What Did You Say?
Effective Ways to Communicate in the Masked Age
Cate Dowman, University of Miami
Latoya Danford Stewart, Florida International University
Housekeeping
We invite you to:
- unmute anytime to discuss or ask a question
- make full use of chat
- share stories in Jamboard
- participate as much as you wish
Poll - in chat
How confident are you in reading the speaker's emotion and expression?
1: I struggle
2: Sometimes I miss the point
3: I'm a rockstar
Masked Communication Side Effects
Decrease in level of confidence by the listener
Confusion reading angry vs. neutral expressions
1
Micro Expressions
Misperception of tone
Speaking louder not clearer
Miscommunication for non-native speakers
2
Tone of Voice
More and forced eye contact
Missed social cues
Placing more trust and likeability in masked faces
3
Nuances
Topic Wheel
How it works
- spin - wheel
- choose topic
- discuss - facts, research
- share strategies
- play - game
- Defined as: a short, involuntary facial expression which can reveal emotions
- How many micro expressions are there?
- Six! List them (in chat)
- What about neutral?
- Research: increased lack of confidence in reading facial cues esp. neutral face
Micro Expressions
- Fear: focus on the eyes & eyebrows. Look for a widening of the lids so the whites of the eyes show and the eyebrows are raised in a flat line
- Surprise: A long expression, face mask may pull, high eyebrows in an upside down U
- Sadness: pinched eyebrows, drooping eyelids
- Happiness: activated upper cheeks and crows feet right below the eyes (real vs. fake)
- Anger: 2 parallel lines between the eyebrows
- Disgust: nose crinkles at the top of the nose
Strategies
science of people.com
Name that Expression !
Mrs. Winter Unmasked
Original material from top row stems from MPI FACES database (Ebner et al., 2010), bottom row: Carbon C-C (2020) Wearing Face Masks Strongly Confuses Counterparts in Reading Emotions. Front. Psychol. 11:566886. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.566886
anger
disgust
fear
happy
neutral
sad
- Defined as: the way a person is speaking to someone
- Problems associated with masks:
- Muffled tones, high pitch sound waves blocked, unable to lean in, speak loudly not clearly
- Research: voiceless consonants are lost (p, t, k,f, s, sh), louder volume = voice fatigue
Tone of Voice
- Hyper-articulate esp. consonants
- Slow down speech and add pauses
- Speak up but don't shout = strained voice and misperception
- Engage active listening
Strategies
Meet Mandi
Tone 1
Tone 2
Tone 3
Sarcasm
Dismissive
Genuine
- Defined as: a very slight difference in appearance, meaning, sound, etc.
- Problems associated with masks:
- Cultural differences in emotions: misread tone -sarcasm, increased likeability & trustworthiness in masked faces for no reason, prolonged eye contact
- Research: reduces emotion-recognition accuracy & perceived closeness
Nuances
- Adjust tone not volume
Strategies
- Do an eye contact check during the conversation
- Take note of potential cultural & religious nuances: Asian vs. Western, muslim vs. christian
- Go big on body langauge: hands, eyes, eyebrows and spine (posture)
-
share successful communication strategies of your own; or
- a time when you failed to communicate effectively and what you learned; or
-
micro expression story - positive or negative
Stories
Inclusivity
Defined as: “the practice or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised, such as those who have physical or mental disabilities and members of minority groups”.
Problems associated with masks: understanding accents, cannot read lips, eyes and emotional recognition rely on cultural context
Strategy: know that everyone has an accent even you, speak slower
- https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/03/30/study-reveals-how-face-masks-hinder-communication.html
- Carbon C-C (2020) Wearing Face Masks Strongly Confuses Counterparts in Reading Emotions. Front. Psychol. 11:566886. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.566886
- Grundmann F, Epstude K, Scheibe S (2021) Face masks reduce emotion-recognition accuracy and perceived closeness. PLoS ONE 16(4): e0249792. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249792
- Science of people.com
References
Thank You!
Questions?
Contact
Cate Dowman: catedowman@miami.edu
LaToya Danford Stewart: ldanford@fiu.edu
What Did You Say? TOPkit Poster Session
By Catherine Dowman
