THE SMILE

Or how to be better at making a good first impression

One of the best ways to get better at something is to watch people who are already good at it and copy what they do. The secret is to break down each element of what a person does successfully into independent elements and consider them separate activities.
There will be a lot of people in your everyday life who will make a great first impression. Celebrities, politicians and actors are often good at this. I do it a lot and I do it in front of the cameras too. This gives us a chance to study what they do in detail.
It has been said that you are never fully dressed without a smile and it is the most important element of a first impression. Why is a smile so important? It is the first expression we experience since we were babies.

Have you recently found yourself in the position of responding to a baby’s smile with a smile?

A smile is recognized around the globe (although there are some nuances in different cultures). As they say, when you smile, the world really smiles with you.

The smile says a number of things:
   • I am confident
   • I am pleased to be here
   • I believe in myself and what I say
   • Perhaps most importantly, without using words, it allows us to say that we are pleased to know you.

Smiling will ensure that a vital connection occurs when you first walk into a room. If you smile at others, there’s a good chance they’ll smile back. You will already be aware that you smile when you are happy and when you feel good about the people around you. In other words, smiling isn’t just for the benefit of those who see it—there’s a cause and effect on the body.

I smile when I’m happy and when I smile, I become happy.