Body Language Analysis No. 4284: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Deadpool 2, and Alpha Up-Regulation - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Josh Brolin and Ryan Reynolds were recently guests of Graham Norton on his show while promoting their recent film Deadpool 2. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Brolin - concentrating on three different examples of Alpha Up-regulatory Behavior.

The need for Alpha up-regulation - sometimes more colloquially referred to as Dialing-up one's Alpha emotions - are behaviors which are seen when a person, who already possesses alpha qualities is experiencing a burst of anxiety. Yet they're not ready to retreat, escape, or acquiesce - rather, they are attempting to accentuate and reestablish their confidence, courage, and assertiveness.

The Butt Adjustment is a common Alpha Up-regulating nonverbal signal. This example (which can be seen during 0:25 - 0:26) is quite typical. First, there's a leaning forward - temporarily lifting one's derrière off the chair/coach, etc. - and then moving slightly backward before fulling sitting down once again.

During 0:29 - 0:30, Josh Brolin rubs the lateral aspect of his right thigh. This is another tell that a person is trying to step up to the proverbial plate, while simultaneously trying to overcome feelings of significant anxiety.

Although we can't see specifically what his left hand is doing during 2:56 - 2:57, with high probability Mr. Brolin is pulling up his left sock and/or scratching the lateral portion of his left lower leg. Both are additional signals of attempting to dialing-up one's alpha emotions despite an anxiety event.

SUMMARY: Fully recognizing when another person feels less confident - and then observing them as they attempt to increase their confidence - and noting whether they achieve it (or not) - is a fundamental body language skill. Most people completely misinterpret, ignore, or fail to notice these signals.

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4283: Unidentified Man with Qatari Ahmed Al-Rumaihi in Trump Tower Elevator on 12 December 2016

Body Language Analysis No. 4281: Michael Cohen's Duplicitous Smile

Body Language Analysis No. 4107 (REPOSTING): Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller, Russian Oligarchs, and Donald Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard

Body Language Analysis No. 4273: Natalia Veselnitskaya and The Trump Tower Meeting - "I am an Informant"

Body Language Analysis No. 4181: Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, "Verbal Sexual" Harassment, and NBC

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3912: Keri Russell's Schadenfreude, Matthew Rhys' Fear, and a Hesitancy to Disclose

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3770: Fidel Castro, Ed Sullivan and Mirroring

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3610: Star Swain sings The Star-Spangled Banner at the Lincoln Memorial - Why Do Singers Close Their Eyes?
 

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Body Language Analysis No. 4283: Unidentified Man with Qatari Ahmed Al-Rumaihi in Trump Tower Elevator on 12 December 2016 - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On Monday 14 May 2018, Michael Avenatti drew everyone's attention to a video which was taken in the Trump Tower Lobby on 12 December 2016. A portion of that video is included within the above MSNBC clip - and loops twice between 1:52 and 2:07 (above). Here's a link to the entire video from Trump Tower that day (see 7:42:30 - 7:43:00).

In addition to Michael Cohen, one of the men in the elevator is Ahmed Al-Rumaihi - a former Qatari diplomat and currently the head of Qatar Investments (worth approximately $100 Billion).

In a sworn declaration, Al-Rumaihi has gone on record stating that he bribed Trump administration officials.

Ahmed Al-Rumaihi's face is outlined with a red ellipse and Michael Cohen's with a pink rectangle in the image above.

In this next photo, captured a few seconds later, Michael Cohen is again outlined with a pink rectangle - and a third man, whose identity is yet unknown, is outlined notated with a white ellipse.

What does the unknown bearded man's body language tell us?

Here we see him a few seconds before - as he approaches the elevator. Notice his mouth opening is horizontal - with his lips closed and thinned. There is also significant tension in his jaw. His nostrils are also flared.

This cluster betrays an adrenaline surge. He is displaying a significant element of anger in this moment.

An important detail here is that he maintains a downward gaze. In this context, such prolonged gaze suggests he's trying to control his temper - or perhaps, trying to avoid being recognized.

Here's another similar image, captured about one second after the previous one. Note his lips have pulled inward slightly - the beginnings of an Inward Lip Roll. An inward lip roll (ILR) is an attempt to suppress the crescendo of strong emotions. His nostrils are still flaring.

Note also, that in each of these images we get a fairly good view of this man's right ear. When attempting to identify an unknown person by correlating photos with a known individual - the external ear (pinna) can be used as a type of visual fingerprint - as it's highly specific to each person.

