Lesson 2

Facial expressions and posture

Lesson 2. Facial expressions and posture

Hello! We will be discussing nonverbal communication in more

detail in our future lessons. For now, I would like us to
focus on appearance. You can use colors and clothing
In our previous lesson, we discussed how to influence style to emphasize your smile and win over the minds
your audience. Today, I would like to return to this and hearts of your listeners from the very first time
subject. they see you.
I often use my clothing as a complementary tool when
moderating discussions or giving reports. These, for RULES FOR USING YOUR APPEARANCE TO
instance (points to his white sneakers), are PUMA sneak- YOUR ADVANTAGE
ers, made in Germany. I don’t wear them to sporting
events. Quite the opposite. I first wore these shoes If you would like to give off a dominating appearance,
to a science forum in Berlin and paired them with a stick to dark colors: black, dark blue, or dark gray. Light
blue suit. I wanted the audience to notice my unusual and bright colors create the impression of an open and
choice of shoes, to elicit a reaction. Remember what friendly person. Warm shades and earth tones make
I said in the beginning of the previous lesson about people feel safe, protected, and at home. Light blue,
the importance of the right attitude and mindset? I blue-green, and soft pastels will make people perceive
tell the audience that these sneakers are my «positiv- you as more level-headed and organized.
ity shoes.» They are meant to remind of what’s really
important and get me into the right mindset first thing Materials and silhouettes are also important. Smooth
in the morning. That’s the attitude I mentioned earlier. fabrics, for instance, create a colder atmosphere than
What nonverbal instruments do we use in this situa- fuzzy ones. Thick and sturdy textiles establish a larger
tion? Dirk Eilert’s so-called «orchestra of influence» is distance between you and the listeners than some-
made up of 14 instruments. Seven of them are nonver- thing like wool. Hard and angular shapes garner more
bal, while the other seven have to do with appearance. respect than soft and rounded ones. Also, as I have pre-
The ones related to appearance are: viously noted, you need to stick to an appropriate dress
▶▶ Colors code depending on the specifics of your presentation.

▶▶ Figure Having a good sense of style means being able to

express yourself within social conventions while still
▶▶ Clothing style maintaining your individuality.
Women have an additional weapon: their hair. Hair-
▶▶ Skin color styles can be used to send different kinds of messages.
Unlike a loose hairstyle, a sleek ponytail conveys a more
▶▶ Hair serious attitude. If you wear glasses, do not hesitate to
put them on—it will highlight your intellectual abilities.
▶▶ Shoes
Here, I would also like to discuss the ways that body
▶▶ Accessories language can be used as useful tools. These tools will
help you master nonverbal communication and rein-
The instruments of nonverbal communication are: force its effect on others.
▶▶ Manner of movement
«Stronger» factors outweigh the «weaker» ones. Let’s
▶▶ Posture say you have a bright and eye-catching accessory, for
example, red shoes. And you’ve decided to pair them
▶▶ The position of legs and feet with a black suit. Chances are that people will notice
your red shoes rather than your expensive suit.
▶▶ Gestures
An organic and cohesive appearance will make the
▶▶ Head position strongest impact. If you have a strong personality, wear
glasses, have an expensive watch on your wrist, and put
▶▶ Facial expressions your hair up in a bun (for women), but your outfit looks
careless, you will appear jarring and mismatched. And
▶▶ Voice wearing gym clothes at a business meeting is just not

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Lesson 2. Facial expressions and posture

appropriate. Therefore, making sure that your appear- divided into macro- and microexpressions. Microex-
ance is compatible with the specific situation helps you pressions are quick and often subconscious—they lin-
have a stronger influence on other people. ger for about 40 to 500 milliseconds. Macroexpressions,
however, can be managed consciously and last for over
Enhance what you already have. This fundamental 500 milliseconds.
rule will make you look more put-together. You need
to have a clear idea about yourself as an individual and The twelve primary emotions (according to Dirk Eilert’s
know which of your innate strong points are conveyed classification) are fear, sadness, remorse, shame, hap-
through your body language. Then, you will be able to piness, interest, love, anger, disgust, contempt, sur-
use this tool to your advantage. prise, and pride.

You can choose how strong of an effect you want to Children learn how to express fear, surprise, anger, dis-
produce depending on the context. A nonverbal sig- gust, sadness, interest, happiness, and love during the
nal itself is neither positive nor negative. Its quality first year of life. They learn the remaining primary emo-
is reflected in how you can adapt the power of your tions—contempt, remorse, shame, and pride—between
impact to the current needs and situation. I am talk- the age of 2 and 4.
ing about external effects of influence. The question
you should ask yourself is, Are my nonverbal signals in Eleven out of the twelve primary emotions are the
line with my verbal ones, and do they suit the social same from a social and cultural points of view. When
context? For example, fierce gestures are not inappro- it comes to the last emotion—remorse—scientists differ
priate for a speech at a funeral. Our future lessons will on whether or not there are universal ways of express-
discuss this in more detail. ing it through facial expressions and nonverbal com-
munication. Even so, feelings of remorse can be deter-
Your body reacts to your current mindset. If you want to mined by a person’s social and cultural environment.
make nonverbal communication more smooth and nat-
ural, make use of your emotions and your state of mind. Out of all the primary emotions, surprise and pride have
By changing your mindset, you automatically change particularly special roles. Surprise always precedes
the effect you produce on other people. And another another emotion, which means it’s a preliminary emo-
piece of advice: smell is the oldest of the senses. Smells tional stage. For example, if you are pleasantly sur-
go straight into our limbic system—that is, the part prised, your surprise intensifies the next feelings of hap-
of the brain responsible for processing emotions. You piness. Pride is also a special emotion because it can
should pick different scents for giving a speech in front have both positive and negative implications. People
of a large audience and for winning a lady’s heart. can act with pride and confidence (the positive effect),
or with pride and arrogance (the negative effect).

