Behavior researcher Vanessa Van Edwards breaks down five visual cues that make a profile photo work: visible hands, a subtle smile, an upward-facing angle, specific hand gestures, and the combination of warmth and competence. Each triggers psychological responses that build trust and engagement.
I'm asked all the time what people should do in their profile photos. I stumbled across this photo and it is exactly what I recommend for the perfect profile photo. By the way, I'm Vanessa Van Edwards. I'm a behavior researcher. Follow me for more cool social tips. Let's analyze why this works. First of all, this is Justin Sua. I don't know him. I just stumbled across his profile, but I was like, "Oh, it is magic." First, what do we love? A hand. Mm, humans love seeing a hand even in a profile picture. Yes, it shows openness. It also feels like you could reach out and just shake that hand. Doesn't it? So I feel like you can just give him a high five, a fist bump, like he's reaching out to you. Second is he has a nice subtle smile. He's looking engaged, he's looking like he's a great conversationalist. I've never even heard him speak, but doesn't he look captivating? Subtle hack here, we're looking at him looking up. There's a downward angle. There's some research to suggest that looking up at someone reminds us of when we were children looking up at our superiors, these amazing adults in our life, our caretakers. So you might try doing a picture angled slightly up Makes you look really charming. Justin also used so many hand gestures in his thumbnails and his conversations. You'll notice you always see them. They're also kind of specific, which makes you think he's saying something specifically for me. What is it? So he uses facial expressions that make you feel like you're in on an inside joke. This is high warmth—smiling, eye contact, visible hands—but also high competence with specific gestures and specific angles. I think we could really copy his playbook Follow me for more tips like this. If you want me to audit your profile, comment profile below and I might audit yours next.
