Page 45 - How To Sell Yourself

44 How to Sell Yourself
or frowningly said, “Good morning, baby. I have a bottle. I want
you to drink it. It will nourish you.”
What do we do? We open up, raise our brows, and say, “Hi, baby.” We show the baby the only signals of affection it can un- derstand. The same is true of our relationship with our pets. We give them all the love and affection they need, but we hold back with adults for fear of looking foolish.
Again, the eyes are the window to the soul. And when you’re willing to “show me more eye,” I believe you’re telling me the truth. Don’t be confused. Don’t confuse the smile with the open face.
The smile is a happy face. The open face is a caring face.
Your strongest tools
The use of the open face and eye contact are two of the stron- gest tools anyone can use to convince someone else. To be liked. To win. They represent the most powerful attributes of the best teachers, preachers, salespersons, witnesses, attorneys, candidates for public office, and public speakers. Even the doctors I train find that this technique dramatically improves patient relation- ships. And heaven knows, bedside manner gets more important with each passing day of managed care.
Practice
1. Try using your mirror. Frown at yourself and count to five aloud. See how menacing and awful you appear to an audi- ence when you close your face.
2. Now neutralize your face. Don’t move anything but your lips and don’t move them very much. Count to five aloud again and see how easy it will be to put an audience to sleep or make them wish they were somewhere else.
3. Next open your face. Move your brows up. Count aloud to five again. Notice the change. It really doesn’t take a lot of exaggeration, but because we’re not used to making these muscles work that way, it may seem strange at first. People often feel “bug-eyed” trying to make it happen. But after a while, practicing this exercise will help it become a much more natural expression in the unnatural circumstance of speaking in public.
When in doubt, remember the baby, the puppy, and the kitten.