At 2:05 in the MSNBC video source, just as the elevator door begins to close, with his nostrils widely flared, he inhales deeply, dramatically elevating both shoulders, while foreshortening his neck - as he continues to look downward.

A second later, during 2:06, he repeats this same nonverbal behavior cluster.


SUMMARY: This unidentified man, who enters the elevator with Michael Cohen and Qatari Ahmed Al-Rumaihi - is likely a Qatari official as well. He's experiencing significant anxiety - and more specifically, a high adrenaline surge in the midst of anger (just prior to entering the elevator). Once inside, his anxiety and adrenaline surge increases (the presence of anger negates the possibility of claustrophobia). While it's possible that he's one of Ahmed Al-Rumaihi's bodyguard, this is doubtful due to his continued downward gaze.

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4282: When Public Displays of Affection are More Frequent than those in Private 

Body Language Analysis No. 4280: David Beckham, Princess Leia, and Embarrassment

Body Language Analysis No. 4279: Rudy Giuliani regarding President Trump's alleged Sexual Relationship with Stormy Daniels

Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention

Body Language Analysis No. 4272: Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in Holding Hands - Alpha and Beta

Body Language Analysis No. 4199: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, and their Mission Impossible Helicopter Stunt

Body Language Analysis No. 4130: Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King regarding Charlie Rose

Body Language Analysis No. 4047: Joel Osteen, Houston, and Hurricane Harvey

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3931: Marine Le Pen's Default Configuration (and What it Tells Us)

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Body Language Analysis No. 4282: When Public Displays of Affection are More Frequent than those in Private - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

We all know of people (and perhaps we're one of them) who have an aversion to public displays of affection (colloquially referred to as PDAs). Yet, in private, these same people exhibit many affection displays - in the range of what most professionals would say classify as healthy and "within normal limits".

But the opposite pattern also occurs - when a person publicly displays affection such as hand holding, kissing, hugging, etc., - but does so much less frequently in private. This behavior pattern is an affectation. It's indicative of a person who wants to show "ownership" of their partner - but who's deficient in affection. Crucially it's also associated with low sincerity and low empathy. If you're at the receiving end of this behavior - you're being used.

A person with low sincerity and low empathy is, in a nutshell, a sociopath (Antisocial Personality Disorder).

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4281: Michael Cohen's Duplicitous Smile

Body Language Analysis No. 4107 (REPOSTING): Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller, Russian Oligarchs, and Donald Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard

Body Language Analysis No. 4276: Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. Meets His NBA Idol Dwyane Wade

Body Language Analysis No. 4275: Rudy Giuliani's Interview on Fox News

Body Language Analysis No. 4268: Benedict Cumberbatch, Schadenfreude, and The Grinch

Body Language Analysis No. 4253: Tiger Woods at The 2018 Masters

Body Language Analysis No. 4249: Will Smith, Sophia the Robot, Robot-Empathy, and Responding in Context

Body Language Analysis No. 4063: The Murder of Laci and Connor Peterson - Scott Peterson (Part 1 of 3)

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Body Language Analysis No. 4281: Michael Cohen's Duplicitous Smile - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Michael Cohen has been using his shell company not only to funnel hush money to Stormy Daniels - but he's also received more than $1,000,000 from Russian oligarchs, $600,000 from AT&T, greater than $1,000,000 from Novartis, and $150,000 from Korea Aerospace Industries.

Whenever assessing someone's nonverbal behavior, one particularly crucial red flag for which you always should be on guard - is the insincerity of insincere "smile". This axiom is amplified when such feigned smiles are frequent.

Now, there are many varieties of fake smiles - however sincere smiles have much less variation. This principle is analogous to the first sentence of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina:

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” 

One of Michael Cohen's default facial expressions is characterized in both of these images. 

While it's true that sincere smiles can begin asymmetrically, as they fully form they will bloom into symmetry - projecting true joy-happiness. Cohen's "smile" however, remains one-sided.

Suppressed but sincere smiles can also sometimes be dampened on one-side - but once again, efforts at quelling sincere smiles are quite difficult - and the true smile nearly always "leaks"/pushes through.

It's profoundly important to bear in mind that the subjects, events, discussions, ideas, etc. which engender your smiling - may be very different than those of a person with nefarious motives.

