In this Art of Charm podcast episode, Vanessa Van Edwards, lead investigator at the human behavior research lab Science of People, explains how to read people through the seven universal microexpressions, from anger and contempt to sadness, why the face reveals hidden emotions, and how mirroring and the facial feedback hypothesis help you connect.
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Key Takeaways
- Microexpressions are very brief, involuntary facial expressions that show up when someone feels an intense emotion, and the episode explains that there are seven universal ones.
- The facial feedback hypothesis says your face can cause an emotion as well as reflect it, so making an expression in a mirror can make you start to feel that emotion.
- Contempt, a one-sided mouth raise that looks like a smirk, is easy to confuse with happiness and is described as a major red flag for respect in a relationship.
- Disgust, shown by a raised upper lip and wrinkled nose, often appears when someone is searching for a polite way to say they do not like something, so a mismatch between that face and positive words is a cue to ask more questions.
- Genuine happiness shows in the upper cheeks and the crow's feet around the eyes, so a smile that stays on the bottom half of the face is worth noticing.
- Surprise and fear both drop the jaw, but surprise raises the eyebrows into upside down U shapes while fear pulls them flat across the forehead, which matters when talking about serious topics.
- Sadness is often mistaken for anger, and noticing it gives you a chance to connect by asking how you can help instead of rushing to fix the problem.
- Reading faces is learnable quickly, and practice with friends, less scripted reality shows, and online videos can build the skill.
Curious how people build this kind of presence in real conversations? See how the X Factor approach works.
Who is Vanessa Van Edwards?
Vanessa Van Edwards is the lead investigator at Science of People, which is described in the episode as a human behavior research lab. She has long been fascinated by how people behave. She wrote her first book at 16 for friends and family, and it went viral. She once expected to pursue a career in the CIA or Secret Service, but chose to apply people skills to business and personal life instead. She describes her work as combining sexy science with self-help, translating academic research into practical advice and testing it in the lab. Her work has been featured in outlets including Fast Company, Forbes, and NPR. In this episode she focuses on microexpressions and human lie detection.
Episode Chapters
- 03:00 Inside the Science of People
- 08:40 Human Lie Detection in Real Life
- 12:30 Reading Power From the Face
- 16:20 Microexpressions and Facial Feedback
- 25:35 Contempt and Predicting Divorce
- 32:42 Mirroring and Mirror Neurons
- 38:20 Disgust and Wishful Hearing
- 44:30 Happiness, Botox, and Eye Gaze
- 51:30 Surprise, Fear, and Sadness
- 59:16 How to Practice Reading Faces
What does Vanessa Van Edwards do at Science of People?
Around 03:00 in the episode
She is lead investigator at Science of People, a human behavior research lab that translates academic studies into practical advice and tests whether they work in real life.
Vanessa Van Edwards is lead investigator at Science of People, which the episode describes as a human behavior research lab. She explains that the lab likes to take what she calls sexy science and combine it with self-help. Her motivation was that she kept reading studies from academic institutions and research journals that hardly anyone else was reading, because they ran thirty pages of dense jargon. The lab's goal is to translate those findings into something usable and entertaining.
The lab does not stop at translation. It tests the findings to see whether they hold up in real life, because some studies sound questionable when boiled down to a single statistic. A line about showing gums in a smile reducing impact by a precise percentage comes up in the conversation as the kind of claim that can mean very little until it is tested. She also describes herself as a people watcher, so putting people under the microscope suits her well.
Her interest in people started early. She wrote her first book at 16 for friends and family, and it went viral, which pushed her into studying people and making the research applicable. She speaks a couple of languages and once thought she would go into the CIA or Secret Service, until someone warned her that path could mean interrogating people for the rest of her life. She decided to bring people skills into business and personal life instead, and she says that is far more fun. Her work has been featured in outlets such as Fast Company, Forbes, and NPR.
We like to take sexy science and combine it with self-help.
Can you turn off the ability to read people's lies?
Around 08:40 in the episode
According to Vanessa, human lie detection is a blessing and a curse because she cannot switch it off. It has improved the quality of her relationships, but it also cost her a friendship.
Vanessa says reading microexpressions is something she cannot turn off. In the lab she runs a citizen science project where people lie to her in a game of two truths and a lie, and she tries to guess the lie. The skill works well there, but it follows her out the door when she is with friends. She describes it as both good and bad, because seeing what is right in front of you can be uncomfortable.
