Frown and you frown alone, but smile and the whole world
smiles with you. Not just any smile will do, though. With 19
variations on the smile, including 16 produced by enjoyable
emotions,[1] smiling is an incredibly important part of our
lives. If you're looking to develop a genuine, infectious
smile that can make a bad date turn good, seal a business
deal, or help you make friends wherever you go, this article
will help you on your way. It's fun, fast, and easy! But
best of all, it's a natural way to make yourself and others
feel really good.
!! Steps !!
Enjoy the many benefits of a smile. In order to want to smile, it
really helps to know what benefits a smile can bring to your day.
The following benefits are bound to make you lean towards sharing a
smile with others most of the day:
* Smiles improve your appearance. Charles Gordy once quipped: "A
smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks". All you need to
do is think about how you feel about a person who is frowning and
a person who is smiling – who tends to be the better looking?
* Smiles make things right again and say much more than words can.
If you've goofed, said something less than complimentary, feel
lost or alone, or feel down, a smile can set things right again. A
smile lets other people know that you're prepared to be open to
them, and that you're willingly agreeing to set things right where
needed.
* Smiles create trust and rapport. A smile is a great way of
establishing mutual feelings of being on the same level as others,
whether that is one-to-one or in front of a group giving a
presentation. A smile says "I'm OK, you're OK, and we're all going
to enjoy one another's company".
* Smiles make you feel good. Even if you're feeling a little blue,
insert happy thoughts into your mind and just add that smile. The
smile will trick your mind into feeling better, as endorphins are
released to reduce physical or emotional stress.[2][3]
* Smiles make other people feel good. An open-mouthed smile is
visible from further away than a frown, offering people
reassurance that you're friendly.[4] And it makes people feel
better to see a smile, from afar or close up.
* Wrinkles are better when they're smile lines rather than frown
lines. Mark Twain said: "Wrinkles should merely indicate where
smiles have been"; viewed this way, smiles are an indication of
your overall character, which becomes more and more outwardly
telling as you age!
* Smiling is a good long-term predictor of happier life outcomes.[5]
Smiling attracts health, happiness, friends, success, and a longer
life.[6]
A smile lights up your face Become comfortable with smiling. If
you're not used to smiling regularly, overcoming your nervousness or
cynicism about smiling can take a little practice but like any habit,
it's easy to reform with time. Some things to keep in mind include:
* A smile always looks good. Feeling nervous about the beauty or
appearance of your smile is unnecessary. Trust that your smile
makes you look great.
* A smile is professional. Smiling at work or during other
professional occasions is not going to make you seem
unprofessional. Quite the opposite, a smile will humanize you and
make you appear more approachable. People will appreciate your
recognition of their worth and of a job well done when you smile.
* A smile makes you real. If you're afraid of appearing vulnerable
when you smile, accept that any form of vulnerability suggested by
a smile is precisely what makes it such a powerful act. You're
opening yourself up to others and people will respond better to
that than to a serious, unmoved demeanor. Moreover, a smile
accompanied by an assertive personality will take care of any
sense that people will use your smile to walk all over you!
Make your smile genuine. While it is perfectly possible to crack a
smile when you feel terrible, angry, annoyed, or you're up to
something nefarious, a genuine smile is much harder to fake; indeed,
only around 10 percent of the population can manage that feat.[7] A
genuine smile is detectable by others because it is accompanied by a
general glow, smiling eyes where the outer corners crinkle and the
lower lid tightens, and a reassuring demeanor that helps the viewer
to feel more at ease in your presence. A genuine smile comes from
being happy, positive, and from drawing your feelings from the
heart.
* Think happy thoughts. The easiest way to a fantastic, genuine
smile is to be happy. Think about someone you care about (perhaps
the person standing in front of you as you smile), about something
that you genuinely love to do, or think of a funny joke that you
just find hilarious. Or think about the happiest moments in your
life.
