The Ultimate Body Language Book

down to show disgust or a crucial view. Even still, the eyebrows can be raised fully to express surprise
or be singly raised and lower to indicate suspicion. One eyebrow raised and the other level or neutral is
a widespread sign of skepticism or displeasure and is called the eyebrow cock but if done subtly with a
slightly cocked head and a cheeky smile means “interesting”.
Disappointingly, very few actors have control over their eyebrows, and if you don’t believe me just
watch for yourself. I’m not sure they could use their faces very efficiently even if they tried, as the use
of eyebrows is not something that is easily consciously controlled. I have noticed that female television
news anchors will flash away during most of their reports but men won’t. This is also the case with
male actors who favour control, presumably to appear more dominant especially in lead roles.
Placement, size, and shape of the eyebrows also portray different meaning. Lower eyebrows appear
more dominant whereas high eyebrows make for a more subordinate yet perpetually surprised look.
Eyebrows that are turned in near the outside of the face also called “medially downturned” make the
face appear more concerned or empathetic. Bushy eyebrows signal dominance, and thin brows remind
us of children so appear more neotenous whereas the uni-brow where the eyebrow forms one single
brow across both eyes appears archaic, unsophisticated and un-groomed.
The eyebrows also have a language all to themselves. The eyebrow raise, where the eyebrows come
straight up and then back down in one motion, happens in speech to emphasis certain words, to
punctuate a point or in accompaniment with questions. The eyebrows raise can also appear as a request
for approval when unsure how our thoughts stand with others, or can even be meant as a measure to
verify if what we have said is being understood. In this case, the eyebrows will come up and pause for a
second and seek some sort of gesture of approval such as a head nod or vocal agreement before being
lowered. If there is no approval, then we might see the “eyebrow hold” which is akin to the shrugging
of the shoulders, indicating a lack of knowledge or even helplessness. Politicians and children do this
often when they seek approval, it says “So, what do you think, have I don’t a good job?”
Other times the eyebrows will move almost continuously throughout a conversation when we really
want to impress someone, flirt with them, or act particularly animated. If eyebrows are raised with a
slight tilt of the head at the end of the sentence it is to check to see if the message was understood but if
it is done with a slow raise of the head, it means disapproval saying “What you have just said, surprises
me”. Disapproval is even stronger if the head is lowered with the lips pursed tightly accompanied by
raised eyebrows. This signals a desire to end communication altogether.
Chapter 5 – Seeing Eye To Eye – A Look At The Language Of The Eye
Summary – Chapter 5
It was all about the eyes in this chapter. We covered the friendly gaze where the eyes travel in a
triangular pattern from eye to eye then to the mouth, the intimate gaze where the vast majority of time
is spend looking at the eyes and mouth and the business gaze where eighty to ninety percent of the time
is spent with direct eye contact and where the eyes never go below the neckline.
Next we covered how certain eye contact can be threatening, how to put your best side forward and
how to avoid an attack by switching off the attack response. When looked at pupillometrics, or the
study of pupil size in relation to emotion and we saw that larger pupils both signal attractiveness and
interest. Having covered the basics it was time to put eye language into practice with the room
encompassing glance, a clear signal of female interest, how blink rate can signal stress, an extended
blink can be offputting and how the double wink can be sexy. Eye blocking was emphasized as a