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JessBarnett

Body Language Is Everything

Body Language Is Everything

Observations after watching Matt Lauer's Today interview of his then coworker Brian Williams after the truth surfaced about the latter's lies over the years during broadcasting:

  • Williams' stiff, almost robotic excuses for his lies responses to Lauer, such as, "This clearly came from a [pause] Bad Place, a bad urge" and "I think it must have been ego that made me do it"
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  • Williams' refusal to flat-out admit he lied or apologize (i.e., take credit for his mistakes) despite Lauer's repeated prompts for him to do just that
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  • Lauer's body language, which early in the interview shows his compassion and willingness to temporarily set aside his doubt of Williams and then morphs later into first disbelief and then near disdain as Williams continues to stop short of apologizing to his audience
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  • Williams' facial expressions, which remind one of a sociopath who knows what's required of him by society (I.E., AN APOLOGY AND ADMITTANCE OF GUILT) but who doesn't really feel like apologizing because deep down he doesn't really feel like he did anything wrong...
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The most telling part of the interview came toward the end:

Lauer: Did you give thought to going on the air at the time and saying, "I lied"?

Williams: [pause] I know why people would see it that way.

All screenshots were borrowed from NBC and are owned by that company.