* Be genuine. Draw on your heartfelt feelings, not just
rationalizations. When you're confronted by a person or situation
that makes you feel ambivalent and you're oscillating between
giving the cold shoulder or smiling, err on the side of smiling
– find one single thing in your heart that is positive about the
person or situation before you, and use that to create your smile.
* Love people and your life. It's much easier to produce friendly,
easygoing, genuine smiles when you love what you do, when you love
the people around you, and when you love humanity in general. Be
grateful for all that you have and you'll find smiles come far
more naturally.
* Be playful. Intense times can make us too serious. See life as an
adventure, be gentle on yourself and watch children at play. Being
playful will bring a smile to your face much more easily.
Smiles are contagious. Smile with your eyes. A wholehearted smile
will naturally draw in the eyes. It is commonplace to hear a person
say "her eyes were smiling", or to say "he didn't mean it; he was
smiling but his eyes weren't". The eyes are essential for a genuine,
warm smile. Your eyes light up, twinkle, and reflect your happiness.
While it's hard to fake this unless you're really feeling it, you can
try this exercise:
* To get a feel for how to make your eyes smile, stand in front of a
mirror and practice smiling, but concentrate only on your eyes.
You may find it helpful to cover the lower part of your face with
a piece of paper. Play around with it a bit, and you'll find that
you can make your mouth smile when your eyes aren't smiling, and
you can also smile only with your eyes. When your eyes do smile,
remember how it feels, which muscles are working and how. With
practice, you may discover how to smile with your eyes at will by
relying on your feelings and muscle memory.
Practice your smile. There is no harm in practicing your smile –
doing so will increase your smiling confidence, improve your sense
of well-being,[8] and help you to learn which of your smiles are
your best. Look at photos of yourself smiling, with a closed mouth,
open mouth, and from different angles. Which smiles and poses make
your face light up the most? Which smile displays your other
features to their best possible advantage? Which smile comes across
as the most natural, the most "you"?
* Find that picture and focus on what your face is doing. Then
practice in front of a mirror until you get it just right. Keep
practicing, and pay attention to how that great smile feels, so
that you'll be able to replicate it without looking in a mirror.
Soon it will become second nature, and you'll likely find that
you'll look more photogenic in your next batch of pictures.
* If you want to improve your smile, look at pictures of smiles you
believe are beautiful. Also, remember that you're beautiful
(inside and out); your smile is bound to look better if you feel
good about yourself!
* Note the difference between a smile and a grin. Grins bare a lot
more teeth (think Cheshire Cat) and are not necessarily flattering
on all people, although for some people they can make you appear
cute. If you're prone to grinning and it's not doing your
appearance any favors, try showing only your upper teeth when you
smile. Showing your lower teeth can make it seem you're baring
your teeth.
* When showing teeth, pressing the tongue behind the teeth will make
small gaps look less noticeable.
* Practice smiling at random strangers.[9] Make a choice that
you'll do this, make brief eye contact with a person, and smile.
As you do so, think happy thoughts (it helps to choose someone
attractive to begin with). Don't choose a person with sunglasses;
you need to see their eyes. Not everyone will smile back but note
how you feel when they do!
Maintain good mouth hygiene. One thing that can cause you to fear
smiling is the worry that there is something stuck between your
teeth, or that you have bad breath. Eliminate these hygiene sources
of worry by taking active steps to keep your mouth fresh and clean.
Brush your teeth regularly, carry floss with you wherever you go so
that you can clean up after dining, and have breath freshener on you
at all times (natural or commercial). In addition, see your dentist
regularly for teeth check-ups and cleaning, as well as discussing
options for teeth straightening, etc., if this is a concern for you.
When you smile people will inevitably look at your mouth, so
following these considerations will help you make a better
impression, and, more importantly, a healthy mouth will make you
feel more confident about smiling.
* Visit the dentist for a polishing or whitening. If your teeth are
stained, consider your lifestyle habits that bring this about and
try to minimize the impacts of such habits as smoking or drinking
too much red wine, etc.
* Keep your lips in great shape to prevent chapping.
* Deal with bad breath. If it's surface, cleaning and fresheners
should be adequate. If these do not work, it may be a sign of an
underlying health problem, so see your doctor for advice.
