Tonight offers a no-miss documentary by History that shows us all how little words mean, and how much your face and body give you away.
To put a fine point on it: 93% of what you do with your face and body comprises the bulk of all your communication. Only seven per-cent is relayed by your language.
Secrets of Body Language premieres on the History Channel Monday, October 13 at 9 PM Eastern Time/8 PM Central Time.
For two hours, key body language experts such as Harry Witchel, Patti Wood, Janine Driver and Mark Jeffries conduct a minilab and tutorial showing by example, exactly how our actions speak louder than our words, and how we betray ourselves by the slightest movements.
Dr. Paul Ekman
The body language pioneer Dr. Paul Ekman’s work is cited, his ground-breaking studies are explained in some detail, including his researched seven basic universal emotions and the resultant expressions of sadness, happiness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, and contempt.
Ekman's case studiy
The experts dissect these established non-verbal communication markers with video clips of political speeches, pop culture moments and even real police footage that expose the frauds and the out-and-out liars.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s macho swagger and hand-shaking technique is carefully analyzed, as is body language quick learner, British ex PM Tony Blair. President George Bush has distinctively American body language that shows little energy expenditure and a preference for space and distance.
Putin and Bush, classic male power posturing
Because nonverbal communication also has cultural meanings, History's producers delve a bit into the regional context of body language.
Cultural norms regarding kinesics vary between countries; if you are not familiar with the local body language norms, you very well may be misunderstood, and sometimes misinterpreted.
Did you know if an Arab bites his right finger, it is a sign of pure contempt and that you are not liked?
no tongue please
Cultural differences exacerbate the body language reads, as we learn in this doc that Arabs are quite comfortable “getting right up in your face” to talk animatedly causing newly dispatched American soldiers to haul off and hit them for the personal space transgression, which has further inflamed the already tense military situation.
The fascinating b-roll used to illuminate each experts' tips and analysis is especially demonstrated by the famous debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. (video below )
Nixon was a “manly man” and eschewed makeup, just out of the hospital for a knee surgery, and Kennedy welcomed the makeup and the prep for the cameras; and the result? The first televised presidential debate showed that for American voters, looks mattered more than what was heard. The producers noted that those who listened to the debate on the radio felt Nixon won by a landslide, and those who only watched the debate fully gave it to Kennedy.
The police tape provided is a gripping segment, as the officer in one dash cam video is killed off camera by a deranged criminal in a routine traffic stop. This footage brings home just how hard it is to be a police officer and how much bad stuff these guys deal with on a daily basis. Cops have to have lightening fast body language reading skills, as their lives depend on it.
The pop culture is covered too, as we see Angelina Jolie give herself away in love-filled gaze at Brad Pitt in press junkets when they were supposedly “just filmmaking peers” and he was still married to Jennifer Aniston. Then the maestros of media manipulation, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are shown in all their up-and-down life moments and what their body language was really conveying.
The experts in "Secrets of Body Language" examine our "micro expressions." In frame by frame examination that shows just where the person being interviewed revealed their true hand. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nostril-flaring snarl is caught when he delivered his televised mea culpa for sexual misconduct three days before the California gubernatorial elections. He managed to win his race despite this flash of anger revealed in his micro expression.
Vocal inflections comprise 38 percent of nonverbal communication and the experts talk about LVA or Layered Voice Analysis, using the Oswald tapes as examples. Visual indicators are another way we all ascertain who is more competent and by sight who we should believe more, especially when politics is on the line.
In two hours, this special illuminates a necessary skill all of us should have some basic knowledge of, but even more importantly, for younger viewers it is a marvelous primer that shows some of the best key political speeches and historical moments of the last century, while giving insight to how politicians of today operate.
Must see and highly recommended.
USA
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