SMILE- Use this curve often

I still remember the evening when I was doing the evening show on Radio. I was nervous because the evening RJ has a different style. I left home excited, nervous & anxious altogether. Little did I know that the journey to the radio station would be my biggest learning on such an important element of facial expressions - SMILE.

The road close to the station led to a political party office & that day they had a meeting that lead to the famous Bengaluru Traffic jam. Something no one knew about. I had to get off the bus & literally run to the Radio Station. Huffing & puffing I managed to make it right on time. The Kannada RJ offered to be there to make sure the news goes on AIR in the next 5 minutes. I thanked her but told her to carry on & took over. The news goes on air every hour for 3 minutes, so I had three minutes to relax. Since the English RJ takes over at that time, you announce who is on air. It was my first show & I was NOT relaxed. I went on air & announced the name of the show. Though I was technically in the studio, my mind was still not relaxed. I pulled up the fader & technically said everything correctly. I looked for the longest song to give me more time to relax.

Within seconds of the song going on Air, there was a message in the chat, which read, "How come Rashmi You are not smiling." How right was the listener I was NOT smiling? I remember in our training towards becoming RJs it was clearly explained, " Your smile should be visible to the listener. They should experience it." That day I got a practical understanding of this amazing lesson.

The warmth in a voice automatically gets enhanced when there is a smile on the face. This is such a simple yet powerful way of connecting with people. I use this & I stress this even during my Coaching sessions. It alters so much.

If SMILE was an acronym for qualities you need to carry. these are the qualities are:

Sensitive: This is such a beautiful way to connect with those around you. Being compassionate is a strength & needs to be displayed more often. Loved this quote.

Meaningful: It is about how deep are you creating your impact. Even if it is one person after a session, conversation, or interaction, the effort is worth it. What we have is only the present moment. Everything else is beyond us.

Integrated: How you integrate so many aspects of who you are is a challenge for a lot of us because sometimes we seem like a mix of contraries. This integration is such an important element of why you are the way you are & think the way you do!

Laughter: The need for it is so high now that we need to look at reasons to start laughing. Our time is completely taken over by social media & our presence in it that we have forgotten how to laugh out loud! When did you do that last? It is an amazing feeling.

Energy: This is something we all carry. You can just feel it when someone enters a room or joins a conversation virtually. The beauty of energy is that is transferable. SO the more positive you are, the more contagious it becomes wherever you go. The same applies to negativity too.

The next time there is a challenge before you, PAUSE, soak it all in & SMILE. You know there is so much that goes into a smile. Thich Nhat Hanh's quote sums it up beautifully,“ Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.” Remember smile more often, this curve is magical!

SELFI is a newsletter where I share my reflections on life. Moments where some simple elements stayed on to create a SELFI moment! Moments that force the?#voiceinme?to express. Do subscribe if you like what you read & do share it with anyone you think will benefit! I also host an award-winning weekly human library audio podcast called "U n' I with Rashmi Shetty" which can be heard on all popular platforms! I upload a new episode every Friday.

Do get in touch if you need inputs on how to improve your VOICE & Vocal presence. For details do visit https://coachrashmishetty.com/