A MANNER OF SPEAKING
by Maggie Van Ostrand
In Hollywood, there’s plenty of work for unemployed actors and actresses, if they don’t object to playing a dead Yorick instead of a live Hamlet. Of the vast number of television shows which feature dead bodies, forensic science studies concluded that bodies still talk through trace evidence.
But living bodies also speak volumes, without speaking at all. 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 seems forced. Fortunately, 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.
On the other hand, 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 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.
Best-selling author Julius Fast (Body Language: How Our Movements and Posture Reveal Our Secret Selves”), states that we all, in one way or another, silently send our messages out to the world. We say, "Help me, I'm lonely. Take me, I'm available. Leave me alone, I'm depressed."
And rarely do we send our messages consciously. We act out our state of being with nonverbal body language. We lift one eyebrow in disbelief, clasp our arms to isolate or to protect ourselves, shrug our shoulders with indifference, wink one eye for intimacy, tap our fingers for impatience, slap our foreheads for forgetfulness, hold our 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. The gestures are numerous and, while some are deliberate, there are others, according to "The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs and Body Language Cues," (David B. Givens, Ph.D, 2003), such as rubbing under our noses indicating puzzlement or folding our arms across our chests to protect ourselves, that are mostly unconscious. For example, a man’s Adams apple will bob up and down if he is nervous, as did former Vice President Dan Quayle’s when he was told during a campaign, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
It seems humans, dead or alive, reveal, conceal, and speak without speech, a very telling trend.
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