ACT 2 - IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S THE WAY THAT YOU SAY IT!!

The stage has been set and the 2nd act has begun. Clegg was certainly centre stage last week, but as with all good pantomimes, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to take over.

Brown and Cameron had certainly learned from Clegg’s ‘star’ performance during the 1st debate and adopted some of their own body language ‘tricks’ this week.

Both Brown and Cameron had picked up on Clegg’s eye contact with the camera and copied it (monkey see, monkey do) and did you notice they all remembered to use the names of the audience participants? The subliminal message being “I heard you, I listened to you”.

They were all animated and ‘acted out’ their roles well. I wonder why the camera mostly focused on just their head and shoulders though? It meant there was less advantage to any one person who had better body language.

I suppose more importantly, what do they need to do to secure votes in the finale next week?

Well maybe we should focus on what they shouldn’t do. Did you know that when you lie, chemicals known as catecholamines are released, which makes the tissue inside the nose swell? So, that fable about Pinocchio is actually based upon the truth. Watch out for the nose touching. When the chemicals are released it creates a tingling in the nose, which often results in a rubbing action to the nose.

Do you remember the three wise monkeys? Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

What does touching your ears mean? It’s a way of blocking out what you don’t want to hear, so when you see someone pulling their ear lobe or touching around their ear, they probably don’t believe in what they are hearing (it could even be something they are saying themselves that they don’t believe in).

What about touching your eyes? This is a subliminal way of blocking out deceit. Men generally rub their eyes quite hard if the lie is a big one. So watch out for the big whoppers.

How about touching or covering your mouth? Well this is usually associated with deceit or lying. The brain is trying to stop those nasty little words escaping. Sometimes, alongside the mouth touch is a ‘fake’ cough. This is an attempt to ‘cover up’ the mouth touch.

So, next week watch out for the three wise monkeys and check out who might not be telling the whole truth!