Did you watch the Grammy’s last night. I caught a little bit. How are award shows related to communication?

There is a concept called “masking” in nonverbal communication. Basically it means that you “mask” (hide) your true emotions when you’re in a situation where it’s not socially appropriate to show how you really feel. (Meetings at work, meeting people that you may have passed judgment on, etc.). There’s also an theory about micro-expressions. That’s the split second where are true emotions show through before we mask them.

Any show where there’s a competition and clear winner and loser are announced is where we can see real life examples of these nonverbal concepts. Did you see any masking last night? Fake happiness? A moment of disappoint before the smile?  While we’re on it, how to the expression of genuine emotions of the winners show up nonverbally?