Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4417: Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate — Mayor Pete's Nonverbal response to Senator Klobuchar's Defense • #Nonverbal #EmotionalIntelligence #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #DemocraticDebate #Debate

2/ Earlier tonight, during the Democratic Presidential Candidate Debate, Senator Amy Klobuchar defended herself, Senator Warren, Senator Sanders, and Vice President Biden against previous criticism by Mayor Pete.

3/ Before Mayor Pete could respond verbally, his immediate nonverbal response was a classic example of a rapid series of Body Language displays — a nonverbal sentence known as a Cluster.

4/ At the time of this post, PBS Newshour does not yet have a time-stamped version of this debate. All of these images are captured from video. Please watch this portion of the debate to appreciate the dynamics and nuance of this nonverbal behavior.

5/ As Senator Klobuchar says, "the hundred years", we see Mayor Pete display a hard swallow (watch his Adam's Apple move up and down). This is consistent with significantly elevated anxiety.

6/ He then grips the side of his lectern and looks down with his entire upper body — head/neck, torso — and his eyes. He also shuts his eyes. This indicates the beta emotion of lower confidence and ...

7/ ... although it's difficult to see, the expression on his mouth is indicative of regret.

8/ He then shifts his jaw sharply to his left in a Jaw Confessional. He knows he did something wrong.

9/ He then positions his tongue tightly between his lower teeth and his lower lip — pushing forward causing this area to protrude forward. This indicates frustration. His jaw is also jutting forward — a signal of adrenaline surge (in this case related to anger).

10/ His lips then grow very thinned and tighten, with a horizontal configuration. This dynamic is highly indicative of anger. Note his jaw continues jutting forward.

11/ He then protrudes his tongue forward in what is known as a Loose Tongue Jut — which nonverbally signals the thought emotions of:

• I've been caught
• I've done a foolish thing
• I've been bad

12/ SUMMARY: The above example of Mayor Pete's response to Senator Klobuchar's retort is a classic Body Language example of a cluster (a nonverbal sentence).

continued ...

13/ Mayor Pete displayed a rapid body language succession of:

• Anxiety
• Regret
• Recognition of a mistake
• Frustration
• Anger
• Recognition of making a mistake/being caught

14/ Although Mayor Pete's words that followed were significantly controlled, his nonverbal responses verified that these were indeed his true thought-emotions.

END