She shares a story about a good friend whose words did not match her facial expressions. Her friend was saying one thing while showing anger and fear, so Vanessa kept pushing on it. The conversation unraveled a larger secret, and although Vanessa was glad to know the truth, the friendship did not survive it. Her takeaway is that the friendships she still has are of much higher quality because the truth is visible.
The conversation also touches on how strong a friendship was if it could not survive honesty, and on the idea that most people would rather know the truth. Vanessa adds that when she wants a friend to soften things, she asks directly, telling them either to tell her the truth or to make her feel better. She also describes how she values blunt honesty from her husband, giving a lighthearted example about a dress, and how his words and face lined up with each other.
I do human lie detection; that's one of those skills that's a blessing and a curse.
Can you tell how successful someone is just from their face?
Around 12:30 in the episode
A study discussed in the episode found that participants who viewed headshots for five seconds could correctly identify the top 25 CEOs out of a group of 50.
Vanessa describes the study that made her understand the power of the face. Researchers took the top 25 and bottom 25 Fortune 500 CEOs, chose people who were not famous or easily identifiable, and showed their images to participants. Participants rated them on qualities such as likeability, charisma, and intelligence. Just by looking at a headshot for five seconds, participants were able to correctly pick out the top 25 CEOs from the group of 50.
The hosts ask what people are actually reading in those faces, and whether it is simply the grumpiest or most stressed-looking person. Vanessa says this is exactly what her lab is investigating. They tested a similar idea with Twitter pictures, bringing people into the lab to rank profile photos on popularity and comparing the rankings to real follower counts. She says there were definite patterns, tied to the kinds of expressions covered later in the episode, though she held back the results.
She links the idea to the gut reaction described in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, where you do not quite know why you choose something. Her hope is that listeners can use that first impression to their advantage, such as when choosing online dating or social media profile pictures. She also mentions that her website has a set of CEO photos so listeners can test themselves on guessing which are the most successful.
What are microexpressions and what is the facial feedback hypothesis?
Around 16:20 in the episode
A microexpression is a very brief, involuntary facial expression made during an intense emotion. The facial feedback hypothesis says your face can also cause your emotion, so making the expression can make you feel it.
Vanessa explains that a microexpression is a very brief involuntary facial expression we make when we feel an intense emotion, and that people make them across cultures, sexes, and races. The researcher who discovered them suspected that expressions were not learned. Studies of children who have been blind since birth showed they make the same facial expressions as seeing children, which suggests expressions are genetically coded. There are seven universal ones, and because we cannot control them, even the best liars show them.
She pairs this with the facial feedback hypothesis: not only does emotion cause the face, but the face also causes emotion. To demonstrate, she walks listeners through the anger microexpression. Think of someone who drives you crazy, press your lips into a hard line, flare your nostrils, and pull your eyebrows down and together, and two vertical lines appear between the brows. Hold it and you begin to feel angry and irritable, which echoes the idea that the mind follows the body.
She notes some people make the anger expression while listening intently without realizing it, which can make them feel irritated and look negative, especially on a date. Her suggestion is to film yourself on calls to see your resting expressions. When you see those vertical lines or lips mashed together on someone else, she says it is a signal to go back to rapport building, clarify, or apologize, and keep the experience smooth rather than swinging between highs and lows, since people remember how an experience felt.
Why is contempt such a warning sign in relationships?
Around 25:35 in the episode
Contempt is a one-sided mouth raise that signals disdain. In a long-running study discussed in the episode, a marriage researcher could watch a silent video of a couple and predict divorce with 93.6% accuracy.
Vanessa calls contempt the microexpression for hatred or disdain. It is simply a one-sided mouth raise, a smirk, and she calls it the easiest to make but one of the hardest to recover from once seen. It is the simplest in muscle movement yet the most confusing in practice, because people mistake it for a little smile, the exact opposite of liking someone.
She describes a marriage and family researcher in Seattle who set out to find the biggest predictor of divorce. He tested couples on everything from saliva to blood samples, interviewed family and friends, filmed couples for a weekend in a bed and breakfast built in his lab, and followed them for 30 years. The single predictor was that one partner showed contempt toward the other during the initial intake interview. According to the episode, he can watch a silent video and tell with 93.6% accuracy whether a couple will divorce.
Her takeaway is that contempt is an indicator of disrespect, and once we feel contempt for someone it is extremely hard to keep respect and love for them. In her own lab observations of dating, she says women often show contempt when humoring a date, while men tend to show it when an unwelcome topic comes up, such as past relationships or having kids soon. She also warns that online dating and social media photos with a one-sided smirk can send a negative message the person does not intend.
