Kinda insteresting, akshully

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain..._language.html

Letterman's 'Late Show' body language

Published: 10/03/2009 04:00:00

BY NICOLE LYN PESCE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

David Letterman's shame and fear were on full display during his televised confession - if you looked closely enough.

Body language experts who analyzed the mea culpa said Letterman did a masterful job of manipulating his tittering audience.

But a series of nervous tics broadcast his discomfort at being unmasked as a philanderer.

The giveaways included:

Too much blinking

"What's normal on TV is between 30 and 50 blinks per minute. ... He was at 60 blinks per minute when he said, 'I have had sex with women who worked for me on this show,' so that's high," said Joseph Tecce, a psychology professor at Boston College. "But he's saying something painful, so that's to be expected, because fast blinking indicates negative feelings."

Tecce said Letterman also became uncharacteristically camera-shy. "He looked down and away a lot," Tecce said. "Gaze avoidance, not looking up at the camera, not looking at your audience, is a pretty accurate indicator of shame, guilt and embarrassment."


Fiddling with his pencil

"That's a habitual thing, but it also provides a symbolic weapon. He used that to strike out as he was speaking about this man who blackmailed him," said Patti Wood, body language expert and author of "Success Signals."

"When he got to the statement 'unless I give him some money,' he put his hands up toward the audience, and in that second, he was emphasizing the fact that this was an absurd event."

Clasping his hands

"When he would finish with a difficult statement, he would kind of bring his hands together and hold his own hand over his heart to protect himself and keep himself from being truly vulnerable," Wood explained.

The smirk

"When he's talking about would it be embarrassing if he got caught, his eyebrow is raised dramatically, and he smirks - and that's an indication that he's asking for approval," said Gregory Hartley, author of the soon-to-be-released "Body Language Handbook."

"As soon as the audience starts to laugh, he knows it's okay. ...

"There's a part ... when he picks up his coffee mug after he gives his spiel with what happened, and he exhales, telling us he's thinking, 'Thank God that's over.'"