Watch the video and then read body language read of his first speech addressing the
media after the indictment. Patti Wood assesses the congressman’s body.
“I will try to answer questions the best that I can. “ tongue
eraser. This means he is not going to answer questions the best that he can.
“Here is my official statement.”, tongue thrust then eraser.
This means there is a lot more that he wants to say about how angry he
is.
“Two and half years …of being bombarded.” Another tongue thrust.
Notice how his hands go into a striking motion as he says allegation after allegation. My read here is he would like to perhaps say a few choice
curse words here to the people who bombarded him.
Interesting, look at the piece where he says, “…when I won.” He
presses his lips together and does another small tongue eraser and a micro
facial cue of sadness. My read is he feels the win was not a win for him
personally that others didn't recognize it in the way he wanted and
that it came at a cost.
Interesting. Listen to his statement. “So let me be perfectly
clear.” There are several paralanguage cues, but the most interesting is how he
aggressively strikes, so let me be perfectly clear. He is very mad would like
to be yelling here, but he has to look down and read, “I will not abandon my
post…” He wants to say something different than his prepared statement.
Notice as he finishes also his downward facing corners of his
mouth. He would like to be crying here.
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.
