The List | Maria Scinto | source link
August 21, 2020
Over the course of the last week, we've witnessed an unprecedented event in U.S. history: For the first time, a woman of color has been nominated as a main party vice presidential candidate. What's more, this groundbreaking event took place at our nation's first almost-all-virtual presidential nominating convention (sorry about your luck, Milwaukee). So how does Kamala Harris really feel about her nomination to the second-highest office in the land?
We spoke with body language expert Dr. Renée Carr, a psychologist, as well as a political and corporate advisor, and asked her to analyze Harris' appearance at two recent events. Her takeaway was that Harris' posture and actions speak volumes about her (a legs crossed/arms wrapped sitting position indicating she "embraces her femininity yet exudes a strength that is unwavering") and about her relationships (a giggly demonstration of love for her hubby and teary-eyed recollections of her friend Beau Biden). But Harris' obvious excitement at being nominated as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate is what her body language seems to be expressing most clearly.
Kamala Harris is really pumped to be VP
During the first Biden/Harris joint campaign event (via YouTube), Carr noted that Harris was showing "positive stress." And right before she took the floor, her excitement was to the point where she needed to employ a few delaying tactics before she could focus on her speech, such as repeatedly looking over at Biden and bantering with him. Once she began her speech, she needed to repeat herself on two occasions in order to refocus on the message.
By Harris' later appearance, on the occasion when she actually received the formal nomination as VP candidate (via YouTube), her body language showed "excitement and happiness ... unlike any of her previous speeches," with a brighter smile and twinklier eyes. Carr explained that you can tell the smile is genuine by the "increased crinkles at the outer corners of her eyes." In addition to smiling so brightly it lit up the (virtual) room, Harris was also a bit fidgety. Carr notes that excitement brings an adrenaline surge to the body and that Harris was "unable to stand completely still [since] she is fully mentally aware of the 'bigness' of the moment and unable to fully contain her excitement."
Well, who could blame her? Chances are we're all going to be doing some fidgeting as the election draws closer. And should the Biden/Harris team bring home a win, we wouldn't be surprised if Harris were to break composure and start outright jumping for joy.
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