The U.S. Open golf tournament
is this week, and by the look on the faces of most of the players, it’s a grind. Then there’s Matt Kuchar, and his signature smile. It spreads across his face as easily as butter across warm toast, and as his former agent, I can tell you that his smile is just as real as what you ate for breakfast.
Matt’s smile reminds me of the power of facial expressions and body language to motivate, especially if you’re a business speaker or looking for one to keynote your next meeting or conference.
A smile like his is an authentic reflection of joy and passion, not a fake or put on. Smiling is powerful beyond what you see, and I want to share five key points why an authentic smile is essential for motivational business speakers.
1. A warm smile breaks the ice. If you’re a stranger to your audience, you have only a short window to establish a relationship and authority that will keep your listeners engaged. If you know your audience, the stakes can be even higher, because those relationships are already in place and may be vulnerable if your speech is mediocre.
In either scenario, an authentic smile helps tell your listeners that you care, you are open, and you are human. No one smiles more than babies, who even smile in their sleep. We smile even before we know that it signals joy and satisfaction.
2. A smile encourages your audience to smile back. I know this anecdotally from the many business meetings, conferences and conventions I have addressed audiences I have spoken to across the country. In a TED talk (“The hidden power of smiling”) that has more than 3 million views, Ron Gutman points out that smiling is contagious, and when we smile we give up our usual control of our facial muscles. We mimic smiling so we can grasp the emotions of the person smiling at us.
He makes the point that smiling is a deep form of communication that is part of how we have evolved as humans. One of Mother Teresa’s quotes also pointed to this power: “Peace begins with a smile.”
3. A smile fuels your brain energy. As a motivational business speaker, I want to leave my audience inspired and changed. A smile is a gateway to building that feeling. When we smile, we generate a level of brain stimulation that far eclipses a box of chocolates or even, as Gutman points out, free money. Smiling lowers stress hormones like cortisol go down and raises good hormones like endorphins.
4. An authentic smile conveys humanity and humility. Payne Stewart illustrated this so well. He won the U.S. Open in 1998, the year Matt burst on the scene. Payne was an intense guy known for wearing knickers, and his emotions on his sleeve. He had a Midwestern twang that was fast and a little high-pitched.
“I don’t think it’s healthy to take yourself too seriously,” Payne said. Especially after he died in a plane crash, golf fans remember his joyful smile that blossomed naturally from doing what he loved, and knowing that his identity and purpose extended way past his stroke average and major championships.
5. You can smile and command authority. Matt reinforced this when we first met. I had seen him burst into the spotlight at the 1998 Masters and U.S. Open; in the business world, he first came across as reserved, deliberate, even-tempered and smart. Sometimes even tough to read. When we first pitched him, he listened with little reaction, and waited for us to open up. Together we came up with a “go plan” customized to fit his values and maximize his platform.
Our friendship helped me understand even better my own passion and joy for helping people like Matt inspire as many people as he can. Helping him realize his potential on and off the golf course was a true honor, and it is that appreciative, enthusiastic spirit that I bring to audiences as a motivational business speaker.
Along with a smile, of course.
Our joy is helping you succeed in your goals. Our focus is to make your team game changers in life, operating at full potential. Contact us today to book Molly Fletcher as your motivational business speaker.
