Smile your way to success

Have you noticed how smiling is contagious? It’s a natural phenomenon, if you smile at someone it’s almost impossible for them not to smile back, and it changes the atmosphere immediately. Try speaking to a room full of people and starting with a smile - the room smiles back at you - and it’s a wonderful life affirming feeling for everyone. But have you thought about how powerful a tool it is in business? As entrepreneurs we interact with people every day, from customers and employees, to suppliers and service providers, and everyone in between. It is so important that those touch points are positive and leave the right impression. So it’s interesting to learn that scientific studies (check out the Penn State University study on smiling) have proved that smiling makes people come across as more likeable, approachable, well mannered and even more competent. Importantly it also gives people another reason to want to potentially do business with you. Need a reason to smile? Then look no further than this famous quote by Marilyn Monroe who said: “Keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”