Keep the Thumbs Exposed

Phil Ettinger attends the Cinema Society & 2(x)ist screening of 'Twelve' at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema on July 28, 2010 in New York City.

It shows a lack of confidence to not show our thumbs and besides it looks weird.◦

Keep the Thumbs Exposed

Joe Navarro Talks about Thumbs Up

Joe Navarro has a new book, Louder Than Words: Take Your Career from Average to Exceptional with the Hidden Power of Nonverbal Intelligence
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Joe Navarro Talks about Thumbs Up

Powerful Thumb

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reacts during a press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown inside 10 Downing Street on March 12, 2010 in London, England.

As we know, pointing is a negative gesture. Here we see a high confidence way to point without the negative associations.◦

Powerful Thumb

Who Is Into Who?

Heidi Montag and her husband Spencer Pratt show off their love for each other as well as for the paparazzi at the Borders Books & Music store in New York City, New York on November 16, 2009 for their new book launch. The two talk about their newest book “How To Be Famous” and their love for being tailed by the photographers.

We lean towards things we like, she is leaning towards him, but he is leaning away from her.

Another thing to look for is the direction of the feet, we point them in the direction we'd like to travel- hers pointing to him, while his is not as clear.

Also notice how he is hiding his thumbs- low confidence.

While he may be a good writer, it appears he doesn't use his body language to his advantage, and it is not matching his message.

On an aside, I may be living in the middle of the heartland, but I never heard of them or know what made them famous...◦

Who Is Into Who?

Confidence: Hands in Pocket, Thumbs Exposed

2009 American Music Awards Pre-Gala
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 21: Actor Allen Evangelista arrives at the 2009 American Music Awards pre-gala held at Club Nokia on November 21, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

Hiding hands is not the most confident thing to do, but if you put your hands in pocket keeping your thumbs exposed makes it a confidence gesture.

Compare that to the below picture...


LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 21: TV personality Jai Rodriguez arrives at the 2009 American Music Awards pre-gala held at Club Nokia on November 21, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.◦

Confidence: Hands in Pocket, Thumbs Exposed

Thinking

WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 07: New America Foundation's Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative co-director Peter Bergen prepares to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing about Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan on Capitol Hill October 7, 2009 in Washington, DC. On the eighth anniversary of the United States' invasion of Afghanistan, witnesses testified, and disagreed, about what affect a withdrawal of U.S. forces from that country would have on Al-Qaeda. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Anytime we see someone touching their temple it is a sign of thinking. Here we see the thumb help supporting the head. Anytime we see the head being supported by the hand it could be a sign of boredom.

At this point we need to look at the eyes and see if they are engaged, if they are engaged it is a sign of thinking; if they are glazed over it is a sign of boredom.

Since we see slight tightness in his lips and forehead we can be sure he is engaged and he is thinking.◦

Thinking

Ashlee Simpson on Set of Melrose Place in Los Angeles

Sep 23 2009
Ashlee Simpson is seen filming an episode of Melrose Place in Los Angeles. Picture by: MAP / Splash News

Here we see Ashlee hiding her thumbs, this is a low confidence gesture. She is looking down- from other pictures of the scene- we can determine this is a form of gaze aversion.



The other actor has his hands in his pocket, this means that he doesn't not want to be open or speaking with her.◦

Ashlee Simpson on Set of Melrose Place in Los Angeles

An Alternative to Finger Pointing

Aug 20 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a town hall meeting on healthcare at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee August 20, 2009 in Washington. UPI/Alex Wong/Pool Photo via Newscom

Finger pointing is a negative gesture that most consider rude and inappropriate, here President Obama has replaced the finger pointing gesture with this effective gesture that creates emotion- without the negativity. Also, showing your thumb(s) upward is also a sign of high confidence. ◦

An Alternative to Finger Pointing

Actor Yuval David Dominant and Virile Stance, or What?

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 30: Actor Yuval David attends the 4th Annual Independent Television Festival Opening Night Gala at the Laemmle Sunset 5 on July 30, 2009 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by John M. Heller/Getty Images)

You might recognize him from Days of our Lives...

If you see this stance in a bar...this is the most sexually aggressive posture a man can display. It highlights his genital region. When I teach body language and describe how a man could take this stance with their thumbs in the pocket or wrapped around their belt loop it always seems improbable that people really hold this stance. If you see this stance displayed towards a woman he is displaying interest- be sure to check the direction his feet are pointing.

Now to this picture and lets examine it in context. He is not attempting to be sexually aggressive. He is unclear what he should do with hands, and chooses this. Hiding his thumbs is a negative gesture. Think royalty, they may place their hands in pockets or on their lapels, but they almost always show their thumbs. Thumbs denote strength of character and ego and are often used to display dominance or even superiority. He'd be better off by putting is hands in his pocket, with his thumbs sticking out. A small change like this can make all the difference in the world of Hollywood perceptions.

Studies have shown that people wearing new, attractive clothing display thumbs more than those that are wearing older clothing...

He is displaying a social smile. Having a great social smile is one of the keys for success and longevity in Hollywood. He could make it better by tilting his head ever so slightly, (if he wanted to appear more sexual he would tilt it one way and if he wanted to appear more intelligent he would point it the opposite- but more on that in a different post) and smiling big enough so we can see about one third of the top and bottom of his teeth.

I will not apologize for being "rough" on this actor. He is no different than hundreds of others who I see and analyze on the red carpets... I recognize it is just one picture... but one of the hardest things for actors to do can be the red carpet. The biggest stars rarely have a problem with this and it comes second nature to them. They come off relaxed and confident and that is one of the reason we like to see them on TV and in movies. It is a tough business to be in; where image is everything; and to play any role or character you have to understand body language.◦

Actor Yuval David Dominant and Virile Stance, or What?