In Defense of the Quickie

There are times, I discovered, when the quick put-on smile works. For example, when you want to engineer the acquaintance of someone to whom you have not had the opportunity to be introduced. (In the vernacular, that’s “pick them up.”)

The smile’s pickup power was proven for posterity by solemn researchers at the University of Missouri. They conducted a highly controlled study titled “Giving Men the Come-On: Effect of Eye Contact and Smiling in a Bar Environment.”15 (I kid you not.) To prove their hypothesis, female researchers made eye contact with unsuspecting male subjects enjoying a little libation in a local drinking establishment. Sometimes, the female researchers followed their glance with a smile. In other cases, no smile.

The results? I quote the study: “The highest approach behavior, 60 percent, was observed in the condition in which there was smiling.” That translates into layman’s English: “The guy came over 60 percent of the time when the lady smiled.” Without the smile, he “made the approach only 20 percent of the time.” So, yes, a smile works for those who wish to pick somebody up.

However, in situations where the stakes are higher, try The Flooding Smile from the first section and now The Exclusive Smile.