Medical etiologies for lopsided smiles must also be considered (e.g., residual facial nerve palsies [such as Bell's Palsy], stroke, old injury, surgical complications, etc.) - none of which applies in Cohen's case. 

To nuance this Michael Cohen's expression even further - one side of his mouth (typically his left) is contracted upward - while the other mouth corner is turned down (most often his right). Depending on the other nonverbal signals with which this is clustered, this mouth configuration - at best - indicates superficial sarcasm - yet the vast majority of times it's deeply duplicitous.

SUMMARY: The next time you encounter this insincere "smile" - with one corner of the mouth turned up and the opposite side is turned down - protect your flank! You're probably about to get skinned. Careful observation will likely yield other signals of duplicity. You can be sure that what they're saying is the complete opposite vs. what they're thinking-feeling.

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Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4280: David Beckham, Princess Leia, and Embarrassment

Body Language Analysis No. 4279: Rudy Giuliani regarding President Trump's alleged Sexual Relationship with Stormy Daniels

Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention

Body Language Analysis No. 4180 (REPOSTING): White House Press Briefing Re: President Trump's Physical - Dr. Ronny Jackson

Body Language Analysis No. 4274: Ariana Grande, Jimmy Fallon, and Recalling the Manchester Bombing

Body Language Analysis No. 4251: Cristiano Ronaldo's Bicycle Kick vs. Juventus F.C.

Body Language Analysis No. 4235: Beware the Ides of March • Donald Trump removing H.R. McMaster

Body Language Analysis No. 4217: Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther, Anxiety, and Alpha Up-Regulation

Body Language Analysis No. 3948: The Manchester Bomber, Nonverbal Communication, Threat Assessment, and Emotional Intelligence

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Body Language Analysis No. 4280: David Beckham, Princess Leia, and Embarrassment - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

This episode of The Graham Norton Show was filmed just before Carrie Fisher passed away. It's hilarious - while also providing an excellent set of nonverbal teaching examples.

This image captured at 0:29 demonstrates that David Beckham not only had foreknowledge of Graham Norton disclosing something for which he anticipates embarrassment - but he recognizes the need for him to Dial-Up his Alpha. Such false adjustment/straining of one's jacket (one of many preening behaviors) is a signal of the need for Alpha-Upregulation.

During 0:36 - 0:37, Beckham scratches his left anterior temple region - at the lateral aspect of his left eye. This is a classic anxiety tell - and more specifically, it also projects the athlete's feelings that he does not believe he is/was the "Sexiest Man Alive."

Intriguingly, a few seconds later (0:42 - 0:44), Graham Norton mirrors Beckham's behavior - as well as his belief.

Beckham blushes multiple times during this interview (here captured during 1:04). Individuals who blush easier tend to have considerably higher sincerity quotients compared with those who rarely blush.

Easy-blushers are also easier to "read" even when they're not blushing.

After John Boyega denies being aware that he was featured in the same magazine as Beckham, we see him display a Loose Tongue Jut (1:25). This nonverbal signal projects the thought-emotions of "I've been caught", "I've been bad", "I've just done something stupid" (Navarro). More specifically, in this context, his Loose Tongue Jut tells betrays his lie.

After Norton asks, "How many times a day?" (1:53 - 1:55) - both Beckham and Fisher close their eyes (more emotional processing) while simultaneously blushing (Beckham more so). Carrie Fisher's act of looking away along with her partial facial covering - are additional signals of emotional processing (e.g., "I know what he just said, but give me a few moments for my feelings to catch up with my intellect").

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See also:


Body Language Analysis No. 4107 (REPOSTING): Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller, Russian Oligarchs, and Donald Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard

Body Language Analysis No. 4276: Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. Meets His NBA Idol Dwyane Wade

Body Language Analysis No. 4275: Rudy Giuliani's Interview on Fox News

Body Language Analysis No. 4268: Benedict Cumberbatch, Schadenfreude, and The Grinch

Body Language Analysis No. 4253: Tiger Woods at The 2018 Masters - Nonverbal Biofeedback, Sport psychology, and Emotional Intelligence

Body Language Analysis No. 4230: Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump, and the Home Field Advantage

Body Language Analysis No. 4207: Stoneman Douglas High School shooting (Parkland, Florida), Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Empathy

Body Language Analysis No. 4052: Hitler's Cryptorchidism and Emotional Dissonance

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Body Language Analysis No. 4107 (REPOSTING): Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller, Russian Oligarchs, and Donald Trump - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

In light of today's news that Michael Cohen received at least $500,000 from a Russian Oligarch (Viktor Vekselberg, the chairman of asset manager Renova Group - who has close ties to Vladimir Putin), I've received multiple requests for a reposting of this previous analysis. It's classic and profound - and was originally published on 30 October 2017. Updated cross-references are included at the bottom of the page.

