Bill Gates was absolutely blindsided by a question about his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein
and even if he desperately tried to deflect the topic, he displayed very unsettling reactions.
Let's take a look into his words and gestures.
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Let's get down to it!
The clip about the Epstein questions is less than two minutes long, but it's important
to be aware of the entire development of the interview, because Judy Woodruff, the interviewer,
used a very interesting interrogation technique that you can you can use for yourself.
The whole interview lasted 14 minutes, and she divided it into four sections.
The first part was almost half of the interview, asking questions about vaccines and their
worldwide logistics.
We can say that this was a moderately pressing question, due to the topic itself.
Then, the next three minutes she switched the topic to climate change, which let's say
that is a longer term issue, so it's not that urgent as vaccines.
Then switched again for two minutes for questions about the Foundation itself.
If we see the structure as a graphic, we notice two things: first, that as the interview progressed,
the topics took less and less time.
And it's logical to guess that important topics take more time than the others.
At the same time, she put out the most delicate topic at first and left questions about the
foundation itself for last.
She was gradually lowering the intensity of the topics, just like the length.
So Judy was systematically relaxing Gates with her interview structure.
And only then, she dropped the bomb:
- You had a number of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.
Who, when you met him, 10 years ago, he was convicted from soliciting ... from minors.
What did you know about him when you were meeting him, as you said yourself, in the
hopes of raising money?
This is how you absolutely blindside someone with a question.
Gates could never see it coming.
And it shows in the way he answers:
- Uhm... you know, I had... dinners with him, I regret doing that, he had relationships
with people that he said, you know, would give to public health which is an interest
I have and there's not nearly enough philantrophy goes in that direction.
It was really easy to spot all the signals of nervousness.
He shifts his weight while sitting, he fiddles with his fingers, and... when he answers that
yes, he had dinners with him he looks to his right.
Which is odd, because he is talking about a memory, talking about the past, so his eyes
should drift to his left.
If someone is talking about the past and their eyes drift to the right, or creative side,
it's not necessarily that they are lying, but they are quickly imagining the implications
of their answer.
And he's also not answering the question.
Because Judy asked "What did you know about him when you were meeting him?"
But he answers that he regrets having those dinners with him.
But that was not the question.
Gates could have answered, "Well, I did not know much about him at the time", but that
would be a blatant lie, because we have to remember that Gates first met Epstein 3 years
after he had pleaded guilty to soliciting minors.
So Gates was well aware of who was this man.
Now, pay close attention at how he ends that first answer:
- Ah, those meetings were a mistake, they didn't result in what he purported and I cut
them off, you know that goes back a long time ago now, so there's nothing new on that.
He repeats that those meetings were a mistake, again, he's not answering the question.
And he ended that first answer trying to downplay its relevance.
It was a long time ago.
That is a deflection, very easy to spot.
But I don't know if you noticed something very creepy in the middle of the last clip,
right as he was talking about the outcome of those meetings.
His words say that the meeting were not as expected.
But his expression is of delight, and he rubs his hands like that gesture which means that
you are going to enjoy something or you enjoyed something.
If fact, his eyes drift a bit to his left at that point, so he was actually remembering
something, and he certainly enjoyed those first meetings.
Whatever happened there.
But Judy did not structure this whole interview to quit just like that.
So she charges again:
- It was reported that you continued to meet with him over several years, uhm... and in
another words a number of meetings, uhm... what did you do when you found out about his...
background?
Of course you spotted that knee jerk reaction of he denying with his head what Judy is saying,
that he kept on meeting with Epstein despite he already knew that was a dead end in terms
of philantropy.
But this is when you need to combine body language with verbal expression, because if
someone is going to really deny something, they will do it with their body and their
words at the same time.
Let's see if he really denies it with his words:
- Well, you know, I said, I regret having those dinners, and there's nothing, there's
absolutely nothing new on that.
I don't understand how Gates couldn't just answer the question.
The actual question was, what did you do when you found out about his background?
And a logical answer could have been, "well, I decided to cut all ties with him, even if
he kept proposing meetings that led to nowhere, so we had no more meetings".
This is the kind of questions that you make sure to practice with your PR team in case
they come up.
The funny thing is that Judy cut him some slack with the very last question of the interview.
It was a no brainer:
- Is there a lesson for you...? for anyone else looking at this...?
Anyone can come up with an answer for that.
"I think any organization must be very aware that some people are not that they claim to
be."
That's it!
But what did he answer, instead?
- Well, he's dead, so... uhm...
Okey... it reminds me of another Epstein friend's odd reaction about him being dead:
- Epstein's dead - Yes!
But to be fair, let's see what he was about to say next:
- Well, he's dead, so... uhm... in general, you always have to be very careful, you know,
I'm...
No.
Forget it.
That was a real mess.
"He's dead, so... in general, you always have to be very careful".
Careful with what?
careful with the people you meet?
careful with what you say?
careful with NOT hanging yourself?
- You know, we're very proud of what we've done, very proud of the work with the Foundation,
you know that... that's what I get up every day and focus on.
Again, it has absolutely nothing to do with what's being asked, and he's taking more and
more time to organize his own thoughts, even if the questions are getting easier.
I'm sure that Judy did not mean to kick a dead horse but she couldn't expect that Gates'
answers were going to be so vague and at the same time, with such nervous body language.
What you should take from this clip is the way she structured the whole interview to
make Gates relax, and then drop the bomb.
You can apply this for any kind of conversation, when you have to make a question that you
know it could upset the other person.
You beging talking and asking about related topics and slowly progress to the point when
the person thinks that the conversation is about to end, and then you just drop the question
and watch their reaction.
You do this because if the person shows defensiveness or is nervous, there is going to be too much
body language noise and you could misinterpret their reaction.
Making the person relax is like waiting for the water surface to settle so it's easier
to spot the tiniest movements and reactions.
I hope you apply it on your next conversation.
I've got more videos that you can check now to keep improving your skills reading human
behavior to detect hidden intentions.
And to refine your observation skills, don't forget to download my 100 body language tips
there.
Take care, my Body Language Buddies!