How does mirroring help you connect with someone?
Around 32:42 in the episode
If you cannot recognize the expression someone is making, you can mirror it to tap into what they feel. Vanessa says mirroring works on voice and word choice, body posture, and the face.
Vanessa shows how to use the facial feedback hypothesis in practice. If you do not recognize the face your date is making, you can make it yourself and tap into the emotion they may be feeling. The discussion compares this to a kind of mind reading, and she says it can feel both creepy and amazing. She stresses that mirroring happens on three levels: voice and word usage, body posture, and the face, which people often forget.
On voice, she explains it is a non-verbal form of respect to use the kinds of words the other person uses and to match their pace. For example, a fast talker who is speaking with a slower talker shows engagement by slowing down. If someone is excited about a trip and uses words like cool and amazing, responding in the same spirit shows camaraderie. She cautions against matching word for word, and prefers getting into the same spirit as the other person so it does not feel inauthentic.
She then explains mirror neurons as brain copycats. People with higher levels of mirror neurons also tend to have higher levels of empathy, and copying others happens without conscious effort. She cites a study of best friends in a lab, where friends who had been together longer and were closer mirrored each other more, down to sweat levels, breathing rate, and heartbeat. The point is that we mirror those we feel connected to automatically, and that learning microexpressions helps you use this deliberately.
What does the disgust microexpression tell you?
Around 38:20 in the episode
Disgust, a raised upper lip with a wrinkled nose, often appears when someone is looking for a polite way to say they dislike something. If it clashes with positive words, ask more questions.
To make the disgust expression, Vanessa suggests thinking of a food that repulses you, then pulling up your upper lip so the upper teeth show and crinkling your nose. She says it matters less for food and more for preference-based questions. When people are searching for a polite way to say they do not like something, the face often shows disgust first. She adds that women in particular are taught appeasement, so they may say sure when they mean no.
She describes disgust as a basis of lie detection, with a caution that it must be used carefully. If someone shows disgust, whatever comes out of their mouth should be negative if it is true, which she calls congruent. If a person wrinkles their nose and then says they have always loved a given activity, that mismatch is a cue to circle back and ask more questions. She encourages both men and women to be honest, and suggests asking open questions so the other person feels free to speak the truth.
In relationships, she says that when a partner says it's fine or it's okay, watch for the disgust expression. If the upper lip lifts and the nose crinkles, it is not really okay. She also introduces lensing and what she calls wishful hearing, where the brain sees and hears what it wants to, often by following a checklist. Microexpressions help keep that in check so you respond to what is actually in front of you.
How can you tell a genuine smile, and do eye patterns reveal lies?
Around 44:30 in the episode
A genuine smile engages the upper cheeks and the crow's feet at the eyes. Vanessa also says the idea that looking up and to the right means lying has no basis, because researchers could not replicate it.
Vanessa says the only true indicator of happiness is not the smile itself but the engagement of the upper cheeks, the crow's feet along the outside of the eyes. She says only about one in ten people can consciously activate those muscles. To feel it, think of something that makes you happy and place a pen or pencil between your teeth with your lips pulled back so it does not touch them. She suggests checking your own profile pictures for genuine happiness, since it comes across as more charismatic and authentic.
She notes that a smile that only reaches the bottom half of the face can be an appeasement smile, meaning the person is humoring you or not telling the truth. The conversation mentions there are 16 different types of smiles. Botox makes this harder, she says, and she cites the facial feedback hypothesis to say that women who numb their happiness wrinkles begin to feel less happy. If you see little facial movement, it may be Botox rather than a lack of feeling, so you have to rely on the body.
On eye patterns, she calls the idea that looking up and to the right means lying baloney, explaining that attempts to replicate it have failed. She says we first notice the hands, a habit tied to checking for weapons, then the face. In business, she suggests keeping your gaze high on the eyes and forehead, since looking at the mouth, neck, and upper chest signals assessing someone as a potential mate. In a romantic context, you can drop your gaze and see if it is reciprocated.
How do you tell surprise, fear, and sadness apart?
Around 51:30 in the episode
Surprise raises the eyebrows into upside down U shapes, fear pulls them flat across the forehead, and sadness pulls the mouth corners and inner brows down. Vanessa says sadness is often mistaken for anger.
