3.30.22 The Value of, and Tips for, “Reading” People Through Microexpressions
Dear Students,
While it’s well known that it’s possible to sense of people’s reactions and/or emotions from perceiving their “body language” (or, in fancy terms, their “non-verbal communication,”) it’s not always clear just how to do so. Still, research supports the significance of this concept (e.g., https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/communication/how-much-of-communication-is-nonverbal/#:~:text=The%2055%2F38%2F7%20Formula&text=It%20was%20Albert%20Mehrabian%2C%20a,%2C%20and%207%25%20words%20only .)
The writer of the Harvard Business Review article linked below, who has extensively studied this subject, highlights the value of “microexpressions,” from which we may succeed in extracting meaning while listening to others. Like other “soft skills,” becoming aware of and successfully interpreting such “signals” within our own culture, let alone among those from a foreign culture, takes meaningful practice. Yet, learning to feel confident doing so will reap valuable rewards in the effectiveness of your communication, the minimizing of misunderstandings with others and your overall professional effectiveness in a global company.
Subsequently, the “ideal” is to take such learning and successfully apply it at the right moments, in the right way, with the right individuals, which you’ll find is a continuous learning process, throughout your life.