What is Sensory Acuity?

In a recent Blog (What are your principles for success) it was discussed that if you have a desired outcome then one of the steps involved sensory acuity which is the ability to notice what is occurring as you are taking action. For example, you are communicating to your boss (or a friend) and you notice that the information is being well received and understood, and then you don’t need to change anything, simply keep communicating. Instead, what would happen if what you were saying was not well received or understood by your boss? Then, you must change your behaviour and communicate differently.

What do you need to know to have the appropriate sensory acuity that your communication is being understood by the other person? You need to observe the other person and be perceptive of changes in their physiology, voice tone and their energy as these can all indicate a change in their internal thoughts and emotional state. Generally you need to notice subtle changes in their skin colour, skin tone, breathing, lower lip size and the eyes.

A person’s skin colour can shift from light to dark and if you imagine that you were looking at a black and white photo then you are able to see the changes from light to dark. Skin tone (tonus) is essentially the tension of the muscles underneath the face. Skin tonus can vary from being symmetrical to unsymmetrical. The next subtle indication is changes in the breathing, breathing rate can vary between fast to slow and the location can be high in the chest or low in the stomach or somewhere in between. Lower lip size can easily change from moment to moment and generally changes will involve the lower lip being filled with blood which means fewer lines. Conversely when there is less blood then there are more lines. The final subtle change to be noticed is the eyes. The eyes will change from being focused to defocused and from dilated to undilated.

A great way to practice is to ask a friend to think of someone they do not like and observe the skin colour, skin tonus, breathing, lower lip and the eyes. Then ask them again to think of someone they like or even love. Guess what? By comparing you will become aware of how the skin colour and tonus, breathing, lower lip size and eyes are different from when the person was thinking of someone they dislike.

These subtle differences are very powerful and will assist you in determining whether the information you are communicating is being understood. These subtle changes can also be used in situations when you would like to know whether someone is telling you the truth or lying. It should be remembered though that one person’s change in skin colour, eyes, breathing etc when they are lying will be different to someone else.

Having sensory acuity is all about gaining awareness into someone’s state of mind through any associated changes in the body and physiology.