What’s Your Face Revealing About You?
A person’s face can reveal a lot of information about them. This is especially true for folks who don’t know how to control their facial expressions.
You know those people...the ones who can’t help but reveal everything they’re thinking and feeling. This might be bad for their personal discretion, but it’s good for you.
Even for those people who have more controlled expressions, there is often a lot of information staring you in the face, literally.
Take eye contact for example.
Some people (wrongly) assume that extended eye contact conveys honesty, whereas avoiding eye contact is a sign of deception. We tend to expect people to look at us in the eye the entire time they’re speaking. But in fact, people tend to make eye contact only 60% of the time. For some people, it may be more, and for others less. However, it is absolutely normal to break eye contact when speaking. The important thing is to establish the normal level of eye contact that specific person maintains, and then notice how and if it changes. If you want to get a good baseline on someone, ask them a question that requires them to recall something. Then pay attention to see if their eyes shift during the recall process. A shift in behavior from their normal baseline can indicate a red flag.
But when YOU are doing the talking, it is important to maintain strong eye contact if you are trying to influence them in some way - such as when you are asking your boss for a raise, negotiating a business deal or giving a presentation. People place more trust in those who maintain good eye contact. So in those situations where it matters most to you, make sure to look people in the eyes when speaking.
