Interviewers Forgetting a Cardinal Rule: Never Ever Have One of Your Palms Cradle The Jaw While Speaking

I would perhaps be insulting you if I were to make the following most basic, most obvious, most rudimentary statement: To ensure that your speech is perfectly clear and 100% intelligble, never ever rest your jaw in the palm of your hand while speaking because the hand will work like a straightjacket and affect your enunciation.

Yet, time and again, I see television interviewers lower their guard and suddenly have a hand cradling the jaw, as long-time PBS interviewer Evan Smith did just a few minutes ago in a program aired on Houston's Channel 8 from 11:00 to 11:30 p.m. this evening. And guess what! The moment he let his jaw rest on one of his hands--and this happened toward the fag end of the interview--some of his words immediately became unintelligble. Amazing! You'd think these highly experienced interviewers would know better.