Duchenne de Boulogne was a French neurologist in the late 1800’s who figured out what it means to not just smile, but actually smile.
He found we need two muscle groups:
Firstly, the zygomatic major muscle needs to be active (this goes from the cheekbone to lifting the corner of the mouth).
And secondly, the outer part of the obicularis oculi muscle (around the eye) needs to be active.
If the second part is missing, no matter what, the smile is fake.
In small biz, we often talk about “service with a smile.”
We know that this is important, as we’ve been on the receiving end enough times.
And because we know the difference between a smile and a smile (remember those cheesy dental office advertisements?), maybe we need to look at this a different way.
What makes you really smile?
What lights you up?
Is there enough of this in your work?
And, knowing that a Duchenne smile is contagious, what makes your guests or clients smile?
Is there enough of this in your work?
Service with a smile can’t be faked. So it’s better to just go straight to the root of the whole thing.
(The Duchenne smile was mentioned in Dan Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind.)