With criminal charges expected in just a few hours, many believe that Paul Manafort is high on the list to be one of those first named by Robert Mueller's team in their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election. The above interview of Paul Manafort was conducted on 27 July 2016 (above). At that time, Mr. Manafort was Donald Trump's campaign manager. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis.


NORAH O'DONNELL (beginning at 1:58): So to be clear, Mr. Trump has no financial relationships with any Russian Oligarchs?

PAUL MANAFORT: Th-, that's what he said. I, I'd d-, that's what I sa-, that's - obviously what the, th, our position is.


Paul Manafort's verbal response alone is profound. "... that's - obviously what the, th, our position is". This is not, by any means, anywhere close to a denial. If he were confident and truthful he would say, "That's correct" or "No, he doesn't" or similar.

From a paralanguage perspective, his stuttering is also extreme. Mr. Manafort also confuses his pronouns - and interrupts his own sentences.

After he answers Ms. O'Donnell, Mr. Manafort displays a classic nonverbal tell (2:10). His lips grow very thin and take on a horizontal configuration. This is highly indicative of Anger.

Paul Manafort's jaw also clenches as well as juts forward. Both Jaw Clenching and Jaw Jutting are here indicative of an adrenaline surge associated with his Anger.

During 2:04, as he said, "Th-, that's what he said...", Mr. Manafort displays a shoulder shrug on his left side (e.g., this is one type of a Partial Emblematic Slip).

A shoulder shrug indicates:

    • I don't know

    • I don't care

    • What does it matter?

    • What difference does it make?

He also simultaneously closes his eyelids during this moment in an extended blink. This is blocking/distancing behavior - and a form of diminished eye contact. In this context it's indicative of deception.

As he says, "... that's - obviously what the, th, our position is...", President Trump's campaign manager (during that time), re-adjusts his position - in a textbook example of "Squirming in his Chair"/Butt Adjustment.

Manafort once again displays extended blinking along with gazing down and down-right (the quadrant/direction commonly associated with guilt, regret, and similar deep emotions)

Summary: Paul Manafort's multiple nonverbal signals indicate he believed that Donald Trump did indeed have financial relationships with Russian Oligarchs. Mr. Manafort's dramatic stuttering - and other paralanguage tells - along with his non-definitive/non-answer serve to drive even more nails in his proverbial coffin. This section of the interview is such a classic deception-detection nonverbal teaching example - that it will be shown for decades.

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Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4279: Rudy Giuliani regarding President Trump's alleged Sexual Relationship with Stormy Daniels

Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention

Body Language Analysis No. 4180 (REPOSTING): White House Press Briefing Re: President Trump's Physical - Dr. Ronny Jackson

Body Language Analysis No. 4269: Michael Cohen and the Joker Smile

Body Language Analysis No. 4254: Tony Robbins, Nanine McCool, and the #MeToo Movement

Body Language Analysis No. 4196: Trey Gowdy on "Face The Nation"

Body Language Analysis No. 4161: Vladimir Putin's Not-So-Poker Face

Body Language Analysis No. 4008: Veteran Who Survived Dunkirk Reacts to Film

Body Language Analysis No. 3937: Mr. Lavrov Goes To Washington - “Was he fired? You’re kidding!” - Sergey Lavrov, Rex Tillerson, and James Comey


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Body Language Analysis No. 4279: Rudy Giuliani regarding President Trump's alleged Sexual Relationship with Stormy Daniels - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On Sunday 6 May 2018, Rudy Giuliani (one of President Trump's personal attorneys) appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. The former NYC mayor displayed a plethora of nonverbal tells. What follows a partial nonverbal analysis focusing on one key passage of the interview.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS (continuing at 0:56): So the President does deny any sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels?

