Body Language Expert Can Tell With 90% Accuracy If Person Sitting

NEW YORK—Explaining why she was in such high demand as an expert witness in courtrooms and as an analyst on news programs, body language specialist Linda Rothbaum told reporters Wednesday that she could discern with almost 90% accuracy whether a person was sitting. “While there’s always room for error, my training in the messages conveyed by body movements allows me to determine with exceptional precision if someone is in a standing position or a seated position,” said Rothbaum, who is renowned for her analysis of the nonverbal communication used by top celebrities and political figures, particularly with regard to what it can reveal about whether they are upright and placing the weight of their body upon their feet or in a more relaxed posture and resting upon a chair. “It might seem baffling to a layperson that I am able to decode human musculature to the extent that I can determine with a high degree of confidence when an individual is situated on a bench or sofa. I’ll just say the first thing to look for is whether a person’s thighs are vertical or horizontal. That will tell you a lot right there.” Rothbaum added that her 10% error rate was mostly the result of misinterpreting the body language of people who were squatting, lying on a bed, or flying headlong down a flight of stairs.