Negotiation Body Language Secret # 394 & 496: Rick Perry's Nonverbal Mistakes in Iowa

Governor Rick Perry commits two fundamental mistakes in this short speech - which a politician or any leader with his experience should never make.

At the very beginning of this clip, Perry rubs his nose. A nose rub belongs to a general class of nonverbal signs known as Manipulators, Adaptors or Pacifiers (MAPs). In descriptive terms, MAPs are self-touching behaviors and are highly consistent with anxiety. Moreover, while they are not sine qua non for deception, certain facial MAPs are more highly correlated with lying-associated anxiety. In short, if someone rubs their nose while making a statement or answering a question - it doesn't necessarily mean they are lying, but (depending on the other nonverbals, verbals and paralanguage exhibited) - your index of suspicion should be significantly increased when this body language is displayed. A speaker should NEVER touch their face. NEVER. Of course most audience members won't have any body language training - but this and many other nonverbal behaviors make them feel uneasy. This signal won't necessarily even register at a conscious level, but the candidate/speaker/CEO/salesperson, etc. will evoke feelings of suspicion and/or emotional discomfort in all who see them.

The second major mistake Governor Perry makes is his strong tendency to read from a script rather than making eye contact with the audience. The art of eye contact with an audience is a surprisingly scarce skill and is not as easy or straightforward as the words imply. Suffice it to say though, that in general, the less eye contact that is made by a speaker - the less he is liked, the less he is trusted, the less rapport is build - and thus he/she loses votes and leadership influence. I cannot overstress the importance of quality eye contact. A speaker/leader/candidate should know the issues well enough to talk in an educated and sincere fashion even if woken from a sound sleep.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 336:Mitt Romney's Three Emotional Tells

Mitt Romney is experiencing at least three emotions here. The former Massachusetts Governor was campaigning in Council Bluffs on New Year's Day. He is currently polling first in the race for the Iowa Caucuses. In the everyday world, emotions are rarely isolated - rather they are superimposed and/or followed closely by others. Separating them accurately is not always easy. Romney body language shows us an Inward Lip Roll (ILR) indicating anxiety, correlated additionally with attempting to control the overt outward display of a negative emotion. This ILR is "blended" with the additional signal of Lip Thinning. Lip thinning is a clear indication of anger. Thus, anger is the negative emotion which Mitt is trying to contain.

The Governor's unilateral eyebrow and forehead elevation are nonverbal beacons of skepticism. Romney's head is not turned fully and his torso is not rotated at all toward the person/subject of his doubt. We do not look directly at people whom we don't like, don't respect and/or don't trust. Romney is exampling this nonverbal cluster of incredulity very well here.

See also: Secret # 531: Sarkozy's Mouth Tells Us What He's Feeling

See also: Secret # 1213: The Chronically Contracted Forehead

See also: Secret # 67: The Incredulous Cluster

See also: Secret # 771: Ann and Mitt's Affectionate Hug

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 554: Ron Paul's Palms Down Faux Pas

Texas Representative Ron Paul is shown here at a Veterans' Rally in Des Moines on December 28, just six days prior to the Iowa Caucuses. Mr. Paul is using a palms-down hand gesture here, which is one no speaker, particularly a major candidate or a head-of-state, should ever display. Palms-down gestures are universally negatively received. They transmit over-dominant, patronizing and condescending feelings. In contrast, palms-up gestures send feelings of openness - while fostering supportive and yet still assertive attitudes. In short, palms-up body language allows a speaker to be authoritative and yet simultaneously friendly - a rare and welcomed combination for which all leaders should strive.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 333: A Common False Diagnosis: The Asymmetrical Sincere but Suppressed Smile

When an asymmetrical smile is seen, it is very important to consider the emotions being displayed are either a feigned joy-happiness (thus an insincere smile) or contempt (see Body Language and Advertising Secret # 101: Contempt Doesn't Sell). An additional possibility however, is a sincere smile which is being partially suppressed - which is what we see very well exampled here on Matthew McConaughey's face. In this photo he's seen with his fiancee' and Camila Alves. Although the resolution is somewhat low in this image, we can clearly see his bilaterally partially closed eyelids. This dynamic partial closure is required for the smile to be sincere. Additionally though (as pointed out in higher detail in another recent post: Secret # 353: Brad Pitt's Eyes - Sincere and Insincere Smiles), another tell tale signal which must be present for the smile to be sincere, is the concave-up furrows temporarily created in the lower eyelids (seen above on Mr. McConaughey's left eye). If these furrows are NOT seen, even if the eyelids are partially closed - the smile is NOT sincere - and thus it's huge Nonverbal Red Flag signal. But this is certainly not the case here - for Matthew and Camila are now engaged and McConaughey's smile is sincere, just partially suppressed. Congratulations!

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 179: Loss of Inhibitions on Phone

When talking on the phone, it is very common to have less filtering of our emotions and emotional displays (e.g., a loss of inhibition), thus significantly more (unconscious) nonverbal tells may be seen. Ergo when observing for baseline body language, when possible - it's particularly valuable to observe others for their phone behavior. It's a short cut into their psyche.

