It is not congruent. And that’s exactly what makes you feel insecure. Or the facial expressions of everyone present create a coherent image and thus credibility and authenticity, namely exactly when what is said, i.e. the verbal, the body language, the non-verbal, corresponds.
Reading your own and other people’s body language
There are an incredible number of body language and facial gestures that can be interpreted. For example:
-
Sitting in silence in a meeting,
-
avoiding eye contact,
-
looking at the clock, the smartphone, the floor or out the window,
-
crossed arms or
-
wrinkling the nose, etc.
But be careful. Just scratching your nose, touching your earlobe, stroking your hair, crossing your arms, remaining silent, or holding your arms or feet away or towards them, etc. does not necessarily mean this or that, nor does it make a precise analysis of body language possible.
One should be careful not to analyze such situations too quickly and possibly interpret them “wrongly”. It is important to first deal more intensively with the topic of facial expressions and body language, not in order to train certain poses, but rather in order to improve your own body perception and later also that of others. This is relatively easy to do:
Observe yourself. Take note of yourself. How do you sit or stand in meetings or discussions? Observe other people and their facial expressions and gestures (also or especially in meetings). How are you doing? What feelings, thoughts and reactions arise for you as a listener? Repeat these observations with yourself. Does something change in you, what do you notice?
Next, you should try working with facial expressions and body language, speaking and varying. Use a mirror for this. Feel free to exaggerate in order to recognize changes. For example, when do effects begin? Consciously let only your face speak without your body. Think and practice. What does it look like when you look happy, sad, surprised, confident, curious, angry, or bored? How does your expression and effect change when you tilt your head to the side, raise it or lower it?
