Body Language by Joe

Much of the material Amy shared in the Body Language portion of the workshop was adapted from the terrific new book "What Every Body Is Saying" by Joe Navarro, an ex-FBI agent and body language expert.

Here he talks about signs of discomfort, especially those people show facially:

Joe Navaro: How to Read Faces

My favorite part is at the end where he discusses how people in a discussion use body language to demonstrate whether or not you are welcome to join the conversation. Most of us have probably experienced this and understood the message being conveyed, even without realizing exactly what on someone's body was telling us "hey, get lost!"

I (Jennie) really enjoyed Joe Navarro's book. They aren't all so well written or as backed up by research, so definitely recommended.

Workshop Photos

Hello Everyone! I hope that you have been seeing lots of micro-expressions and body language since our workshop last Sunday! As promised, here are the photos we viewed during the workshop. The videos will follow shortly!

Disgust and Contempt

A very strong disgust expression from Samantha Ronson in the left picture. Notice the wrinkling on the sides of the nose and the action following the center line of her face. Her upper lip is raised, and her chin and lower lip are pushed up as well. In that same picture, Lindsay Lohan is showing a very social smile--no involvement of the eyes at all.

In the second (right) picture, the image is grainy, but you can see the left side of Lindsay's mouth being pulled in the classic expression of contempt.

Fear

An unilateral (one-sided) fear expression from Robert Pattinson. His eyes (especially his right eye) may be widened a bit, but it's hard to tell without a neutral picture of him to compare it with. The left side of his lips are pulled back, not downwards as we see in the sad expressions. He may be trying to suppress an expression of fear, or simply "putting on" a fearful expression for emphasis.

Surprise and Happiness

Surprise? Happiness? Or both?

Both show the high, rounded brows of surprise. However, remember that surprise is the briefest emotion of all. George may have been surprised a moment ago, but now he's communicating happiness. The high arch of his brows makes it a little tougher to tell if he's genuinely happy with what/whom he's seeing, or if he is sending a social smile (he's wearing a tuxedo, so it's probably a very social and public arena he's in). Obama also has the arched brows, but it's more likely that he's instinctively giving the baby an open, friendly, happy face to look at.

Social Smiles

Social Smiles. For a different perspective, try covering the lower half of the face and see what eyes and forehead communicate on their own. Then cover the eyes and just look at the lower half of the face.

Sad expressions

Heidi definitely is feeling sorry for herself in the jungle.

Most of Brett's face is neutral, but his lips are pulled down strongly in a classic sad expression.

Casey Anthony has her brows pushing upward, causing the horizontal wrinkles to appear in her forehead. The visible side of her mouth shows the end of the lips being pulled down just like Brett above. It's possible that the pull is being counteracted by her chin and lips pressing together--perhaps an attempt on her part to keep quiet despite her crying.

Anger pics

Here is A-Rod showing some restrained anger--brow wrinkled, eyes narrowed, chin tight.

We can see Amy Winehouse only from the side but her chin appears jutted out and pushed upwards, almost like a petulant child. Her "victim" is showing some anger and/or disgust (and who wouldn't?)

Body Language/Facial Expressions in the Media

Much of the workshop's first half featured the research of Dr. Paul Ekman, a leader in the study of facial expression. You can learn more about his advanced training at his website, but you can also learn quite a bit from the blog he's keeping as technical advisor to the U.S. TV show "Lie to Me", which is loosely based on the work of Dr. Ekman and his colleagues.

On the main show website, be sure to check out some of the videos -- here's a great one describing the genuine "Duchenne Smile".

Elsewhere, find the user-contributed "Faces in the News". Do you have a good example of a famous face "saying it all" in contradiction to their words?

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