Stop Looking Scared! One Trick to Relax Your Face
The following post is from Reborn: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
A few days ago, I got a voicemail from this lady who sounded very concerned.
She wasn’t delivering a sad message or anything.
It was just how she said what she said.
‘Hello Armani, I need to talk to you about a few things on your application. Please get back to me. My number is….”
I called her back, and she didn’t pick up.
I called her back on Friday 5:52 pm, so she must’ve been off.
Most likely, she wasn’t going to be working on the weekend.
So, I had to wait until Monday.
That weekend, I kept wondering what was wrong.
Did I do something?
By the time Monday rolled around, I called her again.
She didn’t pick up.
It went to her voicemail.
I left a voicemail.
Finally, by Wednesday, she called me back:
‘Hey Armani, sorry I was on vacation. Hey, my bad about that voicemail! I needed some information, but I saw that my boss already filled it out. I didn’t see it.’
It was a misunderstanding.
I was tempted to make a joke where I said:
‘You need to work on your tone, lady! You had me overthinking these past couple of days.’
I didn’t though.
I just said thanks for returning my call and I went about my business.
As of late, I’ve been noticing a similar version of what that lady did to me.
But instead of a concerned tone, it’s a concerned face.
I went to a restaurant recently and asked if I could get some ranch.
When I asked for the ranch, the lady gave me this petrified, concerned look.
That petrified face gave me the same scared feeling that the lady’s concerting voicemail gave me.
I thought:
‘Could you soften up your face a bit? You’re making me think what I’m saying is concerning you. You’re giving me the face like I’m about to attack you or something.’
I doubt the restaurant lady had a clue what she was doing.
People are very unaware of their faces.
I’ve recorded over 1000 videos on YouTube.
I watch all my talks back.
And I’m shocked by how many times I was feeling a positive feeling, but my stiff face told another story.
I wonder how often my face worries someone else…
The fix for the voice issue and face issue is to smile more.
Whenever I have to deliver bad news to someone, I will smile before I make the call.
Automatically, I can sense my tone is more compassionate.
Whenever I am about to enter a networking event, I will smile.
I automatically feel more confident and approachable.
We may accidentally be scaring others off because we look mean or sound worried.
No matter what it is, just tilt the sides of your lips upwards, and your issue will be resolved.
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