My friend and colleague Sims Wyeth, author of The Essentials of Persuasive Public Speaking, told me that while giving a presentation, he saw two people whose mouths did weird things while they listened.
One pushed her lips over to one side of her face. She looked like a Picasso painting. Sims wondered what she was thinking.
The other pulled a corner of his mouth back toward his ear. Sims said he looked like he was clucking in disapproval, like a mother hen.
A neutral-to-open face, eyes focused on the speaker, eye-brows slightly raised in an expression of interest, mouth in a tiny smile, head nodding, and the voice indicating attention would be more encouraging of a healthy dialogue.
When you are mastering the art of presentation skills, even as a listener and audience member you are being noticed. Imagine you are at a company meeting and you are pulling the faces Sims mentions. What does the speaker…who may be one of your executives… think of you?
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Facial expressions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making an impression of acceptance, interest and respect with a given audience. I’m curious to hear more of your ideas on these topics as well!