Confidence: Nonverbals

Nonverbal ways of building confidence have always been very important in our direct, face to face relationships with others.

However, with television, it's even more important for us to notice and understand " body language" and other nonverbal messages because they can be carefully crafted to project a good image of being trustworthy.

On TV, as the camera zooms in, close up on their faces, their eyes looking directly at you, the speakers seem to be talking to you, directly, individually. Although millions may be watching, people still have a unique one-to-one feeling with these TV personalities.

In the ads, the presenters are well trained in nonverbal communication skills. They are likely to give us the "sincere look" --the slight smile, the direct eye contact, the right tone of voice, the gestures with the open hand upheld.

All of these nonverbals help create the right mood or atmosphere, sometimes that of an relaxed conversation with a friend, or fatherly advice or motherly concern.

Smiles, of all human expressions, are perhaps the most effective and most complex. Advertising is the land of sunshine and smiles, so natural, nonchalant, sincere.

Voices -- of both the on-screen presenters and the off-screen voice-overs -- are important in TV ads. Often the same people are hired to speak, using certain kinds of voice tones, appropriate to the ad: friendly, mellow, soothing, pleasant, cheerful, folksy, reassuring, calm, firm, authoritative, soft, sexy, sad, or comforting.

Gestures are important: open hands, hugs, touches, pats on back, head nods, finger pointing, fist shaking, vivacious movements, fluid motions.

Background location and scenery, music and sounds, all nonverbals, help to create the overall mood or atmosphere of an ad. Presenters are dressed appropriately, whether formal or informal, stylish or common clothes.

Editing is very important. Photographers for still pictures may literally take hundreds of shots of an actor or a product in hopes of getting a good one. Actors trained and rehearsed to "look sincere" (nonchalant smiles, sympathetic head nods, open palms) can be videotaped, edited, tested, and re-edited -- until the final version is ready for the target audience. For TV ads, hours of filming or videotaping are taken for the few seconds of on-screen time so editors can select only the best footage.

In commercial ads, we don't see these poor images which are left on the cutting room floor. However, we can get some idea, if we compare the paid (and edited) ads for a political candidate with the relatively unedited and unrehearsed news footage of the same person.

Visual images and other nonverbals imply a message. Instead of direct explicit claims, the message is suggested indirectly.

Then, the audience infers. The audience "fills in the gaps." The audience co-creates.

Sometimes, the audience is set up to jump to the wrong conclusions.