I have a terrible poker face! I literally wear my emotion all over my face. Most of the time I'm totally unaware I'm even doing it. My husband, family, friends and my close colleagues have on many occasions kindly reminded me to "watch your face".
It's a similar problem to to people who have Resting Bitch Face, Smug Face, The Frowners, The Tutters, Eye Rollers and people who suffer from Face like a Slapped Arse. So what can we do about it, body language plays a major part in communication and if I'm not conveying the right message, particularly in a corporate environment this could potentially harm my relationships and possibly career progression?
Facial Expressions
As humans we can produce over 250,000 facial expressions, which leaves me with a bit of a conundrum, how to stop "The Face" expressing emotion and express my message instead?
Sarah* a sufferer of Resting Bitch Face and a Frowner shared her story:
"I have this face perminantly in meetings, Sometimes I sit in the meeting and after about 40 minutes I realize I am doing it. Then I shake it off and try and get my face back to normal, Hoping I come across as more agreeable, but it’s too late, by which point my boss has turned to me and said “Sarah what’s your concern?" I have a resting bitch face but I’m actually really approachable."
I sat down with a couple of friends, one with Resting Bitch Face and the other an Eye Roller and discussed a few options to counteract this:
Note Pad - When ever I feel an emotion or a thought popping into my head which is not something I actually want to share I will write down a note on my note pad.
Laptop - Same concept as the note pad, but hopefully it will stop the face and transfer the emotion into keyboard.
Adopt a Song - This is something I have done before and it has worked well, give individuals a soundtrack, sing the song in your head while they are speaking. I find this helps to draw the emotion from my face back into my head. Some of the soundtracks which work for me, Crazy by Gnarles Barkley and arsehole by Denis Leary.
I will be making a very conscious effort control my facial expressions. But to all you Tutters, Smirkers, Resting Bitch Facers, Smug Facers and Frowners I feel (and see) your plight and will stand next to you (probably eye rolling) and will stand strong in support your uncontrolable facial expressions!
*Not her real name
