Smile lines – smiling when speaking

Sometimes we need to smile when speaking, and we don’t want to.

Bad mood, nerves, our natural demeanour. They may all contribute to a unsmiley speech.

Need a solution?

Print your script, and mark out key phrases (generally evenly phased throughout the speech) that you will know as your ‘smile lines’.

Spend a good thirty mins (and a few extra mins over the coming days) practicing the speech and delivering those specific lines with a big smile and open body language. (Practice with the script to begin with so that you don’t forget them!)

You will find that at these key points, with your rehearsed smile, you add extra intonation, warmth and life to your speech.

If you dot ‘smile lines’ throughout your speech as milestones, it doesn’t matter if adrenaline overcomes you and that smile/energy begins to fade, because it will be replenished/returned/recharged when you hit your next smile point!

Rehearsal is the key here, as when the adrenaline is pumping you need your body to associate those phrases you have designated ‘smile lines’ with a change in your expression!