While a large audience waited to hear what Lance Armstrong would say in last weeks' Oprah interview, I was watching to see how he looked when he said it. But if any of us were waiting for a full confession, or signs of emotional contrition, we're going to have to wait for tonight's show.

Here's what I saw (and heard) that indicates withholding, not taking responsibility, and (in some cases) lying.

Head shakes "no" while making declarative statements. (One such place was when Armstrong was saying "I deserve it" when referring to the negative backlash he's facing.)

Nodding yes while declaring a negative. (Especially telling when he states, "It's not true.")

Compressed lips, licking lips, hand covering mouth and rubbing upper lip. All stress signals and signs of withholding or a disinclination to comment.

Protective gestures like grabbing his top leg and creating a barricade between him and Oprah.

Expressions of contempt — the unilateral expression in which one side of the mouth turns up.  (These were especially evident when Armstrong was discussing the UCI — the International Cycling Union).

Then there were a variety of verbal and nonverbal behaviors to minimize the severity of his actions, including:

Shoulder shrugs (as if to say, "no big deal").

Use of levity as an attempt to lighten the situation: "I may have called her (Betsy Andreas) a crazy bitch, but I never said she was fat."

Minimizing statements like, "I am flawed. I think we all have our flaws." On taking testosterone: "I almost felt justified  . . ." And in commenting on why Floyd Landis (his teammate and protege) went public with accusations, Armstrong states, "My comeback didn't sit well with Floyd." Later, when asked about the fact that he sued so many people who were being honest, Armstong labels it "a major flaw."

Instead of taking full responsibility, Armstrong uses distancing statements like "They have been hurt too badly," not "I hurt them too badly." Likewise, when discussing Emma O'Reilly, he says, "She's one of these people who got run over."

Instead of personalizing, he talks about why he sued so many people who were telling the truth, by saying his "territory, team, and reputation" were being threatened — not that he personally felt threatened.

Perhaps most telling of all, when Oprah asks if he sued O'Reilly, Armstrong answers: "To be honest, Oprah, we've sued so many people . . . "  (I am suspicious of anyone who begin a sentence with "to be honest," as they usually aren't going to be!)

Armstrong said he never felt like he was cheating during the years he used banned drugs to win the Tour de France seven times. "I had this exercise because I kept hearing I'm a drug cheat. I'm a cheat. I'm a cheater," Armstrong said. "And I went in and just looked up the definition of cheat. . . . And the definition of cheat is to gain an advantage on a rival or foe that they don't have. I didn't view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field."

I believe that he believes this to be true.

I don't believe him (hand rubbing, halting speech, etc.) when he denies pressuring other players to dope.

That's how I evaluate it. What did you see?

This article has also appeared at Forbes.com

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.
Keynote speaker and leadership communications coach. Leadership blogger for Forbes, expert contributor for the Washington Post's "On Leadership" column, business body language columnist for "the Market" magazine, and author of "The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help - or Hurt - How You Lead"and "The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work." Her latest book,  "The Truth About Lies in the Workplace: How to Spot Liars and How to Deal with Them" is available for  pre-order on Amazon.com

CGoman@CKG.com, Office: 510-526-1727, Berkeley, California

www.SilentLanguageOfLeaders.com