The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
also come from their own party; politicians may therefore
find it necessary to attack their allies more vigorously than
their foes. In order to survive, politicians need to be
constantly on their guard against attack. If you watch
politicians making political speeches you'll notice that
they often gesticulate with their hands while they're talking.
Closer inspection of their hand movements shows that
when politicians are feeling insecure they often produce
hand postures that are symbolically defensive -
their hands may, for example, cross their body, or the
palms of their hands may be pushed forwards as if they are
about to parry an imaginary blow.
The facial expressions of politicians can also be revealing.
One of Bill Clinton's trademark tells is the 'oxbow
mouth', where the lower lip is pushed upwards, shaping
the mouth into an inverted 'U'. Bill Clinton uses this
expression when he wants to show that he's determined.
George W. Bush and Tony Blair use the gesture for the
same purpose. While the oxbow mouth provides a display
of resolution, the fact that it also involves a tensing of the
muscles over the chin shows that it is essentially a defensive
gesture - it's how people react when they think someone is
about to punch them on the chin, and it's how politicians
give themselves away when they're feeling vulnerable.
That's why Richard Nixon was photographed so often with
an oxbow mouth during the Watergate scandal, and why
Bill Clinton produced the same facial expression so often
during the Monica Lewinsky affair.
There are five other ways that politicians can defend
themselves against attack: (1) by adopting a friendly
demeanour; (2) by modulating their voice so that they
sound more attractive and less threatening; (3) by
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