MH17 - like 9/11 & Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie Bombing) - (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour yesterday. He said that the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 was no different than the events of 9/11 or the Terrorist destruction that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

Although he (as the rest of us) has every right to feel angry - President Poroshenko is in a leadership position and thus his body language (along with his words and vocal qualities) carry tremendous impact.

When a person puts their hands together in a prayer-appearing configuration (ergo "Pseudo-Prayer") for anything more than a second or two (during a particularly important part of a speech or discussion - and with a congruent facial expression) - it sends emotional signals of arrogance.

When the Pseudo-Prayer is accompanied by the additional component of a vertical chopping motion (as Poroshenko does here) - it is even more patronizing. 

Many people will over-use alpha body language - and President Poroshenko uses it much too long here.

It's a leader's job to build rapport and coalitions - not destroy them.

President Poroshenko presumably has good intentions here - yet the
"Pseudo-Prayer and Hand-Chop" nonverbal signal is condescending and he should have never used it.






See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2892: Alexander Borodai - Donetsk's People's Republic Prime Minister (Pro-Russian Separatist Leader) interview with Chris Cuomo regarding Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2830: Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian Elections and an Hyper-Alpha Body Language Signal

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2814: Ukraine, Pro-Russian Separatists, Bilateral Eyelid Closure and Emotional Processing - Body Language Tells

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1083:  Brewer's MAPs Flag Foreboding

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1181:  Helle Thorning-Schmidt & her False Praying Gesture 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1896: IMF Managing Director - Christine LagardePseudo-Prayer & Pursed Lips

Pictured here is Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She replaced Dominique Strauss-Khan after his abrupt fall from grace and is ranked by Forbes as the ninth most powerful woman in the World. But she has a poor poker face.

The "Pseudo-prayer" can signal several meanings. Like all nonverbal communication - it is crucial to decode other co-existing body language with which it is clustered.

When you see a pseudo-prayer gesture, it's a good idea to look at the eyes and mouth for clues. Although from this angle it is a bit difficult to tell, Ms. Lagarde's eyelids are slightly closed - in this context (see below) this partial closure is significant of contempt-arrogance-distancing.

The IMF MD's mouth demonstrates a moderate amount of lip-pursing. A lip purse is an extremely valuable nonverbal tell. It's a highly reliable beacon that the person has considerable disagreement with what she/he is hearing, has an alternative plan/idea - and is (usually) keeping their opinion to themselves (at least for the time-being). There is a high likelihood that the lip-purser will institute their plan in a clandestine manner - or at least arrange the "game pieces" ahead of time - such that their actions will have increased probability of success. Only a "relative alpha" makes a lip-purse - they are a perceived (perhaps only self-perceived) superior within the group/context. In short, the lip purse is a body language signal of clandestine disagreement with an action plan. Watch out.

Thus Ms. Lagarde's pseudo-prayer is a variation that many of those in power and/or in leadership positions misuse. It's a cousin of the "conventional high steeple" and it's patronizing and condescending - particularly when there is an up-and-down chopping motion of the hand & forearms. It's a potent rapport destroyer.

See also:

Analysis # 1083: Brewer's MAPs Flag Foreboding

Analysis # 119: Pseudo Prayer in Thailand' Prime Minister

Analysis # 1138: Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Houston Tribute

Analysis # 1181: Helle Thorning-Schmidt & her False Praying Gesture

Analysis # 1555: Ann Romney Hits it Back Over the Net to Hilary Rosen

Analysis # 1698: Susan Rice, Bashar Ja'afari & Kofi Annan's Six Point Peace Plan for Syria

Analysis # 1055: The Subtle Lip Purse - Tom Brady

Analysis # 1715: Jay Carney's Lip Purse - Bin Laden is Dead and General Motors is Alive

Analysis # 9: Nancy Pelosi's Lip Purse

Analysis # 9 - Redux: Condoleezza Rice's Lip Purse

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