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“Vladimir Putin’s body language sends signals that we rarely see from him. First of all: his speech about the victory over Nazi Germany is a typical Putin speech. Yes, it is a little more lively, it is a little more powerful. But it is still not a great speech. He is and remains simply not a great speaker, not a great enthusiast. However, his body language away from the big stage is very revealing.
We see him standing here in the group. Of course he is an alpha male. You can see how everyone gathers around him, looking for his gaze. He turns quickly to the left, quickly to the right. He leaves the group. People follow him. He smiles and looks into the audience. His gait is also very lively, and that signals lightness. And that is the exciting signal.
He may feel a boost from the progress in Ukraine. In any case, it is a signal to the population that conveys security and confidence. You often don’t see such signals from Vladimir Putin. But he wouldn’t be Vladimir Putin if he didn’t quickly slip into his typical posture. That is, bending your body a little forward, looking towards the ground and avoiding the audience as much as possible.
And that’s actually a wasted opportunity, because he could now wave for the cameras and the audience, make eye contact with the population, that would create closeness. No, he doesn’t do that. He’s always looking for a conversation. The contact with his confidant. But interestingly, always without making eye contact with them. An archaic principle. Men, more than women, look around more and make less eye contact.
And Vladimir Putin is a typical man. His posture when walking is also typically male – hunched over, as I said. But he also swings his arms very strongly. Yes, a little asymmetrical, there has been a lot of pseudo-scientific interpretation into it. There’s nothing to be gleaned from that. Almost everyone swings a little asymmetrically. And as we see here, asymmetry is not something stable.
He also keeps swinging with both arms. But what’s also noticeable is that when he swings his arms, he keeps the backs of his hands turned forward, and that promises strength. This underlines his masculinity once again. Why male? On average, men have better developed pectoralis muscles, i.e. chest muscles, and broad back muscles, latissimus dorsi. If they are well developed, the posture automatically turns forward.
That promises strength. But Vladimir Putin can also be very charming. He greets his military men in a typical politician’s manner: he shakes someone’s hand. But his gaze is already on the next person. This seems routine and not particularly close. But as soon as he gets to the veterans, he changes that. He stops with each one for a moment, shakes hands and is suddenly in sync with eye contact and shaking hands.
And then an incredible closeness arises. Yes, he even turns back once. And we must not overlook this: This attention, this body language presence is not only aimed at veterans. It is a signal to all Russians. ‘The veterans are important to me.’ And he reinforces that again. He sits next to two veterans, very attentive, with a relatively friendly face.
And with that he probably wants to put the military and veterans at the center. Overall, a typical Putin, but he also sends out a lot of signals of charm. And with that he will probably gain a lot of sympathy within Russia.”
