Viewers have a preference for anchors and reporters who sincerely enjoy their work and the people they work with, and they have a consistent ability to tell the talent who are sincere from the ones who are faking it.

How do they do it?

The way we all do it every day in everyday conversation, by subconsciously and relentlessly monitoring the movement of the muscle encircling the eye — the m. orbicularis oculi. The movement there, or lack thereof, tells them everything they need to know about whether your heart's in your work and in your service to them ... or somewhere else.

When you smile and mean it, there is movement of the muscle around your eye and in particular at the outer corners of your eyes, and your eyes appear to "light up." When you're faking it, the movement is limited or nonexistent. There may be a smile on your face, but there will be no sparkle in the eye. And nothing is as compelling as an authentic sparkle in the eye.

While it's difficult to control those muscles directly, there are some things you can do to indirectly put them in play when you address the camera:

Speak with an aggressive "forward stretch." Say the word "boot." Notice how your lips stretch forward as you make the vowel sound? That forward motion is called a "forward stretch." Use it aggressively and you begin to engage the muscles in the cheeks, as well as the muscle around the eye.

So, lots of movement in an area you can control -- your lips -- helps create movement in areas you cannot easily control directly. Almost all of the "long" vowel sounds, and many of the short ones, should be spoken with a forward stretch.

Practice telling stories with your eyes. Try reading or spending time in conversation and telling a story with your eyes as you speak. You don't try to move the muscles. You just concentrate on the feeling you get, and the effort you make, when you are deliberately conscious about making a connection through your eyes.

This can be particularly effective when you're addressing a camera, because the camera tends to filter out a certain amount of effort and emotion. The additional effort in this very important area of the face helps to overcome that filtering effect.

Try "looking" through the muscles just below the eyes. It may sound a little goofy at first, but try it. Direct your gaze from just below the eyes, instead of from the eyes themselves.

Remember: The gleam in your eye — or the lack thereof — comes from movement of those muscles and not from the eyes themselves. This is a great way to heighten your awareness of those particular muscles.

Be sure to smile when content merits it, but don't smile unless you mean it. This is one area you will not be able to "fake it 'til you make it." If the smile is not genuine, viewers will know. If content suggests you should be smiling and you can't, then you need to ask yourself what attitude or belief or tension is preventing you sharing a sincere and appropriate positive reaction with your viewers.

Beware botox. Do anything that freezes the muscles around the eyes and you may seriously compromise your ability make any kind of sincere connection with your viewers. We once heard a viewer cruelly describe an anchor as a "novocaine-lipped china doll." She had used plastic surgery and botox to eliminate every wrinkle she could, and in the process eliminated most of the movement in her face as well.

A couple of important side benefits:

Studies are showing that women are probably better at detecting authentic expression than men. So, if attracting female viewers is a goal of your newscast, your ability to smile and use the eyes authentically may matter especially to them.

Whatever the effect on viewers, studies are also showing that smiling authentically is good for you! See this link:
http://www.mindpub.com/art458.htm

As always, we'd love to know what you think. If you have additional questions or thoughts about any of this, please contact us.

Be sure to ask us about TCC's Desktop Coach, the industry's first online talent development system for News Directors. Call Jonathan Knopf at 214-520-2000 for more information.