Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to smile with your words. If you're
Speaker 1: wearing a face mask, nobody can see your friendly smile
Speaker 1: behind it. So whether you're with friends or family, or
Speaker 1: colleagues or strangers, if you want them to know you're smiling,
Speaker 1: you've got to say something to make that clear. Face
Speaker 1: masks have become standard attire in many parts of the
Speaker 1: US in the world right now. Important for keeping us safe,
Speaker 1: but a little challenging for communicating. Non Verbal cues convey
Speaker 1: a lot of meaning, and some of that meaning is
Speaker 1: quite literally hidden by our face masks. Some research has
Speaker 1: found that emails are often perceived more negatively than the
Speaker 1: writer intended because there's no smile, ile, or happy voice
Speaker 1: cues to soften the words. Something similar happens with talking
Speaker 1: behind a mask, And if we're outdoors and wearing sunglasses,
Speaker 1: are smiling eyes are hidden too, all the more reason
Speaker 1: to focus on what we say. So when you are
Speaker 1: wearing a mask, make a point of communicating positive emotions verbally.
Speaker 1: Make sure the people you interact with understand what you
Speaker 1: mean and since you probably want most of your interactions
Speaker 1: to be upbeat, use words to convey positive attitudes and emotions.
Speaker 1: This doesn't have to be hard, and it doesn't have
Speaker 1: to feel falsely sunny either. I figured out a few
Speaker 1: years ago that I should write my emails and then
Speaker 1: go back in and put positive phrases at the beginning
Speaker 1: and the end to make sure that anything that wasn't
Speaker 1: supposed to be critical wasn't perceived as being. So, you
Speaker 1: know these type of phrases. I hope you're having a
Speaker 1: wonderful day. I'm so happy to be working with you.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your taking the time to deal with us. Similarly,
Speaker 1: when you're in conversation with someone, put words around your
Speaker 1: response to indicate your positive emotions. Got it, This is great. Thanks,
Speaker 1: sounds like a solid plan. I appreciate your hard work
Speaker 1: on this. When you would usually smile to indicate that
Speaker 1: your understanding and supporting what your conversation partner is saying,
Speaker 1: translate that smile into words that mean the same thing.
Speaker 1: Smiling with words is also essential for greeting people when
Speaker 1: we're masked. Pre COVID, it was totally warm and friendly
Speaker 1: to smile and nod as a greeting. These days, a
Speaker 1: smile and a nod behind a mask and sunglasses looks
Speaker 1: exactly the same as a snub, and that's no good,
Speaker 1: So go for a verbal smile instead. It can be
Speaker 1: as simple as saying good morning to the dog walker
Speaker 1: you encounter every day in the elevator in your building.
Speaker 1: At the grocery store, just say nice to see you
Speaker 1: to the per so you see behind the butcher's counter
Speaker 1: every week, at your office or other places with people
Speaker 1: you know, A simple hey Joe will do, but get
Speaker 1: in the habit of saying something. Long time listeners may
Speaker 1: remember that back in February. I encourage you to greet
Speaker 1: people with a smile, something Audrey Monkey advises in her
Speaker 1: book Happy Campers. Summer camps are some of the happiest
Speaker 1: and most relentlessly positive places around, and Monkey draws on
Speaker 1: lessons from camp for making our other environments and interactions
Speaker 1: happier too. Smiles are one way to do that. February
Speaker 1: feels like a really long time ago, but I'd venture
Speaker 1: to say that the sense of happiness and connection that
Speaker 1: a smile offers this is valuable now as ever, so
Speaker 1: when the smile on your face can't be seen. Smile
Speaker 1: with your words. Instead, the people around you will feel
Speaker 1: a bit more cheerful, and hopefully you will too. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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