Words lie but faces and the language in which the body responds to everyday activities and interactions with other people always tell the truth. When a person says they are happy, are they really happy?, when a person is sad are they really sad?,is what they are saying true? look closely because sometimes a person’s words do not match the body language or expressions on the face. The only problem is that these expressions only appear for 1/25th of a second, a blink of an eye.
These expressions are known as micro expressions and were introduced by Dr Paul Ekman, who's years of research has opened up the ability to recognise these expressions. To the trained eye they are easily detected. Dr Paul Ekman has spent many years studying the human face and has revealed that there are at least 5 expressions that are universal, in other words they are the same on any face whether you are man, woman, black, white we use the same facial muscles and the expression is identical on all faces. Anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, shame. I have also had the pleasure of studying the material of Joe Navarro, His techniques accompany Paul Ekman's work greatly. I came to realise there is more to just reading micro expressions in order to read people effectively . It is not just about the face, in fact a person behaviour starts from the feet up. The feet in fact are the most truthful part of the body. Therefore there are many factors to reading people successfully, many things to look for such as, manipulators ( stroking the neck, touching the face ..etc), what are the hands doing? what are the feet doing? My 6 years of study has opened me to the behavior of people and I am still learning. The one thing we always want to know " are they telling the truth"? well....deception is very hard to detect and before making that decision you should look at the all factors . I have to come to my own conclusion that it is not just about what is there, it is also about what is not there. After loosing my hearing, the visual world opened up to me in way like never before. I came to depend on hearing with my eyes, reading peoples facial expressions and body language became a necessity. Although I am trained at an expert level I am as I do with my Forensic Art updating my skills every year. Remember not to get discouraged with yourself, we dont always get it right and you must always remember that there are certain people that are very hard to read, my examples are people we are emotionally attached to, and some of the most dangerous people that can cross our paths, sociopaths and psychopaths. That does not mean to say they are impossible to read, they are not, Whilst there are very few that are naturally gifted at reading "people" I believe we can "all" learn the techniques that can protect us from the most dangerous people of society. |