Years ago, when I was a more-than-full-time corporate speechwriter, I was working at a large internal meeting when a crew member came up to me back stage and said,

How do you do that? How do you smile and talk at the same time?

Until that moment, I must have thought that everyone could calibrate their smile while they were speaking. But no, on reflection, it was clear that I’d been practicing that skill for decades, without consciously realizing it.

And now you get to practice it! 🙂

If you’re new to “25 x 25 in ’25,” welcome!

I created this series of 25 public speaking exercises that can be done in 25 seconds a day to help you practice (and perfect) some critically important public speaking skills. So feel free to begin with this exercise, or to catch up on previous exercises first.

Your smile is different than anyone else’s

If AI is to be believed, we use more than 40 different muscles when we smile fully, because a full smile engages our entire face, including—and this is important—our eyes.

Even if you’re an identical twin, your mouth, your eyes, and your entire face are unique; so naturally, your smile is unique, too. It’s the result of your physiology…but also the result of your attitudes, your life experience, and your emotions.

So don’t try to look like I do in the video below. (That would be like me trying to look like Beyoncé! :-)) Instead, apply the concept to how you look, and remember that the best public speaking solutions are the ones that work for you!