Expect smiling to be difficult in some situations. Smiling on demand
can be difficult, whether it's for a photo or for the sake of
keeping mom happy when the relatives you can't stand visit. This is
because you are feeling self-conscious or you lack a genuine reason
for smiling. In these sorts of cases, smiling needs to come from
your memory of good smiles along with a little self-kidding or jokes
in the head.
* For a photo, smile 20 percent more than you think you should.[10]
* Smile wide and show the top row of teeth.
* Return to the earlier steps on thinking happy and practicing your
smile. Simply know that you can do this without faking it. In
doing so, when it comes to the more difficult people in your life,
offering them a smile will also be a means by which you're
accepting others for who they are and what they have to offer to
the world, rather than worrying too much about their impact on
you.
!! Tips !!
* Opportunities for smiling are all around you. Make the most of
them.
* You don't need perfect teeth to have a perfect smile. Not
everybody has perfect teeth, and that's okay. Beautiful teeth are
nice, but a great smile doesn't depend on standard model's teeth.
That said, if you feel uncomfortable about your teeth you may be
reluctant to smile, and that's no good. If that's the case,
either learn to appreciate your individuality or look into
cosmetic dentistry procedures. Or, you could smile with your mouth
closed if preferred.
* Wear clothes that smile. Add to your positive body language the
color of happiness. Yellow is the color for dependability. A soft
yellow is non-threatening and friendly. Warm colors from the
yellow family are welcoming. Golds, browns, golden-oranges, are
all dependable colors of friendship. Blues are passive and calm
colors. In the visual language, soft blues project a serenity and
quiet peacefulness. Avoid reds that are come across as aggressive
and threatening.
* You've probably heard of "contagious" or "infectious" smiles.
There's a reason for this – when you smile, it tends to make
others around you smile. Even in the most stressful times, a
roomful of smiles can brighten everybody's mood.
* Ever laugh hysterically about something you've just seen? Take
that memory but just laugh slightly and now you have a natural
pretty smile.
* A lot of men feel uncomfortable about smiling at strangers,
especially at other males. If that is the case, then just offer a
casual "Hi", or "Hey man!", or "What's goin' on?". It works just
as well, and feels less awkward for a lot of guys.
* Try a light smile: don't show as many teeth as you would when
you're laughing. It's the best smile for flirting - light and
seductive.
* If you have a tooth that pokes out a bit at the side, as many
people sometimes do, try to get your lip to go above it so your
lip doesn't catch on the tooth when you smile.
* Don't compare yourself to the celebrities you see on TV, in
pictures, etc., because they are faking it. Instead, be yourself,
be natural, and be genuine. Everybody has a smile waiting to burst
out from inside them somewhere!
!! Warnings !!
* A fake smile can make you look phony or even dangerous.
A fake smile can make you look phony, nervous, or even dangerous,
so don't just try to put on a smile without first practicing or
putting yourself in a happy state of mind. You can spot a fake
smile from a genuine (or Duchenne) smile – a fake smile is one
where the corners of the mouth aren't turned up, or the mouth is
solely smiling, with no change at all in the eyes. You'll know it
when you see it as you pick up the subtle body language cues that
confuse you as to the smiler's intention; and if it's you making
the fake smile, check your emotions to know whether or not you
mean the smile.
* Try to make sure you don't have spinach or something stuck in your
teeth because you'll leave a poor impression. Duck out to the
bathroom after a meal and quickly refresh; this is even more
important when you know your teeth are prone to catching bits of
food.
* There is no scientific study saying how many muscles it takes to
smile over frowning.[11] It's probably just better to accept that
smiling is just worthwhile because the longer term benefits are
worth the effort!
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Use Body Language Effectively
* How to Be Photogenic
* How to Take Care of Your Teeth
* How to Look Approachable
* How to Be Happy
* How to Be Confident
* How to Get Ready for School Picture
* How to Smile When You Think You Can't Smile
* How to Tip Your Hat at Someone
!! Sources And Citations !!
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
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