BY JEFF CORBETT
In his autobiography, Walmart legend Sam Walton recalled his time as a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia and his plan to run for president of the Student Body.
Having transferred from Arkansas, he was somewhat unknown. He decided to overcome that by making eye contact and smiling at everyone he passed in the halls or around campus throughout each day.
Walton, who knew the power of a warm, sincere smile, won the election.
So Many Ways
The lesson of Sam Walton’s story is that there are many ways we communicate, and one of the most powerful is with your smile.
There’s a lot of truth in the saying that “a smile is the lighting system of the face, the cooling system of the head, and the heating system of the heart.”
It’s human nature to trust a smiling face. As part of a research study, Dr. George Rotter of Montclair University collected yearbook photos of college students and then asked people to rate the trustworthiness of the person in each photo.
In almost every case, the students who were smiling were judged to be the most honest.
Joey Asher, in “Even a Geek Can Speak,” explained that “a smile is a handshake with your face.”
See how you like these insights from Psychology Today:
· Smiles are contagious, influencing the emotional state of people around you.
· Smiling can make you appear younger and more approachable, according to research from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.
So let’s devote today to your “smile tune-up,” making sure you are sharing and using yours to the max in the new year ahead!
Smiling by the Numbers
Ron Gutman, in a TED talk entitled “The Hidden Power of Smiling,” shared these statistics:
· Over one-third of adults smile more than 20 times a day, and happy adults clock in at 40 to 50 smiles each day.
· Children smile as many as 400 times a day, and are experts at expressing joy.
· Smiling can help reduce the stress-enhancing hormones like dopamine, adrenaline, and cortisol, and increase mood-enhancing hormones like endorphins.
The Three Types of Smilers
In his book “You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard,” author Bert Decker talks about the three types of smilers. See where you fit in.
The top one-third have naturally open and smiling faces.They smile easily and often, and Ron Gutman calls this group “the Beamers” because of their beaming smiles. You know this type with the wide-open grin, showing a full set of teeth as their eyes light up. I call it “the thousand-watt smile.”
The middle segment tends to have neutral faces that can readily go from a big smile to a serious-and-intent look, and they have great flexibility with their smiles. Decker advises this group to “be conscious from moment-to-moment of the energy level and enthusiasm your face is registering.” This group is what you might call the “Normal Smilers.”
The remaining one-third of smilers (which Decker calls the the “Grim” group), are also called “Secret Smilers.” Many of these people can be very happy inside, but they may project more of a serious or stern look. Decker notes that they have to work at letting their inner energy show through their face. The Secret Smiler keeps a subtle smile while speaking as opposed to a big grin. It’s not a pasted-on “presentation smile,” but a micro-smile. According to Decker, “it’s ‘secret” because the audience doesn’t see a literal smile — but they feel the effect of it.
There’s a saying that “the Secret Smiler is like a candle behind frosted glass — the flame is hidden, but the glow still fills the room.” During the years I was a morning radio personality, I was very upbeat and happy, but I was a Secret Smiler. Since it was radio, no one could see me, so I didn’t have to smile.
When I left radio to work in the medical business, out of habit, I was still a Secret Smiler, until one day I got my wake-up call.
I was walking down the hall at my new job, and while passing a stranger, I said “Good morning,” and the person replied “How are you?”
I said, “Fine,” and the individual looked straight at me and said, “Well, tell your face!”
That moment of reality hit me hard, and I immediately changed my ways, focusing on showing much more of me to others through my smiles.
Thankfully, today I smile much more, and am quite the opposite now, which is essential in my work as a public speaker.
Dating Sites
In researching this column, I ran across an article by Rosie Green (a freelancer who writes for Elle and Vogue magazines, among others). She wrote about going on a dating site in her 40s.
She had an interesting take on today’s topic:
“Dating apps are a minefield – but when I was using them, I found there was one thing that got me more attention than anything else.
The golden ticket to a mountain of matches? Pictures where I was grinning. Smiling snaps got me more matches than serious photos. Why? Because basic psychology says you are more likely to trust a smiling person and more inclined to feel happier around them (it’s called emotional contagion).”
I followed up on her last point, which took me back to Ron Gutman, who cited a study at Penn University that concluded “when you smile, you don’t only appear to be more likeable, courteous, and attractive, but you actually appear to be more competent.”
Rosie Green is correct about “emotional contagion.” Gutman cites a study at Uppsala University in Sweden that found it is very difficult to frown when you are looking at someone smiling.
Smiling With Your Voice
When you are on the telephone, since you cannot see the person, you rely heavily on their voice to determine their attitude, likeability, and professionalism. They do it to you as well.
When callers hear a smile in your voice, it makes a big difference in a good way. Many telemarketers keep a mirror at their desk to remind themselves to smile during their calls.
In his research paper “The Acoustic Origins of the Smile,” Professor John Ohala of the University of California at Berkeley suggested that words sound better to humans when accompanied by a smile.
Next time you are in a bad mood and the phone rings, pause and put a smile on your face — even if it’s fake — before you answer. The physical act of doing so will move your voice from grumpy to upbeat.
The Holiday Inn Test
Famous minister Dr. Raymond McHenry shared that Holiday Inn once interviewed 5,000 people to fill 500 positions at a new hotel they were opening.
Anyone who smiled fewer than four times in their interview was automatically excluded from further consideration, regardless of the position for which they were applying.
Would you have passed?
The Trade-Show Test
The InComm Research Group found that 80 percent of attendees at a trade-show were “more likely to perceive a company positively if its sales reps were smiling.”
Here’s the kicker: The report revealed that “trade show reps who smiled met four times more prospects than those who didn’t.”
Wow!
The Chinese Smile
In an article in Smithsonian Magazine entitled “What’s Behind a Smile?” author Richard Conniff reported on Beijing’s preparations for the 2008 Olympics, including an effort to transform itself into a City of Smiles.
The Chinese are, as a culture, much more reserved in showing emotions, so authorities trained 100,000 volunteers to smile at anyone within a ten-foot radius.
As one volunteer put it, “Smiling is a global language, and as the foreign people arrive in Beijing during the Olympics, they probably won’t know any Chinese. But a smile can express everything.”
Your New Year’s Resolution
Starting today, throughout 2026, I encourage you to give more smiles and be the one who says hello first..
Years ago, at a crowded meat department of an upscale grocery store, seeing all the poker-faced patrons, my young son asked me, loudly enough to be heard by all, “Why is everyone so sad?”
We walk around looking so glum and impersonal. Start today, smile at a stranger, do a Sam Walton and say hello, and if they think you’re crazy, smile even bigger!
Let’s start a movement, a campaign for more smiles and more happiness in this crazy world.
Les Giblin said it best: “If you’re not using your smile, you’re like a man with a million dollars in the bank and no checkbook.”
As Mother Teresa said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
A great New Year’s resolution is to smile more every day, to bring a little sunshine to a problem-filled world, to reveal the good person within you, and to make others feel good about themselves.
Let’s all try to smile more in 2026, and then get ready to see the rich return on your investment!
Jeff Corbett is an experienced public speaker, meeting facilitator and sales and marketing professional. He lives in Statesville. He can be reached at jeff@speak-well.com.