Your face says it all

If you've looked through your May issue of ec, you probably noticed the article on non-verbal communication on page 48. Ec's editor, Mandy Crow, knows that her face says it all (and once really got off to a bad start with a friend's boyfriend because of it). So do you think the things you don't say really have an impact? Yeah, they do.
Just ask Emily, ec's talented production editor:

Emily here. I read the article on nonverbal communication in this month’s ec again and was thinking about how my facial expressions come across. Do you have a friend who’s face naturally reverts to a scowl when he or she isn't thinking about it?

I do. I have a friend who always looks like she’s mad. It’s kind of intimidating to approach her because she looks like she’d bite your head off if you asked the wrong question. In fact, I avoided introducing myself to her for a while, although we ran in the same circles in college, just because I thought she was mean. (Rule No. 1: Never assume anything.) So when I finally got to know her and realized she was a sweet, funny girl, I got up the nerve one day to ask her if she knew that she always looked mad. She wasn’t surprised by my question. People had been telling her that for years, she said. She said she wasn’t unhappy or angry; her face just naturally fell that way when she was thinking about something else. She did ask that I let her know though, whenever she was making “the face.”

Does your normal facial expression communicate anger, boredom, or unhappiness? How do you think you come across to non-Christians? I’m not saying you have to walk around with a smile plastered on your face all the time, but be aware of your countenance. You never know just how contagious a pleasant look, or better yet, a smile, can be. Try it out today: smile at people who look like they’re having a rough time and see what happens.

Let us know how it goes by posting comments!