Forget the words. Check out Trump and Harris’s body language – who scowled or smirked their way to victory?
There are at least three aspects of political debates which have not been covered.
First, viewers often see what they want to see. They also see what they expect to see. With almost no undecided voters, don’t be surprised if your friends found the Trump-Harris debate a slam dunk for either one.
Commentators aren’t talking about the different settings in which viewers watched the debate. Watching from a union hall, university dorm, or private club can lead to a vastly different experience. These environments can be just as influential as the region you live in, family voting patterns, and key issues.
Most important is body language. It’s widely accepted in the social sciences that when verbal and visual messages are presented together, the visual tends to dominate. Research shows that over 50 percent of a person’s impact comes from body language. This is because body language conveys non-verbal cues – like gestures, facial expressions, posture, and eye contact – that shape how we interpret someone’s intentions, emotions, and credibility. These cues can either reinforce or contradict spoken words, often leaving a stronger impression than the words themselves.
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So, who won on body language? Trump scowled and grimaced. Was that viewed as petulant or powerful? What kind of person do voters want – tough or empathetic? Moreover, are voters expecting anything more than scowling and grimacing from Trump?
Some commentators were worried about Harris shaking hands with Trump because Trump would tower over her. What they didn’t think of is what Harris did – march purposefully deep into Trump’s side of the studio and initiate a handshake. Camera angles evened up the height a bit. Her strange inflection and stating her name was a little odd, but the moment worked.
Here’s where the analysis gets tricky – when verbal answers and body language need to be evaluated together. The first question asked was whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. On this and other straightforward questions, Harris’ body language, particularly her broad hand gestures, signalled she was about to dive into detail. However, within about six seconds, it became clear that despite the detail, she wasn’t actually answering the question. At one point, she said she would explain the history, which she did, but no answer followed.
There’s a fine line between looking incredulous and looking as if you’re not understanding what’s being said. Harris’ facial expressions were at least ambiguous. Her response to the question about whether she’d allow an abortion in the eighth or ninth month of pregnancy was to grimace and only say “come on.” Asked about fracking, she provided an essay on her values. On whether she met Russian President Vladimir Putin, she provided another essay on American values. A simple “No” would have undercut Trump’s contention that she negotiated with Putin on the Ukraine conflict. Her answer was unnecessarily mysterious.
Smiling and looking whimsical is not a good response to the possibility of World War III, the allegation that Biden hates Harris, or immigrants eating pets in Springfield.
The moderator’s interjection that the city manager of Springfield found no evidence of pet eating was improper. I’ve worked in municipal government and we didn’t keep tabs on pet eating. Plus, “no evidence” only means you can’t prove it. It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Allan Bonner was the first North American to be awarded an MSc in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management. He trained in England and has worked in the field on five continents for 35 years. His latest book is Emergency! – a monograph with 13 other authors on the many crises that occurred during the pandemic.
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