— In this paper, we present our research efforts in exploring the role of motion and actuation in human-robot interaction. We define Emotive Actuation, and briefly discuss its function and importance in social robotic interaction. We propose a suggested methodology for exploring Emotive Actuation in HRI, and present a robotic testbed we designed for this purpose. We conclude with informal results of a preliminary design critique we performed using our testbed. Key Words: emotive actuation; social human-robot interaction