Analysis: Good use of space, focus of eyes and hand movements and gestures can portray a sense of authority, confidence and competence
By Chris Fitzgerald, Mary Immaculate College
This American presidential election has exemplified some important characteristics of body language that we can apply to other contexts such as job interviews, work presentations or a battle with a family member. Just as with everyday communication, what is said in political speeches and debates is only part of how politicians convey their messages and personalities.
Body language plays a significant role in how successful we perceive political rhetoric to be. There are various aspects of body language that can be used to express meaning and emotion. These include gaze (where our eyes are directed), posture (how our bodies are positioned), facial expressions (how our facial features are aligned) and other embodied gesture such as hand movements. These form part of a repertoire of expression and can be used to great effect in contexts such as speeches and debates.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, who will be happier following US presidential debate?
Speeches are very different types of discourse to debates and involve a different approach to expression. Speeches are reliant on autocues and pre-planned narratives. This is conducive to politicians using gestures to reinforce points like spreading their hands wide to indicate long periods of time. Some politicians even include captions in autocues to tell them when to do this.
But debates are more spontaneous and involve reactions to an opponent, resulting in gestures that are unplanned and more natural, whether the politician likes it or not. The split-screen presentations of both debaters in the televised debates provide a great opportunity to observe different approaches to body language that that can be useful in other situations.
Space matters
Proxemics is the use of space to create meaning in communication. The space we leave open or closed between ourselves and others can speak volumes. When Donald Trump was given free rein to occupy the stage in his notorious debate against Hillary Clinton in 2016, he used it to intimidate her. He lurched over her shoulder, leading to Clinton describing him as a 'creep' who made her ‘skin crawl’ in her autobiography. Trump used his physicality and Clinton’s space to put her off, and it worked.
From New York Times, the second 2016 presidential debate showed Donald Trump using his physicality and Clinton's space to put her off
The first act of communication undertaken in the recent debate between Trump and Kamala Harris was a clear message from the vice-president. She intentionally entered Trump’s side of the stage with her arm extended, forcing Trump to shake her hand. This was a power move to ensure that Trump was thrown by her imposition into his territory. A first win for Harris without a word being exchanged.
It's all in the eyes
Our eyes display our focus and energy. One of the physical traits that pointed towards Joe Biden's frailty in his debate with Trump in June was the vacancy of his eyes. In addition, the direction of gaze is an important indicator of who is being addressed at any given moment.
In the Trump v Harris debate, Trump directed his gaze towards the moderators, while Harris looked either at Trump when she was discussing his flaws or directly at the camera when she addressed the audience, giving the impression that she was making eye-contact with the viewers and directly speaking to those at home. This gaze direction can contribute to the persuasiveness of points made by politicians and result in our perception that speakers are more truthful and authoritative.
From CNN, former FBI profiler Joe Navarro analyzes the body language of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the presidential debate
Getting the upper hand
Hand gestures articulate both conscious and unconscious expressions and reactions. Some hand gestures carry their own defined meanings independent of spoken language, such as the okay symbol and others can be used in combination with speech to support or reinforce what is said.
With microphones muted while the opponent is speaking, each debater in the Trump v Harris debate depended on body language to convey their immediate responses. Trump’s reactions were often limited and consisted of eye lifts, smirks and head shakes. While she was speaking, Harris used a range of hand gestures to support her points and when she was not speaking, she reacted to Trump’s more exaggerated claims with a hand folded under her chin, a gesture that provides self-comfort and intimates surprise and confusion at the same time.
Gestures can say what words can not
Barack and Michelle Obama are some of the most skilled orators of contemporary politics. A progression in Obama’s use of gesture is noticeable when comparing some of his early speeches as senator with his latter presidential speeches. This may be due to the impact of media training. One of his signature gestures is a raising and lowering of his open had while he makes a point, a visual representation of hammering home a point.
From Politico, former US president Barack Obama mocks Donald Trump's obsession with crowd sizes
Some gestures are used in combination with speech to construct meaning and can have a humorous effect. For example, Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention referred to Trump’s ‘weird obsession with crowd size’. Reading this or hearing it in isolation does not have the same effect as seeing Obama’s accompanying gesture, with his two hands widening and coming together with a glance towards them as they settle on a small space. This perfectly timed comedic moment was a clear reference to Trump’s manhood without saying a word about it.
As we have learned from the US presidential election so far, good use of space, focus of eyes, hand movements and gestures can portray a sense of authority, confidence and competence. As we seek these traits in politicians, we can learn to adapt them for our daily lives and apply them to social and professional contexts. Keep an eye out for these in the upcoming Irish general election when your local politician comes to your door and shakes your hand.
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Dr Chris Fitzgerald is a postdoctoral Linguistics researcher at Mary Immaculate College.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
