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Showing posts with label Washington Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington Post. Show all posts

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's Body Language in Second Debate, Apology, Smiles and Lion Behavior

Check out the link below:


By Kevin Uhrmacher and Lazaheir lecterns, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were able to roam the stage at Sunday night’s presidential debate. And while the spoken insults and accusations will provide much fodder for political analysts in the days ahead, we invited two body language experts to dissect the candidates’ nonverbal cues.Here’s a bit about the experts, whose lightly edited thoughts about the debate are below:David Givens, who is the director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies, a nonprofit research center in Spokane, Wash. Givens also contributed to this helpful dissection of Clinton and Trump’s body language before the debate.

Patti Wood, author of the book “SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.” Wood has experience analyzing body language as it relates to anger, gender roles and apologies, which all proved helpful during the 90-minute spectacle.



The candidates walked out and, in a break with tradition, did not shake hands. Wood offered a thought about why it is so important. “A handshake … signals we are equals. Now we can come out fighting,” she wrote in an email Sunday night. The candidates did eventually shake hands, but not until the close of the debate.

‘He circles like a lion’: Trump declares his dominance
Looking to reverse his fortunes after a week on the defensive, Trump demanded attention with a display of aggressive sniffing, interruptions and emphatic pointing. But, compared with the last debate, “Donald was quite relaxed and calm,” Givens said.
“Trump came forth in full alpha-male mode,” The Post’s Karen Tumulty wrote after the debate. The experts agreed. Trump repeatedly pointed at Clinton as he lobbed accusations at her, a gesture Givens called “aggressive in all cultures.” He also compared Trump’s snorts with “a bull in attack mode.”

“I think the anger actually worked for him,” Wood suggested after the debate. “That’s his superpower.” For Trump, anger helps establish dominance and has a strong appeal, especially for disaffected voters, she said, adding that Americans are often drawn to the candidate who appears stronger.

Givens: “Trump’s constant pacing and restless movements around the stage attracted attention from Hillary's words, and visually disrespected her physical presence on the stage, as in ‘I am big, you are small.’ Wood: “He circles her during her turn. He is like a lion: going in with a biting attack, then keeping his attack energy going by continuing to move and circle.”

Givens: “Sitting is submissive; standing up is assertive. He paces [during her turn] to stay in motion, taking visual attention away from Clinton and her words. … His main message is ‘I am here, see me.’ “
Givens: “His manner of leaning hands and arms on the back of his chair as Hillary spoke was aggressive, too, as in a ‘broadside display’ of power. [It’s] common in the vertebrate world of males showing the biggest, widest parts of their bodies to intimidate rivals.”

Commenting on Trump’s ‘apology’ for the lewd 2005 video first reported by The Post on Oct. 7:
Wood: “Trump attacked Bill Clinton when he had a chance to apologize. A true apology does not include an attack.”Wood: “Clinton smiled as she began to respond to the Bill attack. [That] signals she was ready and confident. Her voice as she delivered was the strongest and angriest I have heard.”
Clinton stumbles on the smile
While Wood approved of Clinton’s performance overall, she said Clinton’s smile looked inappropriate. Both experts also thought Clinton looked comparatively weak when she sat as Trump spoke. Wood: “She stayed calm and even through most of the debates. His circling and staying close to her did not affect her, as scary as it looked to us.”
Givens: “Hillary addressed listeners sympathetically, with positive feelings and positive regard.”

Clinton reacts to Trump’s statement about using a special prosecutor to look into her “situation.” Reacting to Trump’s statements about her email scandal Trump criticizes Clinton saying she is “all talk” Both candidates react to a question asking for “one positive thing you respect in one another.”
Wood: “Because I've been analyzing her body language for a long time, I know her baseline … I think [the smile] was okay in the first debate [since] Trump rambled and had run-on sentences. [He] often did not make sense, so smiling seemed appropriate to communicate that she felt it was funny.”
The second debate was different, Wood said, because Trump spoke in more complete sentences and lobbed more serious accusations her way. This made it feel less natural for Clinton to crack a big smile.
Advice for the next debate
Trump should hew closer to his second debate performance, where he was more consistent across the entire 90 minutes, Wood said.
For Clinton, she offered some counterintuitive advice: Continue to break the rules. This may sound familiar to people who have worked in a corporate setting, Wood said. “A powerful person often breaks the rules.” (Think of the boss who shows up late to meetings.)

If Trump continues to flout the debate guidelines in the Oct. 19 debate, but Clinton sticks to her allotted time, she could look weak by comparison. Wood said she should monitor Trump and continue to establish power by going over her time limits if necessary.

Body Language of NFL Quarterbacks Cam Newton and Robert Griffin

The body language of NFL quarterbacks Cam Newton and Robert Griffin has changed significantly in their media appearances in the last year and The Washington Post asked me to analyze the specific differences and what they reflected.  I have notes and links to two of the videos I watched on my blog ( Rough notes and links to videos) and there is a link to Washington Post article below (my quotes are at the bottom. to analyze the shifts in the confidence level  of two star NFL football quarterbacks through their nonverbal communication during media appearances. 


Patti Wood studies body language, and she was asked this past week to analyze videos from Newton’s and Griffin’s news conferences, one each from 2012 and ’13. In studying Newton’s podium sessions last season, she sees a man unsure of himself, whose expressions show sadness and defeat, whose habit of looking downward and sagging shoulders convey distrust in himself and his abilities — hardly the preferred message from a leader of men.