Vanessa combines surprise and fear because both are important in the early dating stage. For surprise, drop the jaw loose, pull the eyebrows up so they form upside down U shapes, and widen the eyelids so the whites of the eyes show. For fear the mouth also drops open, but the eyebrows go straight across the forehead and vertical wrinkles appear. The two feel different too: surprise is more pleasant, while fear brings anxiety. She says the difference matters when discussing deal breaker topics like having kids or getting married, because the face answers before the words do.
Sadness, she says, is the hardest microexpression to fake. Pull the corners of the mouth down into a frown, pinch the inner corners of the eyebrows down and together, and droop the eyelids, perhaps pouting the lower lip slightly. People most often confuse sadness with anger. When a partner comes home from work showing sadness, it is easy to read irritation, but spotting it correctly is an opportunity to build a deep bond by showing you see and hear them.
Her practical advice is to ask questions rather than rush to solve. She suggests prompts like asking someone to tell you about their day, or noting they look a little sad. If you are unsure whether they want advice or just want to vent, you can offer to listen or ask whether they want to talk through things together. She highlights how can I help as one of the best questions anyone can ask, and warns against telling someone to just calm down.
How can you practice reading microexpressions?
Around 59:16 in the episode
Vanessa suggests learning the seven expressions, then practicing on less scripted reality shows, with friends in low-pressure conversations, and with practice videos on her website.
Vanessa describes the brain as being like a muscle, so the more you practice the easier reading expressions becomes. She says that once you know what the expressions look like, you will begin seeing them without much effort. Earlier in the episode she says the expressions are black and white and easy to memorize, and compares learning them to seeing the world in high definition for the first time.
For practice, she recommends less scripted reality shows such as Survivor, where people show genuine emotion while going through hard things. She also suggests low-pressure situations with friends, such as bringing up a hot topic that gets them talking in a safe setting and watching their emotions change. She adds that her website posts many practice videos, and that her microexpression training can be found under courses.
She closes by inviting listeners to reach out, saying she is on Twitter and enjoys red flag challenges, where people send over a strange moment from a date or conversation for her to look at. The hosts point listeners to her website and to the microexpression videos linked in the resources for this episode.
Want to see what it looks like to walk into any room and own it? Find out how X Factor works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Vanessa Van Edwards?
Vanessa Van Edwards is the lead investigator at Science of People, described in this episode as a human behavior research lab. She wrote her first book at 16, once considered a career in the CIA or Secret Service, and now applies people skills to business and personal life. Her work has been featured in outlets including Fast Company, Forbes, and NPR.
What did Vanessa Van Edwards say about reading people on The Art of Charm podcast?
She explained that people can be read through seven universal microexpressions, including anger, contempt, disgust, happiness, surprise, fear, and sadness. She covered how to recognize each one, why mismatches between words and faces matter, how mirroring builds connection, and how to practice the skill with friends, reality shows, and videos.
What is a microexpression?
In the episode, a microexpression is described as a very brief, involuntary facial expression made when we feel an intense emotion. Vanessa says people make them across cultures, sexes, and races, and that studies of children blind from birth suggest they are genetically coded. Because they are hard to control, even good liars show them.
What is the facial feedback hypothesis?
The facial feedback hypothesis says our emotions cause our facial expressions, but our facial expressions also cause our emotions. Vanessa shows this with the anger expression: pressing the lips together and pulling the brows down can make you feel irritable. She also mentions that numbing happiness wrinkles may reduce how happy people feel.
Why does contempt matter in relationships?
Vanessa describes contempt as a one-sided mouth raise showing disdain, and an indicator of disrespect. She cites a long-term study by a marriage researcher in which contempt in the initial interview was the one predictor of divorce, with 93.6% accuracy when watching silent videos. She calls it her red flag for relationships.
Do eye movements show that someone is lying?
According to Vanessa, no. She calls the idea that looking up and to the right means lying baloney and says researchers have not been able to replicate the original study. She says to watch for mismatches between a person's words and facial expressions, such as disgust before a positive statement, and then ask more questions.
How can you tell if a smile is genuine?
Vanessa says a genuine smile engages the upper cheeks and the crow's feet around the eyes, not just the mouth. A smile that stays on the bottom half of the face may be an appeasement smile. She notes that Botox can make this harder to read, so you may need to rely on body language.
Resources Mentioned
More Episodes Like This
- Vanessa Van Edwards | Captivate (Episode 610)
- How to Read People Like a Book | Vanessa Van Edwards
- Adam Nesrallah | What Spies Teach Us About Reading People (Episode 405)
- The Definitive Guide to Reading Body Language | Allan Pease
- The Art of Body Language (Episode 707)
- Nick Epley on Reading Minds and Mindwise
