Tiger's Apology Body Language Said It All

By Jo Piazza Posted Feb 19th 2010 04:56PM

Shame, shame, shame! That was the theme of Tiger Woods' 14-minute press conference/mea culpa on Friday afternoon. While verbally, Woods' expressed how wrong, foolish and selfish he had been, Tiger's body language spoke to the immense shame and humiliation he felt while having to publicly admit his wrongdoing. According to body language experts we spoke with about the Friday fiasco, Tiger was absolutely truthful and repentant. What they said after the jump!

"Shame causes a person to feel inferior to, and 'smaller' than, others -- something Tiger probably hasn't experienced much in recent years. But you can see his unconscious attempt to appear 'smaller' by the very subdued posture, and lack of gesturing," explains body language expert Vincent Harris. "The fact that Tiger was displaying non-verbal signs of shame only tells us he is humiliated by the disapproval of others, but not that he felt guilt about his actions before others knew about his behavior."

As Woods approached the podium alone, the fear in his eyes was obvious.

He was incredibly tense and fearful when he first walked out. Usually, his body language is limber and loose. In this case, he was upright and tight," explains Patti Wood, media coach and body language expert. "He looked like a deer in the headlights. He was truly terrified. The first look when he looked up was one of sheer fright and you can tell that by how much of the white you can see around his irises."

Tiger only held his head high when he talked about others, his wife, mother, fans and friends. The rest of the time, the level of his chin remained much lower, as if he were trying to put himself in a small box.

His pivotal moment of shame came when Tiger admitted that he had convinced himself that normal rules did not apply to him.

"At this point he brought his head down into a bow of submission and shame," Wood says.

He repeated his bow of submission when he admitted that for the past 45 days he has been getting help for his problems in rehab.

Tiger's body language also belied a distinct sincerity when he told the audience that Elin had never engaged in domestic violence against him.

"He was shaking his head no as he said it, so his subconscious was in agreement with what he was saying," Wood explains. "That was a true moment for him."

It was very apparent that the fallen phenom has been heavily coached through this speech, despite reading it off cue cards. After all, he did have 80 days to practice what he was going to say, and if there is anything Woods is good at (besides scoring waitresses), it is practicing.

Because he had been trained into submission, Woods was careful to keep his anger out of his speech, save for the part where he asked the media to leave his family alone.

"He was highly coached not to be mad," Wood says. "He was holding his body still, but you can tell he was holding in his emotions. His words were strong, but his delivery was not, which indicated he was trying to hold back."

But overall, experts agree Tiger was extraordinarily honest.

"Tiger looked straight into the eyes of his mother and friends as he expressed the shame he felt. His voice occasionally broke, but his intense directness and honesty about his infidelity is nothing we have ever seen before. He was 100 percent truthful about all he said," says psychologist and body language expert Kevin Hogan. "This was the strongest public apology I've ever seen -- for anything -- in 12 years of doing body language analysis."

Tags: tiger woods, Tiger Woods apology

Comments

(50)

Friday 19 February

By denverken

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WHAT HE MEANT::: "I'M SORRY I GOT CAUGHT". Now please go away,you overpaid, spoiled child of a man.

By Robin

You said it...just think. If Elin had done the same,,she would be out on the street with nothing...Why do men always expect women to overlook their bad behavior. I hope Elin takes him for all he is worth. Who wants damaged goods?

By disgusted

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I FOR ONE AM THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED WITH ANY PERSON IN THE LIME LIGHT.
THEY SEEM TO FEEL THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE IN THE LIME LIGHT THAT THEY ARE EXCUSABLE FROM ANY WRONG DOING. I AM ESPECIALLY DISGUSTED WITH TIGER WOODS. IF HE IS REALLY SINCERE THAN I HAVE JUST SPROUTED WINGS AND CAN FLY.

By Nancy

OK He did get caught and all can post what they will. Not sideing with him, however we are human and do error. Remember this..those of you who claim to live in glass houses!!!

By arizonaoso

Well said Nancy. Lets hope he puts the effort it needs into his treatment. His kids definitely deserve it.

By Elaine

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I AM THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED WITH ALL THESE SO-CALLED CELEBRITIES. THEY SEEM TO THINK THAT THE RULES ARE MADE FOR EVERYONE EXCEPT THEM. ESPCIALLY TIGER WOODS - HE IS JUST SORRY HE GOT CAUGHT. IF HE HAD THE CHANCE HE WOULD THE SAME THING AGAIN. HE HASN'T LEARNED ANYTHING. I CETAINLY DON'T FEEL SORRY FOR HIM.. HE GOT GOT EXACTLY WHAT HE ASKED FOR WHEN HE STARTED SCREWING AROUND.

By dennis

Yes, the rules do apply, to you Eldrick- just as they do to someone else less well known- such as myself, who, as a teen, served in the USAF with SAC amidst H bombs- the rules do apply to all of us EQUALLY :)

Saturday 20 February

By jim

Damn, Get over it.

By jjwil5

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Damn, Negros get over it.

By slim

you mean,darn white folks, get over it.

By Diddy

The only reason Tiger confess and apologized at this time, it is a part of his rehab program! Only time will tell the tale of the Tiger!

By liza-jane

yes,the rehab had everything to do with this public apology.
Rehab for sex-addit. It is a place to vent and cry over being caught for what he has done to his family and his followers.
Okay he aplolgied now that he has done this let it go and hopefully he will remain truthful, Elin will be the one to end this marriage and it will happen with in given time!

Thursday 04 March

By gary

MAH MAN!!!!!!!!!

By Mike

What do you mean men expect women to overlook us. If his wife
cheated women would say it was love and call it bridges of madison county.

By Hank

Why does anyone care? I don't give a rat's behind who he screws, although his taste in women was not up to A-List standards. When he gets back to the game and plays hard and wins, that's all that matters-. If you self-righteous ones out there would take a moment to reflect that about 50% of marriages end in divorce and at least that many have infidelity as a cause, why make it a big deal because he's a great golfer and rich? Seems Americans always want to see those they put up on pedestals fail. If that's the case, maybe it is you all that need the therapy.

By lynn

YOU ARE RIGHT..

By steve-0

The poor millionaire !!! I've heard that he is personally an arrogant guy so screw him.

By sirboss

Tiger's Apology Body Language Said It All, he was walking away pitching a TENT!!!

By russ moore

No matter how much he wants to deny it, Tiger is just another dirty N that thinks he is above the law.
His fans and his wife now know the truth now!

By DorothyMoore

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I see a Man deeply sorrowful for his actions ..he is a fine man and had too many temptations throw in front of him .. when you reach his plateau in life you think you deserve it all... he is now finding out the hard way losing his wife and children as it were... I pray they can be adult and strong he and his wife for their beautiful Children rise above this horrid lifestyle he fell into ... you can see it for what it was ..
May God bring them back to reality and each other ...

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