A Real Smile

A Real Smile

Learn to smile, it is a curve that sets everything straight!

Tami Lancut Leibovitz

Manners, Etiquette & Personal Image Branding Expert. Founder and Ceo of TLL & TLL- Hospitality Brands.

A baby is born with a smile reflex, it a premature relax to prepare the gentle muscles around our eyes and lips for a full intercommunication. It’s a mutual feature all humans share.

The first smile coming from a baby is such a joyful feeling, a smile that evolves into laughter.

Smile is an important and significant part of personal communication. Always remember one basic rule of business phone calls – you can tell a person is smiling even over the phone and it makes the other person more recipient to you and to what you have to say! Try it on your next conference call if you haven't yet practiced it and tell me if you felt a difference.

How a smile helps us in business environment?

The non-verbal type of message is able to bypass our awareness and to be directly comprehended and understood by our sub consciousness, such a message will usually occur in most cases unknowingly and unconsciously. However, communication without words can also be made out of awareness – we choose to smile to people that we feel comfortable or welcomed by.

A smile is part of a person’s image. you want a colleague to remember you by your smile, not your wardrobe! It can transmit many types of personalities on the first impression, such as joyful, open, warm, optimistic, considerate and caring. We respond to the genuine and spontaneous expression of joy and happiness. A smile can provide us with energy; they drag us out of despondency, despair or frustration to a better place. Does it make sense when you think of the last video of baby laughing you watched? Could you help but laughing to yourself?

A smile generates a response and brings people together. Our emotional brain immediately responds to a genuine smile and gives us a message that the smiling person is friendly, kind and authentic.

A genuine smile also has an influence on our other messages, when it accompanies our speech and our body language. For example, a smile given while rapidly talking in a high-level language broadcasts enthusiasm, which without the accompanying smile might be interpreted in a negative way. The effect of a person’s smile can also be felt during a telephone conversation. The smiles’ effect on the persons’ speech and on the tone of his voice will pass on a positive and pleasant message.

But let us not forget, not every smile is created equal, there are many kinds of smiles: smiles of embarrassment, of consolation and reinforcement, of a pleasant memory, of mischievousness.

Be genuine: The worst kind of smile is the forced type of smile!

In a genuine and natural smile, two groups of muscles are directly involved, those near the mouth, that raise the cheeks and lips and those near the eyes. It is more difficult to control the eye muscles although they are the ones that give authenticity to the smile, but this is not impossible.

But let’s look on the bright side: You can learn or be taught how to smile! Look at the way a male or female model smile for the camera. They were not born with special features but rather they just simply learned to smile. Practice in front of the mirror when you brush your teeth – it might sound funny, but it will help you prepare for your next business meeting!

As part of my latest book “The IBL Code”, the International business language, you can find a complete etiquette guide that will guide you to a perfect smile, great first impressions and and so much more. For more details and a copy of the book, visit my website or Amazon to inquire about my book, The IBL Code: International Business Language.