BODY LANGUAGE IN THE WORKPLACE

WHAT YOU SEE IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

In business, as well as in television, how one looks becomes

all important. There are lessons that businesspeople can learn

from television techniques.

CREATING THE RIGHT IMAGE
FOR ANY SITUATION
A statement by Michael K. Deaver, who used to manage President
Reagan's news conferences, holds a key to projecting an image
with a serious and dramatic subtext. Deaver had Reagan stand
in front of the open doors of the East Room for press conferences,
because it made the president appear livelier and more substantive.
"The open doors with the light coming across the hall makes a
much better picture," Mr. Deaver told reporters. Moving the lectern
away from the open door was, in Mr. Deaver's opinion, unwise—
telegenically speaking.
In politics, we see an example of subtext at work. How the
president looks sends a strong subtext to the television viewer no
matter what he says! Margaret Mead, the great anthropologist,
was aware of this. She once told me that her advice to President
Carter was, "It doesn't matter what you say. What's important is
how you look."
Television critic John Corry recognized the importance of subtext
in politics. He pointed out that Reagan's campaign used visual
effects that were very strong and sent a clear image of patriotism.
There were flags, waving placards, balloons rising up in clouds,
and, at his 1981 inaugural, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic." President Reagan himself
was so moved that he cried. It worked!

The paradox of television campaigning, according to John Corry,