Facial recognition expert – the danger of “fake it till you make it”

Adrianne Carter is a Qualified Facial Action Coding System (FACS) Professional. What does that mean? She reads faces for a living! When we spoke recently I found her job and outlook fascinating and invited her to write a guest blog explaining why it is so important that our faces match our words:

“The face is the mirror of the mind…” (St Jerome)

As part of a successful presentation the words we use must match the facial expression displayed.

We have 43 muscles in the face, directly linked to the skin and they can make up to 10,000 different facial expressions, it is said that 3,000 are directly related to emotions.

When talking your face will reveal how you really feel (despite the words you are using).  In scientific research completed it has been proven that we are 70% more likely to be drawn to a genuine emotion displayed on the face rather than a posed expression.

What this means for you as a presenter – Your face and your words must match or the audience will pick up on something ‘not right’.

I’ve heard the phrase said ‘fake it till you make it’ but this isn’t always the case as pretending to not be frightened won’t fool the audience, your face will leak how you really feel and the audience will sub consciously pick up the fear from your face.

Faces play an important role in human behaviour, we all subconsciously look to faces to quickly judge whether someone is happy or sad, content or dissatisfied, nervous or confident.

Expressions are a key way we communicate and are difficult to suppress or fake. Adrianne Carter (Managing Director D-Coded Insights Ltd)

Thanks Adrianne I always felt that most emotionally aware people can tell if the presenter is faking it – and now I know why! My public speaking training is unique because it is all about eliminating the fear in the first place not learning a few tips to cover it up. For long term, permanent changes that customers and audiences know are genuine get in touch today!