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Face communicates most information

We have all grown up, having some idea about ‘general’ body language, that we all demonstrate on a regular basis. While some of us a little more better at reading other’s body language none of us have a scientific knowledge about this very important aspect of human behavior.

A science much deeper than simple body language exists today and one person who has been instrumental in the development of this area is Dr. Paul Ekman. This body of knowledge was developed in the 1990s and is referred to as ‘Micro Expressions. Dr. Ekman also identified seven basic universal emotions. They are anger, happiness, sadness, fear, contempt, surprise, and disgust.

Micro Expressions can be seen as certain expressions that last less than half a second, occurring when people are trying to conceal or suppress what they are feeling. Most people don’t notice micro expressions; however research has shown that people can be taught to spot these relatively easily. Its also accepted that these micro expressions are not culturally sensitive, and thus represents human emotions/feelings in general regardless of national or cultural differences.

Why should one study micro expressions and the face?

The face is only one of the five channels of communication; however it’s often the one that we gain the most information from. True felt emotions and expressions occur involuntarily in one’s face, without thought or intention. False ones have to be put up. The face is a dual system, showing both that which is real and that which is made up, and thereby sometimes making a ‘blended expression’. According to Dr. Ekman who has done extensive research on the area of Micro Expressions, any expression is likely to be false when they are asymmetrical - the duration of expression is either too long or too short, or the timing of the expression in relation to the speech is not synchronized.

The research tool developed to understand these micro expressions is referred to as FACS - Facial Action Coding System. The FACS system was first developed by Dr. Ekman of the United States. FACS is an anatomically-based system for exhaustively describing all observable facial movement. Each observable component of facial movement is called an action unit or AU.

All facial expressions can be decomposed into their constituent AUs. The manual describes the criteria for observing and coding each AU and describes how AUs appear in combinations

The face can be a valuable source for the lie catcher, because it can lie and tell the truth and often does both at the same time. Micro expressions can have various applications within business, government and personal contexts.

Within the context of Business (Private sector) there can be numerous situations where an appreciation and knowledge of micro expressions can be extremely useful. One such application would be in recruitment and selection (Human Resource Management), as micro expressions can help ‘weed out’ those candidates, who have mastered the art of facing interviews, and thus can be extremely ‘slick’ with their answers at an interview, and says all the ‘right’ things to impress an interviewer, but turn out to be a total ‘liability’ to the organization, once he/she starts to actually perform, in his/her job role..A second area of use would be in business negotiations, which may involve either a potential supplier or a potential client, Thus, when a potential supplier, says, that is the ‘rock bottom’ price they can offer, or when a potential client says this the highest we can afford to pay, with a knowledge of micro expressions, one can ‘know’ whether that is in fact true. An appreciation of micro expressions can also prove extremely valuable when dealing with compulsively deceptive people, such as certain sales personnel, who are eternally giving ‘excuses’.

In short, managers would be able to know, the level of honesty displayed by their subordinates, in any given scenario to be better able to handle such individuals.

Government: For the public sector too, micro expressions can be highly relevant. Customs officials, Inland Revenue staff, as well as officers involved in law enforcement areas can find this immensely useful. For those in the national intelligence and national security this can prove to be a great asset, when executing their day to day functions.

Those involved in negotiations within the government too will find such a knowledge extremely useful. One should not also forget the relevance and use of micro expressions in the political scene..

From the time we are born, till the time we leave this world, we are all in different relationships with others. Thus an appreciation of others micro expressions, can not only help one to know whether others are being totally honest with them, but it can also help one to appreciate the true emotional states of their loved ones and friends, and thus be of some help and assistance, especially when such individuals may want to withdraw to themselves (feelings of depression) which may not always be, what they really require, at a time when they are under such emotional stress.

However one needs to understand that facial expressions are only a part of the total mode of non verbal human communications.

There are in fact five channels of communications, in total, that one needs to master, in order to truly be an expert of non verbal communication, They are facial expressions, body language, the voice, verbal style and verbal statements. Each of these areas have a way of communicating much more, than the actual spoken word that is used, when one communicates with others..

For the very first time in Sri Lanka, Good 2 Great Consulting, an organization specializing in Corporate Training and Management Consulting has take upon themselves to introduce this new subject area to Sri Lanka by organizing some workshops/seminars on Micro Expressions and other Non verbal communication in December at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo.

The world famous FACS certified micro expressions expert, Stu Dunn of New Zealand, will facilitate these sessions.

 

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