Giving Compass' Take:

• Much of American Sign Language relies on body language and facial expressions. Experts are sharing the messages sent through nonverbal displays that give the most valuable insights.

• Will this insight help businesses, companies, philanthropies and other organizations improve their meetings?

• Here's another example on making business meetings more productive.

Laurie Achin is a master at studying a person’s facial expression, gestures, and body language to pick up the nuances that impact a message other than what’s being said aloud.

Achin is deaf and an American Sign Language faculty member at Northeastern University. She says she catches “the little behaviors, the small movements, the small changes in people’s expressions, body language, and even how the person is saying something” much quicker than hearing people. She can even gauge what a person is feeling and thinking by how they write, drink, walk, and even sit in a chair.

Achin’s skill is extremely important in business interactions, especially as the workplace becomes more remote and virtual. Below, Achin along with Katie Fitzpatrick and Miriam Horwitz–both sign language interpreters–break down the messages sent through nonverbal displays that are volumes louder than what’s actually being said aloud:

  • WHAT YOU’RE MISSING: “I UNDERSTAND”
  • WHAT YOU’RE MISSING: “I WANT TO SPEAK NOW”
  • WHAT YOU’RE MISSING: “I NEED TO INTERRUPT YOU”

Read the full article on nonverbal cues by Vivian Giang at Fast Company.