Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Faking a smile not just a cliche pop lyric

6:53 AM 4 comments


Chris Ray's blog, Interactively Speaking, posted a link to an online BBC survey that tests your ability to detect fake smiles.

Take the test! It's amazing. And it makes you think twice about every time you've felt the sensation that someone wasn't really smiling.

This topic is also has relevance to making an UNFORGETTABLE™ first impression - not just a "good" first impression.

LET ME ASK YA THIS...

How can you tell when someone's smile is insincere?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

4 comments:

I would have to say it boils down to duration and intensity. A real smile generally starts small around the mouth, grows to include the entire face, than slowly fades away. On the other hand the fake smile
is turned on like a switch and generally doesn't involve any facial muscles above the mouth. When the smile ends it's turned off immediately leaving no traces that it was ever there.

I also look for where their eyes go after the smile has occurred. If they remain fixed on me I tend to think they're generally happy to see me or interested in having a conversation. If they drift to someone
(or something) else then they've made it clear that their interests are elsewhere at the moment.

Thanks for the mention Scott. :) [this is a genuine smile!]

Chris

I correctly guessed 16 out of the 20 smiles. For me, if you are face to face with the person, it's easy to tell. There are other cues such as what they are saying, their body language, and tone.

Great link to the test.
Interesting that they ask your level of optimism before beginning the test. I think it DOES have an affect on your answers.

I guessed 15 out of the 20 correctly.

Reminded me of a quote (I'm paraphrasing...)
"Sincerity is one of the most important qualities a human being can possess -- if you can fake that, you've got it made!"

Dear Scott, thanks for another super article, i just love this site, thanks for the hard work.

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