We humans are so sensitive to nonverbals

that we're actually seduced by them,

and we don't even understand why.

[intense, dramatic music] [camera clicking]

So here's a collection of mobsters

from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Let's look at the nonverbals and see what they tell us.

[camera clicking] [ominous, dramatic music]

So here's a photograph of Bugsy Siegel,

and just from the outfit he's wearing,

we can tell just how narcissistic he was,

how important it was to look right, to look sharp.

And yet, if we look closely at his face,

we know he's worried about something.

Even at about three weeks of age,

we know that babies will focus on the eyes and the glabella.

Interestingly enough, Botox affects this area,

and there's actually ample research now

that it affects relationships

because we can't pick up on the behaviors.

[camera clicking] [ominous, dramatic music]

We look at photographs of these other guys

and we make them bigger than they really are.

And here, if we were to block the face,

you notice how this gangster is giving himself a self-hug,

he's insecure, he's just been arrested.

They're not these mythical figures,

they're just like anybody else,

they just have a gun to hurt you with.

[camera clicking] [tense, ominous music]

One of the things that stands out

is how often they looked very stoic,

and they did this on purpose.

They knew that these photographs would be published,

and one of the things that they wanted to convey

was that they were not a rat.

And so in their photographs, you see this very stoic look,

not very friendly, not very kind,

the tough guy that they've always been.

[camera clicking] [tense, dramatic music]

Invariably you see things that give 'em away.

Now, here you see a gangster, he's been arrested,

and he's pulling up on his socks.

And what's interesting is how often

we pull up on our socks because we're ventilating ourselves.

The skin overheats, especially around the legs

and the feet, and so we ventilate that way.

[camera clicking]

Some situations are so painful.

Here we have a mobster under arrest,

and you notice that his eyes are closed,

he's pinching the top of his nose,

and this is a universal behavior

that I really don't like the situation I'm in,

or what I'm looking at.

Most often, when we don't like something,

the nasalis muscle, the muscle right above the nose,

we tend to wrinkle it.

But we don't realize we're doing it sometimes.

[camera clicking] Here's one

of the mafiosesi on trial,

and they may pretend that they're tough,

and they may pretend everything is fine,

but when you look at his attorney

and you see those compressed lips,

the corners down, he knows that my guy's going to prison,

and the nonverbals clearly reflect that.

You often see people testifying before congress

and you see a lot of lip compression.

That's because of stress.

[camera clicking] And when we look at faces,

we don't realize how often

we're giving information away, as in this photograph,

where you see the furrowing of the glabella,

you see the pursed lips, this guy really doesn't like

the situation he's in.

And so they're tough buys, they brag a lot,

but in the end they always reveal something

about what's going on.

There's a saying that you can ruin

the most perfect mountain view

by reducing it to the physics of light on the optic nerve.

That's what I do with a face.

To the average person, this would seem like hard work,

but it really becomes like software

running in the background.

I don't think about it, it's just something

that I'm constantly doing at any one time

and that's how I analyze people.

[gentle music]