Mark Zuckerberg’s body language during Congress hearing analysed
ANALYSIS: MARK Zuckerberg spent 10 hours over two days presenting a near-perfect front, devoid of emotion, through his grilling before Congress until the tech titan began to fall apart.
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AFTER 10 hours of gruelling testimony over consecutive days before American’s most powerful politicians, Mark Zuckerberg’s well-trained, robotic and emotionless facade began to break down.
The Facebook CEO had been almost perfectly prepared for his US Congress hearing in presenting a poker faced approach through question after question and hour after hour.
But as Wednesday’s hearing, in which he made another shock revelation about possible breaches of privacy, came to a close the world’s sixth richest man began to crack, successfully worn down by a time-old tactic.
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News Corp asked body language expert Dr Louise Mahler to study Zuckerberg during his dramatic testimony to reveal what the tech titan was hiding.
Through all of the first day and much of the second, Zuckerberg was able to maintain such an inhuman demeanour that had many, including Jim Carey, humorously claiming he was an alien.
However the emotional wall he had successfully built up began to tumble down as the proceedings neared an end.
“Everybody looks so tired,” Dr Mahler said.
“Of course, this is one of the techniques of torture of the Spanish Inquisition and others — one of which is to sleep deprive. Under these circumstances, he is blinking faster and his mouth is tighter, which are his habitual responses.
“The only habit he has that he is restraining from is his hand ringing.”
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Previously Zuckerberg hid behind perfect body language during his testimony that almost managed to hide his true feelings and intentions.
The social network founder’s highly coached responses to repeated attacks upon him and his social network during the first day of questioning were those of “a weirdo”, Dr Louise Mahler says.
Zuckerberg appeared at ease as he dealt with questions that ranged from Russia’s attempts to influence US politics and the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that has engulfed his online creation.
Dr Mahler said she found it hard to believe how well Zuckerberg dealt with the intense questioning and scrutiny on the surface before her professional intuition kicked in.
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“You will usually see some expression at times like that, even in cases where people have been as heavily coached as he is. But to show no emotion whatsoever is unbelievable,” Dr Mahler told News Corp.
“There was no disgust, no happiness, no surprise. His face was immobile. No cheek movement, no mouth movement, no nodding. Nothing.
“If I didn’t know better I would think he had had his whole face injected with Botox for the last 10 years.
“The guy is a weirdo. He is a robot. He has unusually dysmorphic facial expressions.”
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Dr Mahler, who is also a vocal psychologist and boasts a PhD in business, a Masters of Applied Management in Service Managment and Innovation, is a Master Practioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and has a background as an Opera singer with the Vienna State Opera says Zuckerberg has a very special skill set.
“Four per cent of the population can beat a lie-detector test. They are generally considered psychopaths and I believe Zuckerberg fits into that category,” she said.
“He has an incredible ability not to show emotion. His cheeks were so still, his eyes were down.
“He usually blinks a lot and rubs his left hand but he did none of that. His resting position was amazing. He was so neutral. His left hand was resting on the table before him, he was gesturing gently with his right hand, he had a loose mouth, his body was straight, his breathing was normal.”
Dr Mahler said she believed Zuckerburg was “definitely on the spectrum”.
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WHAT WORE ZUCKERBERG DOWN
Dr Mahler said despite Zuckerberg’s apparently calm and unaffected demeanour that the situation he found him and his company in were getting to him.
“He did show insincerity in raising an eyebrow at times,” she said.
“I’m not saying he is necessarily lying because I don’t think he is. It might just been that he is contemptuous of the questions he is being asked.
“He is gulping as well, that is a giveaway. It is a sign he is drowning. Drowning in the emotional and stress of it all. Whether you are drowning in water or emotion the body can’t discern so it operates a gulping reflex.
“The throat closes when you are drowning, forcing you to gulp and Zuckerberg was doing this.
“People might think he is hiding something. But he isn’t trying to do that. He is trying to survive.
“The gulping is there and that shows he is distressed and depressed but he will be fine when this is all over.
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“He is incredibly intelligent in one area. He is superb when it comes to technology but he has no social skills.”
Dr Mahler had a message for Facebook users, especially those who are considering deleting their accounts.
“He is not normal. You are not dealing with a friend,” she said.
“In dealing with the conflict he has adopted a common response and one that I might teach to my clients: to acknowledge the situation Kung-fu style, go with it.
“And that is shown in his repeated responses such as ‘that is a good question’.
“It is a textbook response but Zuckerberg just takes it too far. He can’t help himself but be insincere. He offers complete neutrality, so there is nothing to interpret.”
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Dr Mahler suggested Zuckerberg adopt a new approach during his second day of testimony tomorrow.
“I have never seen such spooky neutrality,” she said.
“There is no stuttering, no umming, nothing. It is brilliant. It is perfect. But it is too perfect.
“They have taken all the rough edges out but they need to put some back. Not all of the rough edges are negative.
“He needs a touch of James Bond, the wry smile. He needs some personality.
“His replies are too sharp and that raises suspicions amongst everybody.”
Originally published as Mark Zuckerberg’s body language during Congress hearing analysed
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