[Politician: Barack Obama] Today Interview with Savannah Guthrie on Gun Control, the Budget, and North Korea

                           

                               Barack Obama: TODAY interview with Savannah Guthrie

                              April 16th, 2013

                              Savannah Guthrie sits down with President Obama to talk about some of the major stories making headlines recently, including whether Congress will pass new gun legislation, our tense relations with North Korea, and compromising with Republicans over the budget.

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Again in anothr interview, Obama is shown looking downward to the left. It is viable to say this is one of his baseline behaviors.  It would not be out of the ordinary as one would need to access the facts and ideas of rationality rather than creativity in the problems Obama assesses.

Once again this means self thinking and thinking logically.

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Also shown in the last interview is direct eye contact, in this interview there are only two types of eye behavior- direct eye contact and looking down to the left, eliminating looking down to the right as a baseline behavior.

Obama is being attentive and listening intently, as a professional would do during an interview. He does not waver, folly, or back down into submissiveness. 

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Interlocked fingers, as shown in the picture, are a sign of concern or anxiety. 

This is mildly so and not as intense as interlocking of the hands and hiding of the thumbs. 

Obama falters a bit when asked why he didn't take a definitive stance on gun control as he is asking others to do. 

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Another behavior that would be considered a baseline behavior for Obama is the excessive usage of gestures. This isn't negative by any means as it is proven that statements accompanied by gestures are more likely to be believed as truth, making it a handy tool for interviews. 

Gestures emphasize the points he wishes to express and get across.

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Raised eyebrows, although not used as much as gestures, is also a tool to add emphasize to his statements.

Obama raises his eyebrows more often and erratically in this interview than in the Bloomberg Exclusive Interview. 

With the topics of the interview, it is possible that he does this to be more believable and to make his statements "louder" than in Bloomberg. 

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The last interview shows Obama crossing his legs in the same manner.

This questions the belief that it is a gesture used to show openness, as the same leg is being crossed over the other.

This may just be a baseline behavior of comfort for Obama.

Side Note: He is more active in using behaviors that emphasize points. This behavior is likely caused by the differences in topics. The Bloomberg video covers information based mainly around the budget while this one hits topics of current interests such as war and violence.