In this image, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is exhibiting a classic fear display - an emotion rarely displayed in public by a head of state. His eyelids are opened significantly wider than normal ("eyes white and wide") along with an elevation of his eyebrows (asymmetrically here, more on the right - indicating the additional nonverbal tell of skepticism) and forehead contraction/elevation. His lower teeth are on display with the corners of his mouth pulled back (laterally) towards his ears. The underside of his jaw is tensed, giving a "double chin" appearance - this occurs because of the contraction of the platysma muscle which often additionally "tents up" the front of the neck & throat (although this is not exampled well in Mr. Sarkozy, see Negotiation Secret # 329: The Neck of Fear).

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 412: Newt Gingrich is Incredulous

Newt Gingrich is feeling incredulous. Although there are other nonverbal facial expressions indicating disbelief, the possible 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate gives us a classic and common one. When the central forehead is contracted along with a smile - the emotion is doubt. Newt's central forehead contraction is mild and asymmetrical (only on Gingrich's right side) - thus it's more difficult to detect (note there is also a right medial eyebrow elevation). If we saw a video of this moment - it might very well be an example of a microexpression (present for less than 0.5 seconds). Normally when one sees the muscular contraction of the central forehead - there is a simultaneous negative mouth expression - such as fear or sadness. In such a context, it is a body language signal of strong empathy, emotional or physical pain. However when coupled with a smile (and here it is a subtle one) - a red flag should always go up. This is one of many examples of an insincere smile. The former Speaker of the House does not believe what he's hearing or seeing.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 392: Christmas Cheer - Kate Middleton's and Prince William's Suppressed Smiles

This photo of Prince William, Prince Charles and Kate Middleton (Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) attending Christmas Day services at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk, Sandringham, shows both William and Kate with different mouth configurations, yet with similar eyes. The newly weds both are wearing suppressed smiles. Most people don't realize that a sincere, felt smile is not present unless a characteristic appearance of the eyes occur (Ekman). In order for a smile to be true, there must always be a dynamic and partial eyelid closure. And yet it is not this simple....

Some will tell you to look for "crows feet" when assessing "eye smiles" - but I caution against this for several reasons. After one reaches their mid-thirties, most everyone has some degree of crow's feet. Moreover an increase or decrease in these wrinkles are difficult to qualify, let alone quantify when the face is moving. A much more accurate and dynamic eye metric for identifying sincere smiles - is to look for eyelid closure. There is essentially no variance in iris size from person to person, so along with how much white of the eye (sclera) is visible - this adjacent anatomy serve as excellent yardsticks to quantify eyelid closure.

For a sincere smile though - simple partial eyelid closure is not enough nonverbal. There are different muscles used depending on the emotional reason for this action (See Secret # 353: Brad Pitt's Eyes - Sincere and Insincere Smiles). Sincere smiles must always have the characteristic concave-up furrow on the lower eyelids as well as their partial closure - as seen here very well on Prince William and to a somewhat lesser extent on Kate. Both are trying to suppress their sincere, felt smiles.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 334: Fear and Surprise - as Bulls Beat Lakers

On Christmas Day, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls, 88-87. In this image of the Lakers' Troy Murphy crashing into the court side audience, there are two primary emotions on display. The lady dressed in black, with the long dark hair, immediately to Murphy's back-left (our right) has her mouth opened in the classic oval-round surprise configuration with a dropped jaw. Her eyes are closed in a protective reflex. Surprise is the briefest of all our emotions. If it lasts longer than a couple of seconds, it may very well have a feigned component - or perhaps is entirely insincere. Although it is difficult to see, the man in the white shirt to her left has his eye lids opened wide and his forehead and eyebrows are raised - also nonverbals indicative of surprise.

On the opposite side of Murphy are both a man a woman with their mouth's in a classic fear expression. It is very possible that just prior to this photo, they both exhibited surprise. The emotion of surprise is nearly always rapidly followed by a second emotion - e.g., fear, anger, embarrassment, joy-happiness, etc.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 273: Anger and Disgust in Azerbaijan

On the streets of Baku earlier this year, an Azerbaijani police officer detains a protester of the Musavat (opposition) Party. In the midst of the arrest, he exhibits two strong emotions. His protruded jaw, known as a "Jaw Jut" is a classic nonverbal signal of significant anger. Moreover, it is particularly common when the anger is strong enough to be a harbinger of, or coexists with a physical action (nearly always directed at the perceived source of anger). Thus, when you see this body language displayed, be warned, for violence is often imminent. 

In addition, the officer's bilateral and symmetrical nostril flaring, deepened nasal-labial furrows, tightening of his "mustache region" and raised upper lip - all indicate the emotion of disgust. Emotions rarely exist in isolation - often two or three are simultaneous and quite evanescent.

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Negotiation Body Language Secret # 517: Respect for Václav Havel

Normally when hands are clasped in front of the groin or waist - it is a signal of low confidence and/or low emotional comfort (Pease, Navarro). The nonverbal term for this configuration is the "Fig Leaf" or "Genital Guarding". It is a pose which should be, for the most part, be avoided. The above image demonstrates one notable exception however. Onlookers here naturally adopt this body language to show reverence for playwright, poet, essayist, dissident, and first President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel during his recent funeral.

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