This article examines the emotions contributing to aggression and violence and how recognising corresponding expressions can predict violent events and imminent danger, such as domestic violence. We’ll look at the research on emotion recognition in violent offenders and how brain differences may contribute to emotion recognition deficits, perpetuating violence.

In this article, I combine art and nonverbal communication. If you aren’t interested in art, you can still learn about facial expressions in the first part of the article and skip the challenges. Watch the video introducing emotion and facial expression, then read on and see the diagrams to learn about facial expressions. For creatives and those who are game for a creative challenge, Part Two is a tutorial on creating an emotional expression using clay.

This short video explains why we should smile to feel happy and more positive.

This short video explains where the most compelling evidence for the theory of Embodied Cognition comes from—Botox studies. Your facial expression can trigger emotion.

Over the past decade, the power pose has faced controversy and scientific scrutiny, leaving many people confused about its efficacy and many turning their backs on a simple practise that can yield positive results. This article sums up the debate, clears the myths and explains the current scientific findings so that you can leverage positive feelings with simple postural change.

I analysed Trump’s body language and emotional expression from his official address surrounding the 2021 insurrection. Discover which nonverbal behaviours I picked up and what I concluded, when I dug deeper and ran a comparison with his typical behaviour.

It’s been a while (about 12 years) since I picked up a piece of clay and to be honest, I never thought I would. Now, I can’t stop creating and I’m combining two passions into one fun and exciting workshop series. If you’re in Perth, Australia, join me at an upcoming Sculpt and Sip class, for a glass of vino and to learn about emotion and expression, through drawing and clay.

Sophie Zadeh's TED-Ed lesson: Are there Universal Expressions of Emotion? The lesson looks at the history of discovery of facial expressions, what expressions of emotion look like, the purpose of facial expressions and why we make facial expressions.

Courtney Waller interviews Sophie Zadeh about her TED-Ed lesson: Are there universal expressions? They discuss the history of emotion, display rules, animal and human expression, botox on expressions, how to trigger emotions, macroexpressions and microexpressions.

Read about my secret wedding, the emotions we tried to conceal and the body language and expression that reveal our true emotions. What are the nonverbal signs of tomfoolery?

Are you missing an important channel of communication?

Most of us listen to spoken words as we interact with others, but not many people pay conscious attention to what remains unspoken. Words can, and do, convey lots of complex thoughts, theories and feelings, but they are usually filtered and adapted to create a certain impression, giving you, the listener, the 'intended' message. There are lots of reasons for this– to be more amicable, to maintain relationships, to deceive, to conceal emotions, to make others feel better– to name a few. So it's not all bad. Imagine if everybody spoke their thoughts– Ouch! In many situations, however, you could benefit from knowing more and having a good understanding of how the person you interact with really feels, whether it's potential deception in a negotiation or marriage, or when you just want a family member to be more open with you.

Scientists have found that the muscles in our face can produce 30 independent movements– 12 in the upper face, and 18 in the lower face. Working together in various combinations, these muscle movements are capable of creating thousands of expressions. However, most scientists agree that out of all of these expressions, only seven are 'universal'– innate within all of us, regardless of culture. They are...

I've been quiet on my blog for a while now because I lost my beautiful mother in May. I've wanted to share with you some observations during my experience of loss– of emotion and nonverbal expression– I'm finally ready to write about it. I'm not sharing my experience of loss as such, but what I want to do here is mention some behaviours that felt noteworthy, illustrating some of the nonverbal cues that I usually write about. 

It was sudden and unexpected, so much so, that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Living on the other side of the world, I hadn't seen my mum for over two years. I was 'greeted' at the airport by my sister, who reluctantly stepped forth from behind her partner, his body temporarily and unknowingly shielding her from what she had to do. They were waiting right at the very back of the crowd, distancing themselves from the reality of what she was about to disclose.

When we experience emotions we feel physical sensations within our body. Have you ever stopped in the moment of an emotion, to evaluate what you are feeling? And where that feeling is? In an emotion, our brain triggers physiological changes within our body. These changes alter our autonomic processes (processes we don't consciously control), such as heart rate, breathing, sweating and blink rate. In turn these physiological changes create physical feelings, or sensations, within our body. We associate these physical feelings with the emotion. Researchers at Aalto University have created visual bodily maps of emotions, based on self reported bodily sensations, experienced when an emotion was triggered. The results were gathered from 701 participants from around the world. 

Are you affected by other people’s emotions? Watch a short video that explains one of the reasons why emotions are so contagious and why we love hanging out with happy people.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with Filmmaker, Courtney Waller, from Courtney Waller Productions. Courtney was interviewing me, and of course, we got to talk about my favourite topic; body language.

As a Body Language Specialist, part of my job entails playing back video footage, over and over. This is to audit the body language of people seeking to improve their presence and charisma, seek nonverbal cues that point towards deception or seek interesting nonverbal cues that I can use to educate others on the topic. I'm not usually on the other side of the camera. So it was a little unnerving to think that this was being recorded as a video, with capability of being played back for analysis; a taste of my own medicine.

Sonia's true emotions were of course revealed through her body language. Without a shadow of doubt, she expressed genuine sadness. Absolutely no fakery involved. She was, in fact, battling to suppress this emotion, probably to avoid tears. The sadness expression climaxed as she spoke the words, "I saw the image of a baby, covered in a plastic sheet, with a doll lying beside her, and it rocked me to the very core".