Body Language: Facial Expression

People can express an almost infinite number of emotions through their faces. The muscles in the face have become highly specialised over the course of human evolution.

It is therefore virtually impossible to have a facial expression that does not show an emotion. And most people can observe and interpret how someone else feels without fault, by looking at their face.

It is not easy to act out or imitate a facial expression that belongs to a specific emotion. The listener who is also watching the face of the speaker, will almost immediately notice that the feeling being expressed is not genuine.

So if you are trying to to claim that you feel sorry for something, and you're trying to show the associated facial expression, the listener will notice straigh away you're not sincere. Also, it is almost impossible to show a friendly face, if you're talking to someone you in fact don't like at all.

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