When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump squared off in their highly-anticipated first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on Monday night, the two candidates discussed a wide range of topics including trade deals, race relations, terrorism, taxation and job creation.
Potential voters had the opportunity to listen, analyze and watch every move the candidates made during the televised event, as Trump and Clinton submitted to the scrutiny in the old adage: it鈥檚 not what you say but how you say it. Body language expert and president of the communication training company Truthplane, Mark Bowden, dissected the candidates鈥� debate performances for CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Tuesday.
The Handshake
Bowden believes that Trump had the advantage over Clinton during the opening handshake because he was walking in from the left side of the stage. Trump鈥檚 right arm appears larger than Clinton鈥檚 because it was in the foreground. However, Bowden thinks that Clinton won the handshake because she managed to extend her hand out longer and push it into Trump so he would have to bring his own arm in. Bowden said Clinton鈥檚 manoeuvre made it appear that she was stronger and in control.
鈥淭here鈥檚 kind of a folklore that says, if you win the handshake at the start, you鈥檝e won the debate,鈥� he said.
Trump鈥檚 Gesticulations
Bowden said Trump has a repertoire of classic hand gestures he resorts to when he鈥檚 speaking in front of an audience. During the debate, Trump utilized his 鈥淎-OK鈥�, 鈥淥K-L鈥� and his 鈥渁ccordion鈥� gestures to underscore his message, according to Bowden. The 鈥淥K-L鈥� is when Trump makes the letter L shape with his index finger and thumb on opposing hands. The 鈥渁ccordion鈥� gesture is when he moves his arms back and forth with his palms facing each other, evoking mechanical monkeys crashing symbols.
鈥淗e鈥檚 well branded,鈥� Bowden said. 鈥淗e keeps on doing the same gestures again and again and again.鈥�
Bowden suggested that the signature hand movements demonstrate Trump鈥檚 aggressive demeanour and his 鈥渓arger-than-life persona鈥�.
Clinton鈥檚 Shimmy
Part way through the debate, Trump argued that he had a much better temperament than Clinton. She reacted to the comment by smiling and saying, 鈥淲hoo! OK鈥� before closing her eyes and shimmy shaking her shoulders back and forth a number of times. Besides inspiring endless parody gifs online, Bowden said that this uncharacteristic gesture was almost animalistic, in the sense that it looked like she was 鈥減eacocking鈥� and puffing out her chest in a gloating manner.
鈥淚t鈥檚 showing that she鈥檚 strong and that she鈥檚 maybe ruffled his (Trump鈥檚) feathers. He鈥檚 out of control now,鈥� Bowden said.
Trump鈥檚 Sniffling
Dr. Lillian Glass, an author and body language expert, told 麻豆影视 Channel on Tuesday that Trump seemed more nervous than he鈥檚 ever looked before during the beginning of the debate. According to Glass, Trump鈥檚 frequent sniffling throughout the event was a symptom of his autonomic nervous system taking over.
鈥淭he body doesn鈥檛 lie,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou could see that this was not his (Trump鈥檚) game initially.鈥�
Clinton鈥檚 Grin
Bowden said that Clinton gave off a very positive image because she frequently smiled and her gestures were often in an upward motion. However, he said there were times when Trump鈥檚 remarks made Clinton鈥檚 big smile disappear. It was obvious, Bowden said, that she was trying to hold back the anger he was inciting in her. Bowden thinks that Clinton probably practised smiling before the debate, and it paid off.
Glass, on the other hand, didn't believe Clinton鈥檚 smiling worked for her. Glass said that Clinton shouldn鈥檛 have been smiling after Trump made negative comments to her.
鈥淚t was smug,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 real. It was phony. That鈥檚 what Hillary has been accused of being for so long and this didn鈥檛 help her.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 Fidgeting
When Clinton drilled Trump about releasing his tax returns, Bowden said his body language made it appear he was rattled by the exchange. According to Bowden, Trump fidgeted with his microphone when it didn鈥檛 need adjusting and his hand shook when he took a sip from his water glass. Bowden explained that these types of actions are all about adapting to the environment to become more comfortable.
鈥淗e (Trump) doesn鈥檛 need to adjust the mic. He doesn鈥檛 need to have that water,鈥� Bowden said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just trying to control something in the environment.鈥�
