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It wasn't just what the president said – it was the way he said it that made him look purposeful and visionary
Barack Obama's address in the Great Hall of Westminster struck all the right chords. But it wasn't just what he said that was so impressive – or the way he verbally bound our two nations together – it was also the image that he projected of a confident president and a trusted and true friend of the United Kingdom.
Obama sounds like a man of authority because his delivery is word perfect. There are no disfluencies, no ums and ers to suggest anxiety, and his diction is slow and measured.
Slow speech speed is a convincing index of authority because it's only the powerful who have the confidence to keep their audience in suspense, while less certain individuals rattle through their speeches, worried that they may be wasting other people's time.
Obama also has the advantage of a deep voice – another sign of dominance and leadership material.
Similar messages about power are conveyed by Obama's body language, especially by what he does with his chin. If you watch him closely you'll spot his characteristic jaw-jut.
This makes him look visionary, like a man with his eyes fixed on the distant horizon, but its real purpose is to make him appear tough and determined, someone who can take it on the chin. It's no coincidence that the jaw-jut appeals to politicians such as Obama, because men with larger chins have higher levels of testosterone, and they're judged by others to have greater leadership potential.
The assembled audience couldn't get enough of Obama. After a lengthy standing ovation, he made his way through the hall, smiling broadly and shaking hands, while people positioned themselves in the hope of exchanging a few words and being patted by the president.
The historical setting for this great occasion, with the ancient hammerbeam roof arching overhead, reminded me of the timeless and irrepressible urge that people have to connect with powerful individuals and to be physically touched by them. In the middle ages it was widely believed that scrofula, an infection of the lymph nodes in the neck, could be cured by the "royal touch".
Nowadays no one believes that ailments can be cured by physical contact with a reigning monarch. But this doesn't stop them reaching out to shake hands with the powerful, in the hope that some of the magic may rub off on them.
