According to Professor Jane Carlin, of Sacred Heart University, Thursday?s vice presidential debate should not only be listened to, but watched very closely.

Carlin, a professor of communications, says body language may reveal important details about who Joe Biden and Sarah Palin are as speakers, as politicians and as people.

An example Carlin gave was finger pointing, a body language device she says Biden should be careful not to use, while Palin may use it with great success.

?If I point at you, it's probably accusatory,? Carlin says. ?Biden will have to be very careful, and not point. [Palin] will need to assert herself as an authority, she will probably do a lot of accusatory pointing.?

Carlin also says that jotting notes ? real or fake ? can give the candidates a way to stall for time that looks purposeful, rather than lost.

While body language can help achieve the desired dynamic each candidate covets, Carlin says the answers they give hold great importance in understanding where they stand on the issues.