|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tip 1026: Use the appropriate volume. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loudness has become synonymous with vulgarity and unruliness; a soft volume has come to mean shyness, nervousness, and even incompetence. Stay away from these two extremes. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tip 1027: Avoid mannerisms and toys when you talk. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Watch trying to talk with a pen, pencil, paper clip, toothpick, or gum in your mouth. Other annoying habits include scratching your head, jerking a knot in your tie or scarf, jingling money or keys, strumming your fingers, twirling your pen or stapler or letter opener, clearing your throat, or snapping your fingers. Besides making it more difficult to understand you, these trinkets and mannerisms detract from an image of authority. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tip 1028: Laugh on purpose. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
People generally smile to show amusement, excitement, happiness, or even relief. They also, unfortunately, communicate nervousness or embarrassment with a laugh. Smiles, smirks, or giggles may say you're more uncomfortable than amused. In some situations, inappropriate smiling may convey innocence or even dim-wittedness. Those who study politicians for a living insist that inappropriate smiling contributed to former Vice President Dan Quayle's reputation as being an inexperienced "lightweight." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you laugh, laugh on purpose. Let it be a sign of interest and genuine amusement or happiness. People who are in control of their emotions and the situation control their laughter also. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tip 1029: Smile with your mind, if not your mouth. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For years, novelists have tried with mere words to convey false from true smiles. In some of my own novels, I've used statements such as: "Her smile rose and faded like the window shade" Or "Her smile was in her eyes." When you feel a smile, it shows in the rest of your facethe lines around the eyes, the pupils, the forehead, the cheeks. Likewise, when you're faking a smile, it shows: the timing isn't right, and the wrinkles don't follow. Use a smile genuinely. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second, be wary of the fake smile of others. Take your cue from inappropriate timing (genuine emotions and expressions are brief; false ones last longer) and mismatches of words to expressions (they don't seem synchronized). |
|
|
|
|
|