
Trudeau pauses 21 seconds on question about Trump's actions [video] - colinprince
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1745421379773
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supernova87a
It was kind of odd or interesting, in that he was looking at the camera the
whole time for those 21 seconds.

Personally, if talking to another person, I would look down or away if
formulating (or trying to give the impression that I'm formulating) an answer.
Rather than look at the person uncomfortably (on the part of the other person)
for 21 seconds -- maybe that's because in person, if you look at someone and
say nothing for a long period it invites them to fill the gap and say
something instead.

Perhaps it's different or he thinks about it differently because he's looking
at a camera? Or it's a one-way press conference?

It does just look odd though. Not to say he shouldn't take time to answer
important questions -- and in fact more public figures should do this. But I
would just naturally think he would look down or away from the camera while
doing it, to indicate that some response is coming during the silence.

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ksaj
As someone who watches Trudeau every morning, I see this as his normal
mannerism. Sometimes when he translates his thoughts (he has to say most
things in both French and English) he does the same thing, although for a much
shorter duration. This was a bigger question, and one which he had to answer
with his usual tact and mindfulness in both languages.

He is always extremely careful with his words, and doesn't really hide it when
he is calculating his responses. The benefit of course is that he very seldom
speaks out of character or says things he didn't quite mean. Sometimes it
backfires if he translates from French to English first, causing him to come
up with great phrases like "speaking moistly" when describing ways Covid-19
can spread.

People used to make fun of his continuous "uh," but when you realize he grew
up in and around Quebec, that speech pattern makes sense as well. Quebec
French has a really specific sort of "errr" (my spelling does it no justice)
where English speakers would say "um" or "ah". He uses a sort of anglicized
version of that sound because it is the norm where he grew up.

Literally a lot of things in his mannerisms that people joke about or point
out as odd in some way come from Quebec. And others are because he does the
full translation in his head before speaking.

The 21 second pause is, for him, only unusual because of the duration. It
would be interesting to capture the thought process he was going through
before breaking trance to speak. It clearly was an answer he had difficulties
putting together in both languages while retaining his signature tact.

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codingdave
That was fascinating in his non-verbal cues even as the question was asked.
You could see him take a deep breath and let it out as soon as he realized
that it would be a a difficult question. He took the time to think through how
he wanted to respond, and gave clear indications that he was thinking it
through. He looked like he was struggling to form an answer, but was not in a
panic over it.