RUDY GIULIANI: He has, ah, I have not - ah, I'm notta, as I said, I'm not involved in that, but the reality is he denies - she denied it, then at, when, when it was opportunistic right before the - election, she came forward - and then of course, the whole thing happened with - Michael Cohen, an-, and, a it's history now because it wasn't a campaign anything ah, that - 

The image immediately above was captured during the 1:00 mark as Rudy Giuliani said, "... has, ah ..."

From 1:15 - 1:16, as Mr. Giuliani "... history now because it wasn't a campaign ...", although somewhat less in magnitude (vs. the first example), he repeated the same eyes wide opened display.

The significance of widely opened upper eyelids - when occurring:

• Out-of-context
• Frequently

... can't be over-emphasized.

This Out-of-Context, Eyes Wide Open display simply screams that the person is trying too hard to convince you. Why? Because they don't believe it. Because they're lying. It's a profound and classic signal of insincerity. Indeed, if you were a directing an actor who was playing a deceptive scene/role - this is one nonverbal signal you'd want them to adopt.

SUMMARY: Rudy Giuliani's nonverbal behavior in this interview indicates that he believes Donald Trump did have a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels.

Group Appearances and One-on-One

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702-239-8503

Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard

Body Language Analysis No. 4276: Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. Meets His NBA Idol Dwyane Wade

Body Language Analysis No. 4274: Ariana Grande, Jimmy Fallon, and Recalling the Manchester Bombing

Body Language Analysis No. 4242: Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, and Deception (Part II)

Body Language Analysis No. 4205: Chloe Kim, Albert Einstein, and Creativity 

Body Language Analysis No. 4158: Michelle Williams regarding Kevin Spacey - "All the Money in the World" 

Body Language Analysis No. 4078: Toddler Steals Prince Harry's Popcorn 

Body Language Analysis No. 3985: Grief, Pain, and Barometers of Empathy 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3811: Hayden Panettiere, Stephen Colbert and Personal Space 

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Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

"You're gonna need a bigger boat" - This is a truly iconic scene from a groundbreaking film. This line of dialog has also become a metaphorical classic. Jaws was one of the most memorable movies of the 1970s. It also held the title for the highest grossing films until Star Wars.

Roy Scheider was an outstanding actor (he was nominated for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award) and Steven Spielberg is an incredibly gifted director (winning two Academy Awards for Best Director as well as being the highest grossing director of all time) - and most scenes in this film were spot on - but in this scene, Spielberg and Scheider got it wrong.

In this moment, Police Chief Martin Brody displays some nasal flaring (albeit mild) - which is consistent with fear. But we also see a mild-moderate amount of pulling together ("knitting") and lowering of his lower forehead and eyebrows - and these changes are NOT seen with fear.

This is not the face of fear or surprise.



To further nuance his expression, Scheider's eyelids are mildly closed here - which is completely incongruent with fear or surprise.

Moreover, Chief Brody would have never kept that cigarette in his mouth. The dynamics of the mouth and lips during fear and/or surprise would have made it completely impossible.

If with respect to human nature and context, this moment would have been accurately directed and acted, we would have first seen surprise - rapidly replaced by a fear expression. Yet in this scene, Roy Scheider shows neither.

Now let's have a look at a real shark encounter.




In this video, we see Maximo Trinidad paddle-boarding off the coast of Jupiter, Florida where he had a close encounter with a (real) spinner shark on 7 April 2016.

As luck would have it, Mr. Trinidad had a GoPro mounted on his paddleboard.

During 0:16 we see Mr. Trinidad's eyes (eyelids) opened very widely, his central forehead contracted and elevated along with his inner (medial) eyebrows.

In this close-up image of the same moment, Maximo's mid-face is tensed with dramatic nasal flaring and the corners of his mouth pulled outward (laterally) and slightly downward.

SUMMARY:  What is "Good Acting"? Many would say it's when an actor delivers the simultaneous triad of exceptional:

• Dialog (Spoken Language)
• Vocal Characteristics (Paralanguage)
• Nonverbal Behavior (Body Language)

... and when all three of these qualities are portrayed congruently, proportionally, and in-context with the script - and we forget we're watching a film - it's skilled acting.

When the body language doesn't match the emotional context of the scene we call it bad acting. And in the real world - when the nonverbal behavior is disparate from words and/or vocal qualities - it should always raise other red flags.

