What Do The Mayoral Candidates Gestures Say About Them?

With the city election just days away, most of us who are interested in the November 13th vote have long since learned what the major mayoral candidates have to say.

But does their body language also speak volumes?

To find out, we took an expert to one of the last debates on Wednesday night.

Mark Bowden bills himself as a body language expert, and peered intently at David Miller, Jane Pitfield and Stephen LeDrew as they answered the usual questions about crime, taxes and transit.

He believes how the candidates move is almost as important as what they actually say.

“We make most of our decisions on another human being by what we see and what we hear in the tone of their voice, which is affected by what they do with their body,” he claims.

He notes that of all the frontrunners, LeDrew seems the most casual, leaning back quite often during the intense questioning.

Bowden interprets that as indecisiveness. “He really kind of steps back from stuff, but he does kind of want it but he doesn’t know where he stands on it,” he reads.

LeDrew’s reaction? “Well, you could be serious about the issues and still have a laugh every now and then. It’s important. If you take yourself too seriously, then you’re pompous.”

If anything, Pitfield seems to be just the opposite, intently stabbing the air with her fist to make a point as she argues for your vote next week.

“She’s leaning on the table. She’s crossing her legs. I think she feels like she’s not in the running,” Bowden suggests.

Pitfield admits she’s noticed her gestures and has changed her ways. “Now I don’t point my finger,” she relates. “I just do this,” she demonstrates, making a fist.

And then there’s David Miller, who may have the race literally in hand. Because he moves his continuously every time he talks.

“It says that he’s more confident,” Bowden concludes. “He uses his hands in a very open way. He opens out his chest.”

“I just can’t help it,” Miller responds. “I’ve always talked with my hands.”

In the end, though, it’s what you do with your hands that will really tell this tale. You’ll be able to use them to mark your “X” on Monday. Then tune in to CityNews and CP24 at 8pm to find out how the three top guns responded to your gestures.