Vanessa Van Edwards says fake smiles hurt your first impression. Wait until you feel genuine excitement, like hearing good news, then let your whole face light up with a real smile that engages your cheek muscles. Timing matters more than forcing it.
Be smile ready. I never like to encourage people to fake smile, so I don't want you to just be like, hi, nice to meet you. Hi, nice to meet you. Or smile at people you don't know if you don't feel it. Instead, I'd rather you be smile ready. Be serious. But when someone shares something good or something exciting, or you are truly excited to meet someone, show them a big, authentic smile. A big, authentic smile reaches all the way up into our upper cheek muscles. So that's when you can say, oh, I'm so excited to hear you got a new puppy. I love puppies. Can I see any pictures? That way you're easy to smile, but you're not fake smiling.
