Face value: read these entrepreneurs' lips—and eyes, and noses …

Entrepreneur, June, 2005 by Nichole L. Torres

THE FACE says a lot about a person. From the shape of the eyes to the length between the nose and chin, you can decipher someone's personality traits before he or she even speaks, says Naomi R. Tickle, owner of the Petaluma, California-based firm Face Language International and author of You Can Read a Face Like a Book: Reading Faces to Succeed in Business and Relationships. She teaches clients to apply face reading to their everyday lives as well as their entrepreneurial endeavors. We asked Tickle to analyze a few famous entrepreneurial faces using her techniques. Here's what she had to say about Donald Trump, Michael Dell and Martha Stewart.

First, Tickle notes these entrepreneurs have some shared physical traits. They are all competitive, says Tickle, as they each have heads wider in the back than in the front. They're also forceful, as the head is higher in the back--they make things happen. Each entrepreneur has wide-set eyes, which illustrates their ability to look at the big picture and multitask. And their oval foreheads mean they're good at maintaining client relationships, projects and businesses. You can also determine how analytical someone is by how visible his or her eyelids are. These famous entrepreneurs' eyelids are covered with folds of skin, indicating they're very analytical. Finally, they all possess tenacity, as shown by their protruding chins, says Tickle. Read on to find out how they differ--and how you might use some of these face-reading clues in your own life.

What's the Matter?

We asked Entrepreneur.com readers,
"What are your biggest concerns as an
entrepreneur?" Here's what they said:

Taxes                                 17%
Health insurance                    14.7%
Consumer spending                   13.8%
Inflation                            8.3%
Workers' comp insurance              6.9%
Government regulation                  6%
Employee retention                   4.6%
Foreign competition                  4.1%
Information/internet security        4.1%
Impact of rising interest rates      3.2%
Other                               17.4%

SOURCE: Entrepreneur Media Inc.

DONALD TRUMP

LOW-SET EARS: high standards

WIDE FACE: confident and loves to be challenged

LONG CHIN: has a restless side; doesn't stand around

EARS BY FLAT AGAINST THE HEAD, COMBINED WITH A CONVEX NOSE: very extravagant

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

MICHAEL DELL

ROUNDED EYEBROWS: organization; pulls concepts together

MAGNETIC EYES AND LOW-SET EYEBROWS: very persuasive; comes across as friendly

DEEP-SET EYES: serious about what he does

SMALL MOUNDS ON FOREHEAD: very imaginative

DOWNTURNED NOSE: skeptical; questions everything

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

MARTHA STEWART

VERY ANGLED FROM EAR TO CHIN: very stubborn; doesn't like being told what to do

OUTER EDGES OF EYEBROWS GO IN: can be impatient in the moment

WIDE FACE: high self-confidence; needs to be challenged

FOREHEAD SLOPES BACK: quick to think; quick to react

SHORT SPACE FROM TOP OF LIP TO BASE OF NOSE: takes criticism very personally