“He mumbles out some of the words as if they tasted bad,” says Wood, author of “SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language & Charisma.” She also noticed changes in Griffin from December 2012 to December 2013: Gone was the joyful, energetic Redskins rookie; in his place, she says, was a man whose posture and strained voice show defeat and frustration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Iw0a60AL7I


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Cam Newton’s body language changes from last year to this year.

Cam Newton’s and Robert Griffin’s body language changes from last year to this year.  I was asked by the Washington Post to analyze the shifts in the confidence level  of two star NFL football quarterbacks through their nonverbal communication during media appearances. Here are my rough notes.  I will post the Washington Post article when it appears.


Cam Newton’s body language changes from last year to this year.
Notice the start. He is looking down in a way, if you turn off the sound his behavior is that of shame. His head stays down, his eye focus is down and his mouth goes down in a pout. He twists his head and  in a jerky motion tilts his head down and smirks showing his displeasure with having to make some of the statements ( We smirk holding one side of the face up while the other goes down. (a smirk shows a disconnect between the neocortex  and  the limbic brain. You reveal your true feeling on the one side of your face before the neocortex can stop it) He smirks 5 times in this interview and  He continues this full gesture cluster for most of the interview. You would swear he is giving a classic post doping apology statement. Downward motions show sadness and defeat. Look at his sometimes his right and sometimes his left shoulder actually point downward. At times he looks like Christ on the cross as if he wants to say, “Why have you forsaken me.
Then turn on the sound and listen to his voice. I notice that his volume level actually down and his voice fades out at the end and his diction is unclear and he mumbles out some of the words as if they tasted bad. Also listen he sniffs and
A year later  We had a very great team win today.  A year later. Look at his posture and bearing as he begins. His head and chest are head up. His shoulders are  held up and back and balanced.  His left shoulder goes down slightly as he talks about a bad play, but then he pops up again as he moves on.  There remarkable shift is how he holds his head Straight up and level unless he is asked a tough question.  His voice cues (paralanguage) sounds like he is a totally different man.  He bursts out at the beginning of each sentence like a horse jumping out of the gate. The consonants are crisp and explosive as if he was trained in diction into handsome male Eliza Doolittle.  He moves in an animated manner, he gestures occasionally and points showing confidence and purposefulness.  As he finishes he does this fun little up up up little dance with his shoulders. Its very subtle, but its really interesting.  Its like a little child being questioned what can of time he is having half way through trip to Disney World. He wants to go have more fun. He even moves like the flash to get off the stage.
Robert Griffin’s body language changes from last year to this year.
Last year Robert Griffin’s body language changes from last year to this year.
Robert Griffin’s body language ,- Notice his side to side rocking and stepping motion. This shows his nervousness and excitement.  Rocking  is a comfort cue but his style of step rocking as if he is dancing makes it the Snoopy happy dance. (that is an obscure reference to the Peanuts character who danced up and side to side in just that manner) That behavior comes on stronger as he says positive things about the team. Its revealing that his head and shoulders come up briefly during the side to side stepping. This shows he is feels victorious. Up Body language shoulder up edges of the mouth up in smile head up are all behaviors of winning. (sometimes you see the hands go above the head in a winning touchdown to show supreme victory  and joy.)  then up rocking,   is showing his energy
Notice how he rubs up on his nose at 2:14 when the reporter mentions teams that are doing better the and follows with “the elite group”  then he gives a stare of death to the reporter. Here he has tried to downplay the win and the reporter is pushing his buttons.
Its interesting he keeps saying, “its not something to boast and brag about, then he does.” I label that  a contrary speak. By saying that repeatedly he is bragging!
Paralanguage (defines as nuances of the voice tone, speaking rate etc.) His voice is deep and  confident. He comes down hard at the end of each phrase with gusto and his volume level stays strong and the sound actually explodes out louder at the end of some sentences. Again these are nonverbal cues of confidence. The more he talks about his fellow players and phrases he can end in “US”  the stronger and faster his paralanguage becomes.
Interesting response to “Do you get the feeling that quarterbacks are defined by how they play in games like this at (7:19) He rocks but his head goes down and his mouth closes and his tongue goes behind his bottom lip in a defiant secret tongue thrust to show his confidence was hit and he would like to stick his tongue out at the reporter then he pushes out his bottom lip in defiance.
When asked about the Cowboys and his response, (8:48)NONE what so every, and his longer response we see him smile subtly and have some fun.  
This year.
Notices his mouth as he begins.  I call the mouth the window to the truth. He actually sticks his tongue out to the side, quite obviously. The side tongue out is interesting mixture of emotions,  It shows his frustration with HIMSELF and a desire to focus and do better. I typically see it in small children who are doing hard match problems or who are drawing after they have been told they don’t draw well.
Then  he does several shirt in pants and pulling up pants comfort cue adjustments, indicating he wants to look good,  (not have pants fall down and be bear bummed and humiliated  in the press. He even does the pants pull up with BOTH hands in response to that first tough question that he might not start.
Listen to his paralanguage. His voice is horse and strains to come out.  It sounds like this is defeated as if Like he has shouted to god why and this is all the voice he has left after the shouting.

His shoulders in the yellow jersey are pointing down.  His posture looks down and defeated even in that bulky shirt with his big bad shoulders going down and he looks down. He hides his hands behind his back. We hide are our hands to hide the truth of our emotions.  He does show shades of his power as his elbows go up and he wants to hold his hands on his hips and he swings back and forth, but its not confident. His shoulders curve in so his heart points down, his shoulders are not back,  and his head dips down. 


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.