We are all pretending. The important thing is to keep a straight face.

The President appeared grim-faced before the meeting in the White House Cabinet Room.

The voice pitch is determined by the vibratory frequency of the vocal folds.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.

His name sounds French but he is English.

1. The difference between the words people speak and our understanding of what they are saying comes from non-verbal communication, otherwise known as “body language.”
2. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. When we speak, other people “read” our voices in addition to listening to our words. Things they pay attention to include your timing and pace, how loud you speak, your tone and inflection, and sounds that convey understanding, such as “ahh” and “uh-huh.”
3. Contrary to what one might expect, research shows that when people speak with a lower pitch they feel more powerful.
4. While good eye contact is praised and expected in the West, it is seen as a sign of disrespect and challenge in other cultures, including Asian and African. The less eye contact these groups have with an individual, the more respect they show.
5. By the time most of us are adult(s), we’ve learned to mask our true feelings — at least as they show up in our face – because we have to get along at work, at home, and in social settings. So we pretend to be interested, we pretend to smile, we assume a bland expression when we’re actually peeved, and so on.