VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - From the most comfortable and confident to the most nervous and awkward;
News1130 is speaking with a body language expert about last night's debate.
Ric Phillips is a communications coach and president of
3V Communications in Toronto and says
Stephen Harper had the most positives. "When we look at who came off as comfortable speaking and who came off the most confident, Stephen Harper and
Jack Layton were the two most comfortable people. But Harper would have edged [Layton] out a bit."
He says Harper tended to answer his questions by looking directly at the camera. "It could be risky, some people may not like that. I'm sure the people in the room didn't like that."
Phillips says that technique can also have some negative effects. "If I was talking to someone and they weren't looking at me, I would be angry. And it doesn't come off as natural as it would if you were talking to someone eye to eye."
He notes over the years, Harper has started to look people in the eye more often than he used to.
As for
Michael Ignatieff, Phillips says he tends to stick to the "rule of three," which has its pros and cons. "He would structure three main points that are easy to remember. He would say, 'jets, jails, and corporate taxes.' However, I would caution that he doesn't over-use it, because it is this very technique that I saw it come up quite a lot."
Phillips says last night might have been a bit challenging for Bloc leader
Gilles Duceppe. "He wasn't able to promote a lot of what he wanted to say in a clear, calm way. I don't think he was able to get the message out there. One disadvantage is having English as a second language."
He says some politicians have body coaching, but there is no way every leader has a coach. In his opinion, if you wanted to rule the country, that would be one of the first things you'd look into because you'd want someone to make sure your message comes out as trustworthy, confident and clear.