Media Inquiries and Group Appearances 

One-on-One and Online Courses Available 

Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

702-239-8503

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention

Body Language Analysis No. 4180 (REPOSTING): White House Press Briefing Re: President Trump's Physical - Dr. Ronny Jackson

Body Language Analysis No. 4274: Ariana Grande, Jimmy Fallon, and Recalling the Manchester Bombing 

Body Language Analysis No. 4260: James Comey on Good Morning America re: Trump, Russia, and the Steele Dossier

Body Language Analysis No. 4249: Will Smith, Sophia the Robot, Robot-Empathy, and Responding in Context

Body Language Analysis No. 4225: Sam Nunberg Interview - Part I • Roger Stone, Donald Trump, and Russia

Body Language Analysis No. 4058: Cara Mund, Miss America 2018

Body Language Analysis No. 4011: Anthony Scaramucci's First UK Interview

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3798: Elle Fanning, Channing Tatum and Dialing Up the Alpha

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Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On Friday 4 May 2018, President Trump gave a speech at the NRA's national meeting in Dallas, Texas. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of a crucial portion of that speech. 

President Trump (continuing at 22:07), "... But they died in a restaurant and various other close-proximity places. They were brutally killed by a small group of terrorists - that had guns. They took their time - and gunned them down, one-by-one. Boom! Come over here. Boom! Come over here. Boom! If you were - in those rooms - one of those people - and the survivors - said, 'It just lasted forever'. But if one employee - or just one patron had a gun - or if one person in this room had been there with a gun - aimed at the opposite direction - the terrorists would have fled or been shot and it would have been a whole different story - I mean - ..."

In this passage, Trump was speaking about the Paris attacks on 13 November 2015 in which 137 people died (including 7 terrorists) and 413 were wounded (80-99 critically).

Note that each time he said, "Boom!", President Trump displayed a dynamic handgun illustrator (not to be confused with a pistol steeple).

22:25

22:27

22:29

On each of these occasions, Donald Trump was stepping into the point-of-view of the terrorists. He was reenacting a bit of the Paris event from the perspective of the killers. In stark contrast, when he posited the idea of one of the hostages being armed and aiming their weapon back at the terrorist - the President did NOT configure his hand in a similar fashion.

This was not the first time Donald Trump used a handgun illustrator. You'll recall that on 23 January 2016 in Sioux City, Iowa he said, "... My people are so smart. And you know what else they say about my people? - The polls. They say, 'I have the most loyal people'. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, Okay? It's like incredible!"

On that occasion, he pointed his handgun illustrator directly at the television camera (image immediately above).

Although there are exceptions (e.g., law enforcement, some military, actors, comedic scenarios) a handgun illustrator is an extremely rare nonverbal display for anyone in a leadership position to use - particularly high office holders.

Regardless of the culture or country, even the much more common index finger (forefinger) pointing is hyper-aggressive and highly offensive (which Trump also repeatedly displays).

Yet multiple simulated gun-firing gestures - from the point of view of a real ISIS/ISIL terrorist/event - reenacting killing which actually occurred - and particularly when contrasting these actions with a LACK of a similar gesture for his armed (good-guy) hostage theoretical person(s) - absolutely calls into question the President's psyche - and particularly how he views himself.

SUMMARY: This is a Rorschach-type moment - with his nonverbal behavior substituting for ink-blots. The President's nonverbal behavior in this video strongly suggests that he relates more to the minds' and actions' of the terrorist-killers than those of his would-be hostages-turned-heroes.

The multiple handgun illustrators use in this context is highly correlative with dramatically reduced or complete absence of empathy - as well as impulse control disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and (on occasion) antisocial personality disorder.

Group Appearances and One-on-One

Online Courses Available 

702-239-8503

Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4276: Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. Meets His NBA Idol Dwyane Wade

Body Language Analysis No. 4275: Rudy Giuliani's Interview on Fox News

Body Language Analysis No. 4273: Natalia Veselnitskaya and The Trump Tower Meeting - "I am an Informant"

Body Language Analysis No. 4271: Donald Trump's Hand Holding While Pulling of Emmanuel Macron

Body Language Analysis No. 4264: Criminal Profiling • Sketch of Man Who Allegedly Threatened Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) Over Her Affair with Donald Trump

Body Language Analysis No. 4004: US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher asks NASA scientist about Civilizations on Mars

Body Language Analysis No. 3986: Anthony Kennedy, The Supreme Court, and Predicting Empathy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3930: Emmanuel Macron, Hacking, and Anger

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3374: Paris Attack Suspect Named - Salah Abdeslam - Body Language

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