Thanks. I hope you got widening the eyes right. Don’t look startled, I’m not sure how to decribe it, but it might have something to do with the twinkling discussed above. But one of the hallmarks of a fake smile is no changes in the eyes, so doing anything with your eyes should help. I don’t smile much. I blame it on nerve damage in my jaw. But really I’m just grumpy all the time.
So faking a smile makes it easier for you to murder them, is what you’re saying?
It makes it easier to get them into the van.
Ah yes, of course. I got a little ahead of myself there. Ahem.
Honey vs vinegar, dude.
Give em a Ringo Starr :
Let an umbrella be your smile.
Wait, I think I’ve got that backwards.
You should see all the faces I’m making reading these posts!
People always used to tell me to smile more often, that I shouldn’t look so grumpy, etc. My mom said it was the cursed, “Woolsey frown” (her maiden name). It’s evidently very normal for everyone in the Woolsey clan to have a natural frown… and from the looks of my grandpa and his parents, it’s very true!
So, now without even thinking about it, anytime I see someone while I’m walking, I just put on a little grin.
If you walk around smiling people will wonder what you’re up to. No thanks!
I have one of those faces, too. When we took pictures for the office website I practiced in a mirror and found that I had put on what (from the inside) felt to me like a maniacal grin to look like I was really smiling. I tried it on picture day and the photographer commended me on smiling properly. Go figure.
yup yup yup! I’m on the same page here. I have to way, WAY over smile for people to think it’s a proper smile.
I have finally found my people. 
Get dental implants so you have a big smile, or just smile on the inside.
I had an evil stepmother who used to tell me to stop making a face. I tried explaining that’s just what my natural face looks like but I got in trouble for talking back.
I’d say it’s the other person’s problem. There’s a whole range of human interaction that doesn’t require an emotional component and it isn’t your job to provide one where it isn’t an emotional context.
If you are having a portrait taken, the key difference between a real smile and a fake one is in the eyes. “Real” smiles involve the whole face, not just the mouth. I find it helpful to “method act”, thinking of something the makes me happy, or something that is funny, to invoke the genuine emotion.
If you really need to, when you encounter a person that needs you to smile, imagine doing horrible things to them, and smile with the satisfaction that they have no idea what you are thinking. Or imagine them naked or on roller skates, like Harry Potter.
Thanks heaps for that. I’m going to try it in front of a mirror next time I’m alone in the house. I have one of those faces which makes people say irritating things like, “don’t worry, it’ll probably never happen.”
[This is the second incredibly informative thread I’ve read today - the first was how Tiger Balm works. It’s a good day!]
Basic Instructions to the rescue!
Your hide would make a fine poncho!