Yahoo News: Trump's Body Language Analysis
I had a couple of media requests this week, one was from Olivia Lambert at Yahoo News Australia, for an analysis on Donald Trump—the man we’ve been bombarded with for the last five years. Well folks, here’s more…
Trump’s Offical Address Jan 2021
Trump’s address, surrounding “the troubling events of the past week“, was posted on the official White House Twitter account yesterday. Olivia asked me to have a look to see whether I noticed anything in the video that suggested he was holding back, or if there were any noticeable body language differences from his other speeches.
At first glance and through just-got-up eyes, it seemed there wasn’t much to go on, with few visible nonverbal behaviour talking points. But that was the whole point. The lack of nonverbal behaviour is in stark contrast to the typical Donald Trump, with his overbearingly powerful style and somewhat strange hand gestures. I looked to find a similar type of official address from the past and found his official address about COVID-19, from March 2020. You can view both videos below.
I took a closer look and ran a quick comparison to dig a little deeper. See the Yahoo News article to discover which behaviours I picked up and what I concluded, or keep reading for my full submission to Olivia.
Donald Trump, Body Language Analysis
‘Like a puppet, Trump is delivering a message scripted by somebody else’
Trump delivers this message without his usual emotion and elaborate hand gestures. These are not his words—he's isn't emotionally connected to them. There are less nonverbal behaviours to see, as nuances in body language and expression are tied to our emotion, changing from moment to moment. Emotional investment is lacking. Like a puppet, Trump is delivering a message scripted by somebody else.
‘Is this a sign of defeat?’
Overall, there's a very subtle, but ongoing, expression of sadness. In the universal expression of sadness, the inner corners of the eyebrows are raised and pulled together, resulting in the appearance of droopy eyes. It's hard to spot because it's subtle and ongoing, so we don't see the facial movement take place. However, it's more apparent when we compare his expression in this speech to a similar scripted address from 2020.
Trump's voice also sounds more monotone than usual, with less vocal variance. Most probably, his expression and voice are a reflection of his mood. Moods last longer than emotions, which can change from moment to moment. Is this a sign of defeat?
‘Momentary emotional investment’
There is a change in behaviour at one point towards the end of the speech, where Trump momentarily appears emotionally invested. As he concludes speaking about the events from last week—on the very last word, 'grace', we see a narrowing of the lower eyelid, a muscle movement connected to the emotion of anger. At this point, Trump transitions into talking about the "unprecedented assault on free speech", where again, we see the eyes narrow (on 'free speech'). It's likely that he's referring to, and thinking about, the shutting down of his social media accounts. He's emotionally invested with his nonverbal behaviour reflecting it.
If we look at his transitioning words, "I also want to say a few words" (about the unprecedented assault on free speech). And put that together with his momentary emotional investment, we can deduce that this small part of the speech was included at his insistence.
Sadness Expression, Muscle Activation
Trump’s Official Address, Jan 2021
Trump’s Official Address, Jan 2021—Screenshot
Donald Trump 2021 Official Address–Subtle Expression of Sadness
Trump’s Official Address, March 2020
Trump’s Official Address, March 2020—Screenshot
Donald Trump 2020 Official Address
If you’re interested in learning how to read nonverbal communication, I run one-to-one coaching sessions or split the cost with a friend for small group coaching. If you’re in Perth, Australia, I run The Art of Reading Body Language as a regular ongoing evening workshop. Bring your own drink, for a fascinating evening about body language and expression.
