Stage Presentation: Body Language & Facial Expressions
DON’T LET A POOR STAGE ATTITUDE HOLD YOU BACK FROM GETTING THE PLACINGS YOUR PHYSIQUE DESERVES
Dr. Andrew Chappell
I’ve been attending bodybuilding shows for over 20 years, I’ve judging at them for over 15 years and I’ve been a head judge for 5 years. I’ve seen a lot of competitors come and go, I’ve seen a lot of fantastic competitors with great stage presentation and i’ve seen a lot of fantastic competitors held back by their poor stage presentation. Whenever I work with posing clients, I always talk about the importance of stage presentation and confidence. Those who aren’t confident, I try to teach them to fake, e.g. look confident, even if you’re nervous. I explain that bodybuilding is a combination of: sport, art, and entertainment. They should consider themselves as a performer rather than as simply a competitor. The greatest bodybuilder of them all, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the embodiment of the performer. As were all the great posers: Frank Zane, Ed Corney, Lee Labrada, Bob Paris, Lee Priest, Shawn Ray, Melvin Anthony.
Although Arnold was a master of posing, it was his personality that often set him apart from his fellow competitors. He as always confident in his own abilities.
The thing about all the great posers was that they all understood human psychology, and how their demeanour could positively or negatively impact their placing. They understood how to use non-verbal cues to connect with the audience e.g. facial expressions, posture, eye gaze. Now, some people are better at reading facial expressions than other, but humans are incredibly perceptive creatures, and you don’t have to be a professional poker player to tell what’s going on in someone’s head.
Picture the following scenario: you walk down the street past three strangers; the first stranger scowls at you; the second stranger smiles,;and the third has a blank expression. Which of the three strangers would you most want to meet for a coffee later? We’re all hardwired to detect different facial expressions, at the most basic level these signals tell us if we should approach, or avoid another human (e.g. friend or foe). Moreover, it’s for this reason that drama/dance performance schools teach their students the importance of non-verbal cues to convey emotions and connect with their audience.
Which of these expressions do you expect would make the most favourable impact on a judging panel?
Human behaviour is guided by non-verbal cues, as they provide us with clues about how a person is feeling and what their intentions might be. Considering the example above, our eyes detect the facial pattern, posture, eye movements and signals are sent to the brain for processing. These signals go to two areas of the brain the amygdala as well as the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala is a more primitive part of the brain is responsible for instant reactions like fight, flight or freeze responses, while the latter is involved in more complex processing. The division of these signals allows us to rapidly detect potential threats and respond. For example, if there is an element of danger, your amygdala may stimulate release of adrenaline causing your body to mobilise fuel stores and raise your heart rate in anticipation of danger; while the processing part is trying to work out the intentions of the stranger. This all happens automatically and using MRI, PET scanners and electromyographics scientists can detect activity in different regions of the brain that response to facial expressions associated with trust, disgust, ambivalence and pain. Curiously when we detect someone in pain, the same regions of the brain are activated in response, just like when your embarrassed on someone else behalf.
What does your smile say about you? Think about it the next time you’re on stage, its clear to see from the image about which smiles are genuine and fake
Eye contact is another interesting social cue and gazing with neutral and smiling expression can be perceived as either positive or negative. Scientists have coined terms such as “live” persons to characterise individuals who make eye contact and those who show interest and are engaged. This can be compared to a lack of eye gaze which can be perceived as deceitful or unengaged. People can also detect the subtle differences between smiles. For example, people can usually pick out smiles which are genuine and express humour, enjoyment and authentic happiness, compared to the arrogant side of the mouth smiles, or the rye disappointed smile.
So why does any of this matter? Well from a spectator’s and a judge’s perspective we can all pick up on the non-verbal cue’s competitors make when they’re on stage. It’s clear to see which competitors are: confident and enjoying themselves, nervous and in distress, lacking confidence, unprepared and out of their depth, confused, disappointed, arrogant/smug, or are a good sportsman/woman. Your facial expressions, body language and general demeanour say a lot about you and people that work in marketing know this all too well. Think about the last set TV adverts you watched, you can bet the actor/actress had an open posture, a confident smile (with perfect teeth) and they look happy to be using that particular product. Judges are non-bias but they pick up on the same social cues the rest of us. Your goal as the competitor therefore is to always try to attract their attention and get them onside and scowling, and looking mean doesn’t help your cause. This can affect your placing negatively.
Advertisers have long understood human psychology and how to use non-verbal cues to connecting with the audience
THINGS THAT DON’T HELP YOU WHEN YOU STAND ON STAGE
My advice to those reading this article is that if you if you want to annoy the judges, alienate audience and damage your chance of placing then the following doesn’t go down to well
Smugness and arrogance e.g. a “too cool for school” persona doesn’t help you.
Treading the line between confident and cocky can be a difficult one, get it wrong and it can be hard for a judge or audience to relate to. They might even want to see you lose! You’ll struggle to win your peers over too.
Overly aggressive posing, stamping, elbow butting.
This on the one hand can be unsporting, and on the other hand you can just look silly
Grimacing, scowling and frowning, emotionless facial expressions
You may look scary, unapproachable, lacking confidence, uninterested or lacking in confidence
Antics like stretching, press ups, and constant fidgeting or posing
This can look unprofessional, or unprepared (stretching/press ups), or it can just be annoying
I’ve seen all of the above from the judges table and these traits never help competitors. These competitors have forgot about or never learned the performance and artistic elements of bodybuilding.
THINGS THAT WILL HELP YOU WHEN YOU STAND ON STAGE
A large confident smile, upright open posture
Stand up tall, open your mouth show your teeth and smile like your genuinely happy to be there. You look awesome and this is supposed to be fun!
Great posing and posing fitness
If you can pose well, you’ll get noticed, particularly if you can flow through the poses. If your fit, you should be able to control your breathing and facial expressions. Even though it’s tough you should be able to make it look easy. Work on this.
A positive mindset, and a genuine passion for the stage
Don’t let call outs get the better of you. Put an effort into your posing routine, you can see the competitors who care and who love their routines. Be proud of what you’ve achieved and the physique you’ve produced, this is your chance to show it off what you’ve worked so hard all year for.
Sporting and having fun
Shake hands, be courteous on stage and back stage and even if you don’t get the results you want (or if you do), be mindful of your fellow competitors. Don’t let your face show you up.
When someone is enjoying themselves they give off a positive almost intangible vibe that everyone can buy into. It really does draw your eye.
Margins are small when it comes to competition so don’t let a poor stage attitude let you down.
REFERENCES
Mühlberger, A., Wieser, M.J., Gerdes, A.B., Frey, M.C., Weyers, P. and Pauli, P., 2011. Stop looking angry and smile, please: start and stop of the very same facial expression differentially activate threat-and reward-related brain networks. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 6(3), pp.321-329.
Pönkänen, L.M. and Hietanen, J.K., 2012. Eye contact with neutral and smiling faces: effects on autonomic responses and frontal EEG asymmetry. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, p.122.
Korb, S., Niedenthal, P., Kaiser, S. and Grandjean, D., 2014. The perception and mimicry of facial movements predict judgments of smile authenticity. PLoS One, 9(6), p.e99194.