Meghan Markle has done many public speeches, and in 2016, before she was catapulted into the fame she has today, she appeared at Create & Cultivate’s blogger conference in Atlanta. Meghan, who was at the time working as an actress in Suits and writing on her website The Tig, was given a platform to discuss her experiences and share knowledge about the industry. A clip has resurfaced of the event, showing an awkward moment when a Q&A was opened up to the floor and there was a very obvious silence. Express.co.uk spoke exclusively to body language expert Judi James, who analysed the footage and gave her thoughts.
The host, who was sitting across from Meghan said: “So we’re going to take a few questions from the audience… who has a question?”
Meghan interrupted: “They have no questions they just want their cocktails,” and the host added: “I think you dropped all the knowledge.”
Meghan continued: “I’m a chatty gal, I know.” Silence then followed before the host reiterated: “No questions? Guys?”
“Not even a question about Mike Ross, that surprises me!” Meghan laughed. I got to tell you, there’s nowhere I can go without people going – oh! There we go. Please tell me it’s not a Mike Ross question.”
The host said: “We’re going to get you a mic. We’re going to have to get more drinks in you guys, loosen you up – just kidding.”
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Meghan continued: “I swear four people asked me ‘Do you want some champagne? Do you want some champagne? Meghan, do you want some champagne?’ I was like ‘no I’m good, no I’m good’. And then it just appeared.”
“We should’ve got your wine, it would’ve been so appropriate,” the host commented, referencing her love of Tignanello which her website The Tig was named. Meghan added: “No, bubbles are always a win,” before turning to the lady in the audience and asking: “Hi, what’s your name?”
The lady then asked Meghan: “Today I’ve noticed that we’ve talked a lot about motivation, and following your gut. Meghan, I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about the very conservative type of business, that’s very much alive. And how you manage feminism and being feminine.”
Meghan replied: “Oh this one is so interesting, and that’s a great question, thank you. And it’s not about Mike Ross!
“I just think they are not mutually exclusive – for those of you that didn’t hear, she was asking how you balance being a feminist and being feminine, and I had written an article for the Irish Independent, which is a big newspaper in Ireland, about that exact thing because I had been really fortunate enough to meet with a lot of incredibly powerful women…
“Of course, you can still be a woman, and want to present yourself well, and look beautiful, and it doesn’t lessen the fact you’re standing up for something that’s incredibly important…”
Judi watched the clip and said: “This is an awkward moment, with Meghan showing some of the more dominant, leadership skills to take over when the session risks giving the impression of falling flat when there are no questions at the end.
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“She throws in the phrase ‘I’m a chatty girl’ with the use of ‘girl’ breaking feminist ‘rules’ but maybe being used rather than ‘woman’ to make herself sound more approachable,” Judi suggested.
“The phrase ‘There’s nowhere I can go without people going…’ smartly suggests she is used to being mobbed with questions, making the silence in the room sound like a rarity.
“Although she takes over and manages the moment there are several gestures of anxiety or tension from her here though, like stuffing her hand into the hole in her ripped jeans; hiding her face with her hand; a nervous laugh and a scratching of her nose.
“Her status re-boot seems to continue when she finally gets to answer a question. Meghan very deftly re-builds her brand via some name and event-dropping that puts her squarely back in A-list status again after the no-questions wobble,” the expert opined.
