Smiles are the universal language of happiness and connection. Yet, for most individuals, the act of smiling can sometimes become an uncomfortable and difficult experience, leading to those dreaded awkward smiles.
Whether it’s in social settings, photos, or professional encounters, these awkward smiles can leave us feeling self-conscious and less confident. A pleasant smile is the world’s most powerful gesture. It can change the mood of another person within seconds. In this article, we will be discussing what is an awkward smile. Common reasons that lead to awkward smiling? And How can we fix the awkward smile in 5 easy steps and be more photogenic?
What does Photogenic mean?
The photogenic term is usually referred to something that looks very attractive, effortlessly in photographs. It could be anything such as a person, places, landscapes, etc. In simple words, “photogenic” means looking good or attractive in photographs. If someone is photogenic, they appear nice or appealing effortlessly when their picture is taken.
What is an Awkward Smile?
An Awkward smile is a smile that looks uncomfortable and forced to an extent. You smile awkwardly when you feels uneasy or unsure in a situation, and your smile might not seem entirely natural.
Do you wanna see how awkward smile looks like? Here’s an example
Since you got an idea about awkward smiles. Lets understand why you smile awkwardly.
Common Reasons for Awkward Smiling | Why You Smile Awkwardly?
There could be several reasons that may lead to Awkward Smiling in Photographs. However, according to various studies, common reasons include nervousness, appearance complexity, lack of self-confidence, some past unpleasant experiences, etc.
Lets see few situations that could lead to an awkward smiling
Situation 1 : Imagine you are in a new place surrounded by unknown people and everyone is looking at you. Cue The Awkward Smile!
It would be something like your face is saying “Hey, I am trying to behave friendly, even though i don’t know what’s going on here”.
Situation 2: A friend of yours cracked a joke, you didn’t even get the joke properly but awkward smile comes up just to keep the vibe positive.
Similarly, there could be ample of reasons and situation that could make your smile unnatural and awkward.
How to Not Smile Awkwardly?
Here are the 5 easy ways to stop smiling awkwardly and get rid of photo fake smiles.
1. Big Smile For 5 Seconds
Before you jump into the photo frame, make sure to relax your Facial muscles. Due to various reasons, your facial muscles get rigid, Leading to an unpleasant tired smile. The quickest way to fix awkward smile is to smile as wide as possible for 5 seconds. This neutralizes the rigidity of facial muscles and gets you ready for the photoshoot.
Related : As per the study done in 2014, Facial exercise helps to improve the person’s smile.
2. Close Your Eyes & Think About Something That Makes You Happy
Thinking about something that cherishes the mood and makes you happy. It not only relaxes your facial muscles but also gives you quick mental relaxation.
The Trick is simple, Just before clicking the picture, turn around, close your eyes, and think about something that makes you happy. It could be your dog, cat, loved one face, your favourite dish, ice cream, etc.
Now open your eyes, turn around, and you are ready to get clicked.
3. Say Money… And Get Rid of Awkward Smile
We all have heard about saying cheese. But Saying Money… is an upgrade to saying cheese. How? It has been observed that saying Cheese does not help with relaxing lower jaws which might turn your sweet smile into fake and awkward.
Hence when we say ‘Money…’, It relaxes our lower mouth jaws and helps to keep our smile natural. You can say that it is the quickest way to avoid fake smiles. Worth trying.
4. Run Motorcycle From Mouth for 10 seconds
This is a simple exercise performed by singers. Making a sound like a motorcycle engine helps to relax not just the jaws but also modulize our voice. This is why this technique is so popular among Singers. Just like a singer, it can also be used by anyone who wants to relax their jaws and lips, which is what matters when you smile.
5. Take Videos instead of Picture
This might sound weird but it works. Most of the people have a good smile at the start. The only problem is if they have to keep smiling for let’s say 5 to 10 seconds then with every second the authenticity keeps melting and they leave with a fake smile.
When you capture video, you do not capture an instance of a time but a bundle of instances. Based on your availability, you can find several instances within videos where you had decent to outstanding poses. That’s it, take a screenshot and you get your best picture.
This trick is very handy when you have only one chance to click a picture and there is no scope for retakes such as posing with personalities or in a hurry moment.
FAQs
People smile awkwardly/fake intentionally or unintentionally. Intentionally awkward smile is more like a sarcastic response. While unintentional awkward smile can come from nervousness, unpleasant experience, low self confidence, etc
Why can’t I smile nicely?
If You feel like you can’t smile nicely even when you want to smile, any of the following could be the reason
1. You are too nervous to express your natural smile
2. You currently lack confidence
3. Your Perception of nice smile on you is far from reality, In this case always ask your friend or family for feedback on your smiling photo.
There is no straight forward steps that can make you photogenic. Some people are naturally photogenic while others have to develop a confidence, body language in them that in any pose they will look fine, which also requires practice. The more camera friendly you become, the more photogenic you become.
Hope you liked this article and it helps you to stop smiling awkwardly. Don’t forget to check out Life for more such interesting topics only on ConceptDive.
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