In the past, duels were held with pistols and in a secluded location away from prying eyes. Today they have no weapons in the literal sense of the word, but take place in the public square, which makes them even more dangerous. The duel between the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, that we witnessed this week was one of them – especially with regard to verbal and non-verbal communication.
To explain it, I propose to start, in temporal order, with António Costa’s speech, which was undoubtedly very well prepared. It is, of course, to be expected from a speech of this importance, but it seems that in this particular case special attention was paid to every detail – from the choice of place where the announcement was made to the words and manner of gestures. For example, sentences such as “I have tried to inform myself in detail” or “the intelligence services and the criminal investigation department have acted within the framework of their understanding of their own powers” are not exactly easy and betray a meticulous preparation of the moment . And they even raise questions: have you had (discreet) help from a teleprompter?
The places where both announcements took place do not seem to be coincidental either. The Prime Minister opted for a speech without a pulpit, with no notes in hand and at the door of ‘home’ – all to convey an image of transparency, security and intimacy. He appealed to his conscience several times (“I give priority to my conscience”) and at one point he hinted that he spoke mainly as a citizen, as a common man and not as head of government (“the responsibility is mine , only mine, exclusively mine,” he emphasized during the speech).
One question: did you see the Prime Minister gesturing during the first part of the statement? Me neither. He spoke with his hands “tied” to himself – something that is not typical of his communication style. We don’t know if it was an instinctive way to protect oneself from a difficult situation or a strategy to maintain focus and self-control. But we all thought it went really well. He managed to concentrate only on what he was saying (and not on what he was doing with his hands), to think over every word (he spoke much more slowly than usual), conveying an image of conviction and security, without leave for improvisation.
It was curious to see how the gesture pattern changed according to the subjects. Talking about the duty of government, the “serious accusation” against the Minister of Infrastructure and his cooperation with the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, the disagreements with the President of the Republic in the past, the future and his duty to make decisions, the hands gestured in their usual pattern. Here he seemed at ease and convinced of what he was saying. But not so much when he talked about the credibility of the ministry, the timing of the resignations and the TAP privatization process. will you? I doubt. The body is more likely to respond to the complexity of the issues and reveal a personal belief that conflicts with what it said.
Another strategy he used to stay focused, both ours and his, was to speak slowly. This gave the audience time to process what he said and, most importantly, was given the opportunity to think about what he was going to say next and choose (remember?) each word carefully. Did it work? Doubtless. He reinforced the atmosphere of security and avoided a “slurred” speech, as has happened on a few occasions. Paused speech guarantees more self-control, but also makes it easier to notice flaws: when he suddenly stated that it was the chief of staff who had called the authorities, he stopped, stuttering, making those listening to the speech realize that he was not was in line with what he had said earlier (in the previous version, unidentified members of the cabinet had reported to the authorities what had happened, but a few hours later we learned that it was the minister who had called the judicial police).
And was he concerned that the President of the Republic had a different opinion on the continuity of Minister João Galamba? António Costa confined himself to saying that he “by nature” respected the opinion of the President of the Republic. Unfortunately, the agency did not follow this statement. Just look at the shoulders, which rose at the decisive moment. This “shrug” gesture means “I don’t know, I’m not sure,” and when it appears along with words of affirmation, it always raises some doubt about what is being said. That is, a warning: here the nonverbal behavior is incongruent with the speech.
A duel requires two partners and the reply from the President of the Republic arrived within the next 48 hours, as good protocol rules (and public opinion) require, and after an unexpectedly enjoyed dinner and ice cream, the day before, outside the palace . He chose to speak from behind a pulpit, with the symbol of the presidency at the front and two flags at the back, as expected in an official statement from the state’s most important figure. He spoke primarily as a president addressing his citizens, and not as Marcelo, a citizen and common man (or as a “commentator”, as the prime minister had apparently called him).
He showed equal care in preparation, even insisting that the speech be written down on paper. By reading the text he gained precision, without the risk of saying what he did not want, as had happened with the Prime Minister. But a written speech usually leads to longer and more complex sentences, which make it difficult to understand and, more importantly, to read – we saw Marcelo stop in the middle of some sentences, they were so long. In addition, a speech read aloud sounds very different from a spontaneous speech – it does not convey emotion. Still, the President of the Republic did his best to underline his speech with the dynamism and color he is used to.
Unlike the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic expressed his outrage at the Prime Minister’s decision not to fire the Minister. And here he left no doubt – everything in his voice and body amplified the verbal message. He even underlined that he will pay (even) more attention to the government’s work, and this was probably the strongest sentence in the whole speech and sounded like a warning to the head of government and a promise to the Portuguese people – the duel continues and the winner has yet to be determined.
Specialist in non-verbal communication
Source: DN
