During this crucial U.S. presidential election year, we might find it helpful to carefully watch the candidates' body language in order to catch them in lies (Lying politicians? What a concept!) or other traits American voters need to be aware of.
Knitted brows, hands on hips, rolled eyes, tapping a foot, bobbing the head, pouting, shrugging, crossed arms, raising one brow, clenched jaw, pursed lips, can reveal their innermost thoughts with nonverbal communication. Moms are great for imparting their desires, approval or, mostly, disapproval, without saying a single word.
Hillary Clinton nods a good deal which tells the viewer she agrees with herself. Senator Clinton, a Democratic Party contender for presidential nominee, points to individual members of her audience while nodding, and frequently claps in rhythm to their chanting H-I-L-L-A-R-Y. This is one way in which to draw the audience in, to make them a part of her campaign. Her smile is forced. Her eyes often stare without blinking. She uses an arsenal of body language for us to study and draw our own conclusions and not the ones she wishes us to draw. People tend to disbelieve her.
Senator Barack Obama, Clinton's rival for the presidential nomination, does not clap, does not nod his head, and rarely points to anyone in the audience. He gives the impression of being a part of the audience simultaneously with being its focal point. His confidence and appealing smile has the ring of sincerity. Obama leans forward toward his audience, a friendly position. (Bending away indicates subconscious negative feelings.) He holds the microphone with a gentle familiarity. People tend to believe him.
Republican nominee John McCain blinks a lot, though that may be the bright lights of the television cameras. Our blink rate reflects psychological arousal in the manner of a polygraph test. The normal, resting blink rate of a human is 20 closures per minute, with the average blink lasting one quarter of a second. Significantly faster rates may reflect emotional stress, as aroused, e.g., in the fight-or-flight response. And McCain also slices through the air with a flat hand when he wants to make a particularly relevant point. People tend to want to believe him.
Like the rest of us, politicians lift one eyebrow in disbelief, clasp their arms to isolate or to protect themselves, shrug their shoulders with indifference, wink one eye for intimacy, tap their fingers for impatience, slap their foreheads for forgetfulness, hold their index finger up to signal "wait." Jutting one's chin is a nonverbal sign of superiority, arrogance, and disdain. So is looking down one's nose. An example of both would be former New York governor Eliot Spitzer.
Words are increasingly becoming less necessary when we have such an abundance of voiceless communication methods.
It seems politicians can reveal, conceal, and spiel, all without saying a word.
http://www.maggievanostrand.com
Maggie Van Ostrand's award-winning column appears in local hard copy newspapers and online publications in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Her articles appear regularly in the Chicago Tribune, and have appeared in the Boston Globe, Newsday, the Philadelpha Inquirer, Amarillo Globe-News, Sun-Sentinel, and many other national newspapers, as well as national and niche magazines.
A prolific writer, Maggie churns out three humor and one human interest columns weekly, plus a monthly humor column.
She is a member of National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists in the U.K.
Maggie was also a judge of the worldwide Erma Bombeck Writers' Contest in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and judge of 2007 Arizona Press Club Award for journalism.
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