Imagine sitting in a virtual team meeting, and presenting your big idea. Everyone’s nodding along, but there’s one person whose eyebrows twitch ever so slightly, lips curl for a split second, and then return to neutral.

These fleeting reactions are easy to miss - you just blink your eyes, and their reaction is gone. But, in that brief moment, you may have caught a glimpse of genuine emotion.

Exactly this is the phase of microexpressions, if not addressed timely, you may miss the transformation that you need to connect, empathize, and even conduct your business.

Micro expressions, while subtle, provide a window into everyone's deeper feelings in real time, but reading them demands your skill.

That's why this blog is targeted to discuss what they are, why they're so important, and how advanced tech makes you understand others’ sentiment.

So, let’s begin!

What are Micro Expressions & What Do They Tell or Hide from Us?

Paul’s words defined well as what micro expression is, and this is an involuntary response that we, everyone, give even sometimes without realizing. Although emotion or sentimental state is quite a broad spectrum due to everyone reacting differently, in microexpressions mainly 6 emotions are included that are universal. And, they have nothing to do with different cultures, ages, or ethnicity. So, what, they are:

• Surprise
• Fear
• Sadness
• Anger
• Joy
• Disgust

While microexpressions let you assume how truly someone feels your words at the moment or how their next response will be, they never can expose a lot of things, which are likely,

• If anyone is guilty
• If anyone is lying
• If anyone is taking you for granted
• Or, if anyone is in the benefit of the doubt

However, understanding basic emotions actually opens doors to reading one’s mind in many cases while benefiting from several ways, which are discussed next.

Why Are Understanding Micro Expressions Important? Know through Examples

This is true - even if we don’t want to communicate verbally, we actually communicate non-verbally many times due to our 24/7 brain functioning. Therefore, understanding micro expressions doesn’t mean only reading faces but also building emotional intelligence that has more benefits, likely:

• 22x better performance in the organization compared to those who don't prioritize it
• Avoiding the cost of lower productivity, higher stress, and minimal or damaged trust
• 76% extra engagement and 61% higher creativity due to having emphatic leadership

Now, let’s have some examples to understand the importance of micro-expressions and know what’s concealed or what is revealed genuinely.

Customer Service: Detecting dissatisfaction early

In customer service, spotting a microexpression of frustration or disappointment can save an interaction from going south. Imagine a hotel guest checking in, politely thanking the receptionist but with a flash of irritation when they hear their room isn’t ready. 

If the front desk staff notices this brief reaction, they can immediately offer a complimentary drink or expedite room cleaning. This ability to read true feelings ensures quick, personalized solutions that prevent minor issues from escalating, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Sales: Identifying buyer hesitation

Sales professionals have to read prospects’ true feelings during a pitch. Imagine a car salesperson explaining features to a potential buyer, who nods enthusiastically yet briefly shows a look of doubt. This flash of uncertainty might indicate hesitance about the price or a specific feature. 

A skilled salesperson who notices this can tactfully address the concern, perhaps by offering more information or a limited-time discount, making the buyer feel understood and more confident in their decision.

Healthcare: Understanding hidden discomfort

Doctors and healthcare providers can use micro expressions to better understand patients who may be reluctant to voice concerns. A patient might insist he's not in pain, yet show a microexpression of discomfort—a tension around the mouth.

Recognizing this, the doctor might probe further or adjust his treatment approach, showing empathy and ensuring more effective care. This ability can be crucial in diagnosing hidden symptoms and building trust in the doctor-patient relationship to ease the procedure.

Law Enforcement: Detecting untold truth

In legal settings, reading microexpressions can be inevitable in understanding someone’s true intentions. During interrogations, for instance, a suspect might express calm confidence, but a momentary look of fear or contempt could reveal hidden objectives. 

Law enforcement officers trained to notice these micro-expressions can interpret them for further questioning or as potential indicators of deception. In courtroom settings, attorneys might similarly observe witnesses’ fleeting reactions to questions, using these insights to tailor their approach.

Workplace: Recognizing employee disengagement

Managers who pay attention to micro-expressions can gain valuable insights into their employees' true feelings about work, allowing them to address hidden challenges before they escalate. Imagine a team member attending a performance review, giving positive feedback about their role but showing a fleeting look of exhaustion or tension when asked about workload.

A perceptive manager who picks up on this sign could follow up by discussing workload adjustments or offering flexible scheduling options. Such attentiveness reinforces a supportive workplace culture where employees feel genuinely valued, ultimately enhancing retention and engagement.

Hence, it’s proved that understanding microexpressions helps enhance empathy, build engagement and trust, and come up with better decisions.

How Facial Recognition Software Helps Reading Micro Expressions?

Till now, we’ve discussed a lot about microexpression and its importance while covering different scenarios. However, as it’s said before, understanding it demands your skill due to microexpressions’ occurrence within a fraction of a second or unintentional misinterpretation and overlooking them.

When you may have to give attention and prioritize other important factors, a face tracking software may help you out that is working on facial recognition technology. So, let’s have a quick look at how it works:

• Facial recognition software analyzes a video or image of a person's face, focusing on changes in face movements while it identifies and tracks specific facial features such as eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth.

• It then identifies and evaluates quick, involuntary facial expressions that appear only for a split second. These fleeting expressions often reveal hidden emotions that the person may not be openly expressing.

• The software compares the detected micro-expressions to a database of known emotions to determine the most likely emotion being expressed. And, finally, you receive an analytical result to understand the person's true feelings and intentions.

Integrate Facial Recognition API to Make Micro Expressions Work in Your Device

If you’re the one who wants to see beyond words and read between the lines without confronting your target audience, then understanding micro-expression is really needed.

When you can take its benefits just by embracing facial recognition technology, more precisely, a facial recognition API that can detect emotions too, you should go for it.

Remember, it's just to connect with those who might be bad at being expressive and straightforward or too clever to hide reality.

And, before wrapping up this discussion, one important reminder for you that can be beneficial to you. If you want to know how facial recognition API can work for you to provide higher security and access control, you may once try out Lystface API to gain confidence.