Yes, I’m serious: turn off the sound when watching an election debate on TV. You will see as much as you can just look. That crooked smile, the disapproving look, the fidgeting hands, these non-verbal signals form the second conversation in the debate. It provides information about the relationships between politicians, their motivations and emotions that they experience in the moment.
What can you pay attention to? First of all, the signals of stress. Of course it is very understandable if a politician has to represent his party in front of an audience of millions. Who has this stress most under control? You can see this, for example, by blinking the eyes and sticking out the tongue. You will only notice the sticking out of the tongue with the sound turned off; it is usually a sign of stress because our mouth becomes drier and we stick out our tongue to activate our salivary glands.
As a voter, you can probably appreciate showing respect. Then you see someone tilting their head slightly. He then offers his ear, as it were, first and only then responds. The opposite is when someone is already gasping for air and can’t wait to respond. Something that Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) can sometimes do.
How can Yesilgöz increase confidence in her person? By sitting back instead of on the edge of her seat, ready to give a sharp answer with wide eyes.
Who do you trust the most? With the dramatic figures from polls about trust in politics, it is important to pay extra attention to this. For signals of reliability, pay attention to closing your eyes longer than usual. When this is shown, much of what is going on in the mind of the politician in question is not expressed.
And what if non-verbal communication and verbal communication contradict each other? Then of course it gets really interesting. One of the most common signs of non-congruence is shaking ‘no’ and saying ‘yes’ at the same time or vice versa. I then advise you to believe the non-verbal signal.
It is better not to continue to follow the debate in its entirety. That non-verbal communication is 80 or even 93 percent of communication is a myth. Otherwise you would never have to listen to politicians again. And that is an unwise thing.
But it remains interesting to watch. What does Wilders do when he can no longer draw as he does so much in the House of Representatives? Where does he turn his eyes and stick his tongue in his cheek? His characteristic non-verbal signal, have you ever seen that with the sound on? This is self-calming behavior with rising emotion.
How can Timmermans strengthen his declining popularity outside his own party? My advice is to pay attention to his use of voice. Because with his increasingly higher and sometimes almost cracking voice, he pleads his case just a little too loudly; impact reducing. And finally, how can Bontenbal leverage its momentum? Staying true to yourself because that already has a lot of results. If stress does get to him, pay attention to the top three signals: blinking, sticking out tongue and self-soothing behavior.
Body language expert
Politics
Empty language
At school you learn early on: if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t actually understand it. And if you are a little older, you know: you can put a lot into terms such as ‘liberalism’ and ‘democratic constitutional state’. Some would say: you can live in it.
Yet these lessons seem to be lost on some politicians. During the General Deliberations, Esther Ouwehand (PvdD) stated: “When our democratic constitutional state squeaks and creaks under the attacks of the radical right and their allies, then it is your duty to speak out against it.”
That sounds very nice. But without explanation it remains an empty refrain. Cees van de Sanden, the member of the Senate who left the VVD this month, spoke of “a party that is no longer liberal”. He called the VVD’s migration position “legally impossible and completely undesirable from a liberal perspective.” He then stated that he “saw things almost every day that he could not explain to himself, let alone to others. If you sit there and keep your mouth shut, then you are partly to blame.” As far as I am concerned, it is mainly a missed opportunity that the senator kept his mouth shut about the reasons for his departure. Because why is the VVD no longer liberal? And what does being liberal actually mean according to him? In the interview, the senator did not go beyond “freedom, responsibility, tolerance, social justice and equality.” Values that are so broad that almost everyone endorses them. The problem with abstract language is that it is empty in itself. Conceptual concepts require not only technical explanation, but also imagination. Ultimately, they must speak to the hearts. And if values lose their self-evidence, they should not be parroted. Then they must be provided with content again. Words only gain meaning through accurate analysis, in colorful language. That’s quite difficult, in an age of flashy fragments, where TikTok rules and attention spans are shorter than ever.
Some politicians therefore fall back on a historical parallel. For example, Ouwehand referred in her story to a poem by a student murdered in the Second World War. But unfortunately, even the worst terror can become meaningless without actual context. George Orwell wrote in 1946: “the word fascism now has no meaning, except that it indicates that something is ‘undesirable’.” Political craftsmanship is about creating a meaningful story. Without technology, and without vague language. The democratic constitutional state is not a theoretical structure. It is the house in which we all live. Anyone who wants to defend that house must be able to explain where the walls are, how the windows can be opened, and what happens if the roof leaks. And anyone who fails to do so creates the suspicion that they do not actually know where they live. The upcoming TV debates offer an opportunity for repair. I challenge all politicians: come home late, that hollow banging. Show me what moves you and why you are here. The house is made of paper and old letters. Anyone who cannot illustrate that imagery is doomed to clearing up the mess.
Amsterdam
Politics
The scapegoat is back
To my great frustration, Geert Wilders (PVV) repeatedly engages in scapegoat politics in his election manifesto. How good it would have been if party leaders could confront Wilders with this distraction strategy during an election debate.
In its vision on education, for example, the PVV does not find solutions to the actual problem: the lack of basic skills. Wilders’ main concern is that left-liberal (sexual) indoctrination hinders the quality of education. As a result, the party does not describe the means by which language and arithmetic can again become the basis of education.
Election programs from other parties are undoubtedly more constructive in nature. The SP advocates more educational assistance to increase learning performance. The VVD is committed to a curriculum revision with arithmetic and language skills in every school subject.
In both cases the question arises how this policy can be achieved. Nevertheless, these parties make proposals for concrete measures to improve the quality of education. And more importantly, they rely on the enthusiasm and expertise of teachers. Because of them, we teachers are not dismissed as left-liberal child whisperers.
The PVV’s detailed measures include the abolition of Spring Fever Week, a ban on the protection of Islamic education, exclusively Dutch bachelor’s degree programs and the dismissal or expulsion of educational staff who participate in violent demonstrations. The language and arithmetic deficits are mentioned, but practical solutions are not provided.
With the aforementioned proposals, Wilders tries to reinforce his extreme right-wing profile within the chosen left-liberal indoctrination frame.
‘s-Hertogenbosch
Politics
Everyone works hard
A message to the VVD. Finally stop talking about that ‘hardworking Dutchman’. Because we are all doing our best.
Also the women on social assistance with children, who cannot find a job, but have to take care of their children and make ends meet. Also the sick, who can no longer or hardly work. Also the young people, who want to work, and sometimes cannot find a job. Also immigrants from mainly Eastern European countries who work hard, and often do work that many Dutch people do not want to do.
Finally, the elderly, who at the end of their lives assist others with advice and assistance and can pass on their wisdom. Wisdom that the VVD apparently desperately needs.
Reeuwijk
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