I spoke recently at a conference of PR Directors in Singapore, where delegates discussed the aftermath of the bus hijacking in Manila in which eight Hong Kong tourists died.
Rather than the management of the hijack itself, which received blanket criticism in the media and in diplomatic circles, the feature of the crisis that was uppermost in the delegates minds was the demeanour of the President of the Phillipines, Benigno Aquino, who appeared to smile while making a grave statement in response to the tragedy . If you look at the discussion below the video clip, it's all focussed on the President's facial expression and why he smiled. It may have been nervousness, but it led to the smile being a negative focus of attention and not what was intended as a sombre message of tough action by the Phillipines Government.
Delegates compared his performance with that of the Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, whose grave delivery and measured words commanded respect. He described the incident as "disappointing" - an understatement almost certainly designed to avoid raising tension in Hong Kong, where there was growing public anger and where large numbers of Phillipine citizens live and work.
There were two lessons from the discussion: firstly that facial expression, demeanour, posture and general appearance will define how your words are judged. Secondly, you need to train and prepare for such a moment.
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