How to Be a Mind Reader: The Art of Deciphering Body Language

Once you've learned to automatically and accurately recognize the meanings of different facial expressions, you can decide whether and how to act on the information you obtain from reading faces.

For example, if you pick up on signs of anger (thinned lips, lowered eyebrows, and raised upper eyelids) when telling a staff member that she did not get a promotion, and if you care about the staff member and want to see her advance, Ekman suggests that you might say to her, "I know that was bad news and I expect it was disappointing. I had the impression you were upset and wondered if it would help to talk about it," or simply, "I would be glad to talk to you now or at a later time about how you feel about it." Ekman cautions against asking a person in this situation if she is angry because it opens the CIO up to an attack.

If the staff member shows fear (raised upper eyelids, tensed lower eyelids, with eyebrows raised and drawn together), Ekman says her expression may suggest that she is concerned about her future. Ekman advises supervisors to reassure the person about her standing in the company if it's not at risk, or to discuss the areas in which the individual needs to improve.

Ekman says that, while studying facial expressions, it's important to keep in mind that they do not reveal what is generating the emotion, only that the emotion is occurring. Yet, he continues, "If we are sensitive to the expressions of another person, then we know what impact we're having on them and what emotion they might be trying to conceal." In other words, we're a lot better off when we pay attention to and know how to assess these cues than when we're oblivious to them.