People who smile

I think smiling is one of the most powerful ways of communicating and bonding with other people that there is. I love seeing genuine smiles. A French girl just gave me the most wonderful gappy smile and it really cheered me up.

Everyone has a great smile in them. But it has to be genuine; there is nothing more unnerving than a false smile.

Charlie Sheen gives us a typical false smile, whereby the jaw is lowered in an effort to give the impression of a real smile. There is little movement around the eyes, which appear almost aggressive in expression.

Barack Obama has a genuine smile in this instance. The eyebrows are positioned in a relaxed manner and the skin is moved around his eyes and mouth.

My own enthusiasm has prevented me from developing one of those wonderfully elusive "slow smiles"; the likes of which Monica Bellucci and Catherine Deneuve have down to a tee. I tend to offer a big, beaming smile instantaneously (probably thanks to watching too many Julie Christie films) but I'm sure it's all good.

As an experiment, try and smile at as many people as you can in the next 2-3 days. At the end of this time, see if this changes the way in which you approach people and also, whether your general mood has improved.

Smile!