BODY LANGUAGE VS. EMOTIONS Seven of the twelve primary emotions are considered
basic emotions (according to American psychologist
Now, let’s move on to our next topic: facial expressions Paul Ekman). They are reflected exclusively in facial
and body language. First, we are going to discuss the expressions through nonverbal communication. We
12 primary emotions, how they are reflected in facial are now going to discuss how to detect these emotions.
expressions, and how the position of your body affects
your presentation. HOW EMOTIONS ARE EXPRESSED
Facial expressions make up the most well-studied area FEAR
of the science of body language. It is directly connected
Eyebrows are raised and drawn together.
to the limbic system, which means that it is faster than
our brains, in a way. The facial expressions of your con- Wrinkles appear in the middle of the forehead.
versation partner give away their true emotions and
character traits instantaneously. Emotions reflected Upper eyelids are raised.
in people’s faces through facial expressions can be

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Lesson 2. Facial expressions and posture

Lower eyelids are stiff.

Lips are slightly stretched.

SURPRISE CONTEMPT
Eyebrows are raised. ▶▶ One corner of the mouth is pulled in.

Wrinkles appear all over the forehead. SADNESS

Upper eyelids are raised. ▶▶ Inner corners of the eyebrows are raised.

Lower eyelids are relaxed. ▶▶ Wrinkles appear in the middle of the forehead.

Mouth is relaxed and slightly open. ▶▶ The skin near the inner parts of the eyebrows is
stretched upward.
ANGER ▶▶ Upper eyelids are slightly dropped.
Eyebrows are drawn together.
▶▶ Corners of the mouth are turned down.
Upper eyelids are raised.
▶▶ The chin is pulled up.
Points 1 and 2 make the eyes «savage.»
HAPPINESS
Lower eyelids are stiff.
You can tell the difference between sincere happiness
Lips are pressed together.
and polite laughter (fake laughter) by looking at the
Other signs: the body leans forward slightly, the eye muscles. When we are truly happy, our eyes laugh
jaw extends forward. with us. If the person you’re talking to has only slightly
raised the corners of their mouth, they are most likely
just being polite or faking a smile. These smiles are usu-
DISGUST 1. ally preceded by certain microexpressions that reveal
▶▶ Eyebrows are brought together and weigh down on the true negative emotion.
the upper eyelids.
When people are truly happy, they raise the corners of
▶▶ Nose is crinkled. the mouth. The eye muscles lift the cheeks and wrin-
kles appear on the outer corners of the eyes («crow’s
▶▶ Wrinkles appear under the eyes; lower eyelids are feet»). The skin between the eyebrows and the upper
«creeping» upward, yet relaxed. lids drops. Bear in mind, however, that «crow’s feet»
can appear without the help of the eye muscles, for
▶▶ Cheeks are slightly raised. example, when the corners of the mouth are lifted very
high. Therefore, the most reliable sign of sincere hap-
▶▶ Upper lip is raised. piness is a crease between the eyebrows and lowered
upper lids.
▶▶ Lower lip can be stretching upward toward the
upper lip (but not necessarily). What do we gain from being able to distinguish the
DISGUST 2 (MORAL DISGUST) meaning of facial expressions? First, it can give us better
control over our own facial expressions. Second, it can
▶▶ Upper lip is raised.
help us quickly understand the impression we’re mak-
▶▶ Lower lip can be stretching upward toward the ing on the other person and react accordingly. This skill
upper lip (but not necessarily). increases our empathy. By being able to read others,

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Lesson 2. Facial expressions and posture
our power of influence increases. Facial expressions
always reflect our true state of mind, or how we actu-
ally feel. There is no such thing as a «poker face,» and
it’s impossible to completely rid your face of emotion.
To recognize the messages portrayed through facial
expressions, you need to focus intensely on your
senses and concentrate. People without special train-
ing recognize an average of around 60% of all emo-
tions, meaning they incorrectly interpret every second
facial expression.
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So from now on, instead of staring at your phone
screen, I encourage you to look at the face of the per-
son you’re talking to. Try to develop your ability to per-
ceive the emotions and thoughts of other people and
understand their mindsets.
Find out more in our next lesson of Reading People:
How to Win without a Fight. Win over your audience!
Yours truly, Mario Schmidt
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