Positive expressions

You need to know this before your next business presentation.

How aware are you of the expression you have before giving an important presentation or holding a meeting?

The phenomenon of “embodied cognition” discovered that communication between our brain and our body goes both ways, and that is why we can “trick” our mind to help us perform better.

Researchers Kleinke & Rutledge conducted experiments where participants were shown photographs of people with positive or negative facial expressions. They were then asked to try to replicate these facial expressions as accurately as possible in front of a video camera, while some also saw themselves in a mirror. A third control group maintained neutral facial expressions.

What they measured was that participants who copied the positive expressions had an increase in their mood, while the opposite happened with those who made negative gestures. These effects were amplified when participants looked in the mirror.

So, before your next presentation at the company convention, or if you have to participate in a forum, dedicate some time to look at happy faces on your phone and look at yourself in the mirror with a smile, copying those expressions.

This technique will transform nerves or stress into enthusiasm and dynamism, a better attitude that will help your audience (you and the business).

*Effects of self-generated facial expressions on mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.