NON-VERBAL CUES

                                   

                                             
When we are communicating with someone there is a lot that goes into it. The laughs, movements of facial muscles, arms and the entire body as well.
  
According to John Borg human communication consists of 93% body language and para linguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of actual words used in communication. This is why it is often a waste of your time if you only pay attention to someone's words.
   
What are micro expressions? They are very brief facial expressions, lasting only a fraction of a second. They occur when a person either deliberately or unconsciously conceals a feeling. They are displayed momentarily. The main things to remember about micro expressions are:
1.They are brief.  This explains why most people don't even notice them.
2.They are involuntary.
   
Micro expressions are generally grouped into seven universal emotions: anger, disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt.

The leading psychologist Dr Paul Ekman has done research and proven that some micro expressions such as happiness, anger and contempt are universal. It doesn't matter which language a person speaks, if you are really sad your face will show that. Like the photo above, is it a genuine smile?
 
A smile is said to be one of  the most misinterpreted expressions. A person can hide hate or sorrow behind a smile. Women often smile a lot more compared to men.
 
What is a fake smile? A fake smile can be a polite smile to a stranger in a bus. Some people say that a genuine smile is brought forth by some sense of happiness or joy from within.
   
Therefore this leads to another question. How does a genuine smile look like? "It's all in the eyes or at least the area around the eyes." says Psychologist Erin Heerey. The key feature differentiating a fake smile and a genuine one is the presence of "crow's feet effect" or so-called "laugh lines" around the eyes. They are "the tiny wrinkles" that appear at the corners of the eyes during smiling. According to Dr Paul Ekman, " The only place that will reveal the difference in a broad intense smile is the skin between the eyebrows and the upper eyelid. That will move slightly down in the genuine smile and will not move in the social or false smile. Everybody can voluntarily make the lips smile , but very few people can contract the muscle that surrounds the eye."
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Being aware of expressions helps a lot. It can be rewarding in interactions with people or friends and profitable in business. Watch politicians and celebrities on television. See how they use subtle movements of body language as they talk to pass across their message.
   
a person's words are not enough. Cross reference the words of a person with the person's body language and micro expression. Are their words and body language in congruence? If they are in-congruent what does that mean?..............