Out of character—body language analysis of Donald Trump’s press conference, where he falsely accused the Democrats of trying to “steal’ the election. Find out which subtle gesture was missing from Trump’s speech and which nonverbal communication cues reveal his distress.

I've been quiet on my blog for a while now because I lost my beautiful mother in May. I've wanted to share with you some observations during my experience of loss– of emotion and nonverbal expression– I'm finally ready to write about it. I'm not sharing my experience of loss as such, but what I want to do here is mention some behaviours that felt noteworthy, illustrating some of the nonverbal cues that I usually write about. 

It was sudden and unexpected, so much so, that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Living on the other side of the world, I hadn't seen my mum for over two years. I was 'greeted' at the airport by my sister, who reluctantly stepped forth from behind her partner, his body temporarily and unknowingly shielding her from what she had to do. They were waiting right at the very back of the crowd, distancing themselves from the reality of what she was about to disclose.

When we experience positive emotions, various parts of the body point upwards, defying gravity. This video snippet, a Malcolm Turnbull interview, is a good example of gravity-defying body language. Turnbull defies gravity several times, elevating his body as he raises on his toes, each time he talks about positive outcomes.

While verbal communication may conceal emotion, nonverbal behaviours can give away the secrets of the emotional state of others, acting as a gauge of positive and negative emotion. When we experience positive emotion, various parts of our body defy gravity pointing upwards.