When you smile, it creates an impact on the lucky recipient. A genuine smile tends to indicate pleasure, or motivation to please. As such, it is an important tactic to achieve ingratiation — or a way of getting someone to be pleased with us. Psychologists have found that a smile communicates approachability.
However, it also changes the sound of your voice because it changes the shape of the mouth cavity. This raises the pitch of the voice. A high pitch indicates submission. Without the smile, the voice will sound lower — and that indicates power and domination.
Of course, you need to judge this one carefully, because, appearing gruff and serious can h ave negative side effects, but just tuck this one into your repertoire ready for when you need to boost your influence. Okay, go on, try it out the first when you are out of earshot of your colleagues!
