The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

POLITICAL TELLS
to him as a 'here-today-gone-tomorrow politician'. Nott
stood up and left the room. Henry Kissinger also walked
out on Jeremy Paxman when Paxman asked him, quite
rightly, whether he felt like a fraud accepting the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Because interviewers now potentially wield more
power than politicians, politicians need to find ways of
ensuring that interviewers don't give them a tough time.
One way to do this is for politicians to stamp their
authority on the interview by showing that they are not
prepared to be interrupted. Another is to be emphatic
about their opinions. George W. Bush, for example,
frequently uses the expression, 'make no mistake about it',
to press home his point of view. One of his signature tells
is a 'micro-nod', a barely perceptible dip of the head,
which he tags on to the end of a statement, like a
corporeal full stop - as if to say, 'There you are, I've told
you now. There's nothing more to be said on the subject!'
One of Margaret Thatcher's signature tells is the 'eyeflash'.
Whenever she wants to emphasize a statement and
make it appear incontrovertible, she momentarily enlarges
her eyes, using them at the end of her utterance to create
a pair of ocular exclamation marks. This is quite different
from what happens in the 'eye-puff', where the eyes are
opened wide in order to create an impression of childish
attentiveness.
Another option available to politicians is to intimidate
the interviewer. This can be done by undermining the
interviewer, attacking the question, and suggesting that
the interviewer is misinformed or biased - in short, by
breaking the interviewer's rhythm and undermining his or
her confidence. One way to do this is by producing lots of
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