Decoding people
The magic starts here. It is so important to know essential non-verbal skills to read people. We are sending and receiving micro-messages in everyday communication. First, we have to divide them into two different groups: micro-positives and micro-negatives. I want to teach you how to spot each of them. When you have strong non-verbal skills, you can easily detect if someone is interested in the conversation and ready to open up to you. You will also easily understand if someone is showing disinterest, nervousness, boredom or trying to keep something from you.
The strongest non-verbal cue to decode people through is their face. Facial micro-expressions are an emotional display and usually we overlook this brief non-verbal cue. If we are busy on the phone or distracted with something else, it’s easy to miss this important piece of communication.
Dr. Paul Ekman, the researcher of universal micro-expressions conducted a number of extraordinary experiments among the tribes in Papa New Guinea. He found that all humans, despite their culture, race or gender show emotions in the same way. This even applies to those who are congenitally blind. The results are clear. We all show seven universal micro-expressions for seven different emotions:
- Happiness
- Sadness
- Anger
- Fear
- Surprise
- Disgust
- Contempt
This training is all about knowing how to read people’s emotions, to help you to relate to them. In business, it can turn you into an incredible leader or improve your association with co-workers. In a social environment it will help you empathize and build rapport with those around you. It will also give you the advantage to recognize toxic and inauthentic intentions that you prefer to distance and protect yourself from. Learning to read people is a one-way road. Once you are capable of spotting micro-messages, you will have a much greater understanding of how people work.
