CONTACT:
Janet Larsen Palmer, 909-599-6900
Joanna Brody, 310-582-0085

(August 4, 2000) Los Angeles, Calif. -- Although his words may have represented an honest, simple, plain-speaking man from Texas, there was a “non-verbal contradiction to Governor Bush’s whole approach,” said a team of speech analysts at Communication Excellence Institute (CEI) in Los Angeles, Calif.

“Non-verbally, he had high tension and only briefly smiled three times?” said Janet Larsen Palmer, Ph.D., President of CEI and a specialist in non-verbal communication.

Smiling is the single greatest way to build rapport with the audience. but Governor Bush displayed virtually no warmth.

“He never once showed enthusiasm or joy. His non-verbal cues portrayed an image of a humorless presidency, full of tension, worry and discomfort.”

Professional speech coach Liesel Reinhart of CEI added that his eyes were pinched tight as if he were squinting into sunlight or in pain, and he utilized few gestures throughout his speech.

CEI is a research. consulting and training firm specializing in speech coaching and presentation skills, with a particular emphasis on non-verbal communication.

The CEI team gave Bush “high marks, a B-plus, ”for content. “He spoke in good, oral English.” said Palmer, “and effectively used repetition and short sentences to create dramatic, memorable phrases.” However, CEI’s grade of “C-minus” for delivery “utterly destroys the impact he was trying to make,” she added.

His humorous lines were well written. said Palmer. but he delivered them in “the same jack-hammer style as his hardest hitting policy points.”

According to Palmer, research shows that non-verbal communication is 93 percent of the message. “If the non-verbal cues do not match the verbal message, it creates subliminal dissonance in the audience and undercuts the believability of the message. Generally speaking, if non-verbal messages contradict the verbal messages we believe the non-verbal.”

After Bush’s speech, clips were shown of his father accepting the Republican nomination for Vice President. “President Bush and his son have virtually the same facial features, but on similar nights of their careers, they had utterly opposite facial gestures. The President had full body joy, waved his arms and had a huge grin. He savored the moment. His son failed to show any of that excitement. He was pinched, tense and forbidding with an unfortunate look of confusion. His demeanor was that of a joyless, uncomfortable man.”

“His body language was too much of a contradiction for his words to survive,” said Reinhart. “His staff must be hoping there was a large radio audience.”

Palmer and Reinhart are available for commentary throughout the election. Please contact CEI at 800-410-4CEI(4234) or www.talk2cei.com