Acritical that appeared in a university paper
A confident Kamala
With Harris appearing in a few other national debates, America was curious what version of the
vice president would be on display. Harris came out strong, walking across the stage to shake
Trump’s hand at his own podium, a move that body language expert Patti Wood feels was
absolutely premeditated.
“Visually, it made her look more powerful,” said Wood.
Viewers form their initial thoughts on who won within the first seconds of a debate and Harris’s
smooth movement was goal-oriented, making her seem confident, explained Wood. Throughout
the night, Harris did not hold back her reaction to Trump’s claims, taking full advantage of the
split screen. Her wide-eyed looks of shock, contemplative hand gestures and head shakes
brought the audience’s attention onto her, even while Trump was speaking. Harris also kept up
the practice of staring directly into the camera when speaking, a favorite technique of Biden’s.
“The actual messaging makes us feel like she’s honest, she can make eye contact,” continued
Wood.
This paired nicely with her tendency to speak directly to the American people, and contrasted
with Trump’s personal exchanges with the moderators.
Of the debate as a whole Wood summarized, “this debate was a war of facial expressions, and
she won.
