The expert sees a clear difference in Stubb’s gestures depending on which language he uses.
The president of the Republic Alexander Stubb is currently on his first state visit to Sweden. Iltalehti asked for a body language expert Niko Visuria to judge Stubb’s gestures. Visuri watched Stubb’s media conference and some other videos from Stubb’s visit.
– I see here somewhat similar gestures that were already seen at the inauguration of the president in the parliament. He has this gesture where he is dating hands and fingers, as if dating a ring, which can indicate excitement.
Visuri points out that the gesture in question can also indicate enthusiasm, or that you are a little impatiently waiting for your turn to answer.
– Sometimes he has his eyes closed, which usually indicates concentration. Sometimes it feels like he’s giving a presentation or a lecture. But he doesn’t exactly teach.
How is it different from Niinistö?
Visuri says that the biggest differences between Stubb and the previous president of Finland Sauli Niinistön sometimes it’s that Stubb takes a more direct stand on things than he does.
– I don’t know if the questions were given to him in advance, but he will have clear positions on, for example, foreign policy issues. He went into those discussions in great detail and clearly has a strong knowledge base that he opens up.
– So is Niinistö, but I think Stubb goes into even more details, Visuri states.
The story continues after the picture.
Stubbit and the Swedish royal couple on Tuesday. Inka Soveri
Visuri also watched a video clip in which Stubb greets the children and takes group photos with them.
– The host family, i.e. the king and queen, took a backseat when Stubb met the Finnish children. The video shows the relaxed and boyish president Stubb, but Niinistök also knew how to take over the audience and equally the children and young people as well.
Different gestures in different languages
Visuri says that he notices that Stubb’s sign language changes when he changes speaking from Finnish to Swedish.
– In Finnish, he listened and answered, and there was that touching of the fingers and the gesture of excitement, he was restrained. When he got the question in Swedish, his hands started gesturing more and he started emphasizing more with his hands.
Stubb is bilingual. According to the Office of the President of the Republic, he has always spoken Finnish with his mother and brother and Swedish with his father. He moved to a Swedish language school in the fourth grade of elementary school.
Visuri says that he finds it exciting to follow the new president and the institution’s new communication methods.
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