It  might  sound  silly,  but  the  pictures  you put on your profiles,  your website  and  your social media send cues to others about who you are and what you stand for.

You want your pictures to be:

- True to Reality- Flattering- Authentic- Positive

And this is exactly what I’m going to teach you in this guide and as always, we are going to do it using science!

xoxo, Vanessa

What’s Your Photo Saying?

#1 Know Your AngleWhere should the camera be when taking a picture?

Should it be above you? Below you? Straight on?

*There is a science to the angles of your shots

Just like adults see children from above— and children typically need to be taken care of, when we view people from above, they appear weaker and in need of protection.

The opposite happens when we see someone from below. They tend to look more self-confident, more sociable and more attractive. Why? As

children, we admired and ‘looked up to’ adults.

Fronting is a body language term that describes where your body is facing. If you are fronting with someone, you are aiming your torso, head and toes towards that person

— a nonverbal sign of respect.

#2 Face ItDo you look fake in your picture? Inauthentic? Too posed?

*This all comes down to the microexpression

A microexpression is a brief involuntary facial expression that happens when someone feels an intense emotion. There are 7 universal facial expressions that people make across cultures.

We want to teach you the 3 microexpressions that are most used in profile pictures.

HAPPINESS

The only true indicator of happiness is when the muscles along the sides of the eyes are activated

and pulled up (crows feet).

Is your smile reaching the eyes in your photo?

Fake Happiness v. Real Happiness

Showing true happiness is essential for making a picture feel genuine, warm and real. Take photos when you are doing something that actually makes you feel good. Think about personal passions or people you care about to bring out that true happiness and make sure your smile reaches your eyes.

CONTEMPT

The smirk or one-sided mouth raise is the universal facial expression for contempt,

hatred and disdain. It is the ultimate negative facial expression.

Are you smirking in your photo?

Smirking is a cardinal sin of profile pictures. So many people make this mistake without even realizing it. If contempt is in your profile picture, you’re telling the world you don’t want people to connect with you.

FEAR

Fear is when we raise our eyebrows and eyelids as wide as they will go and open our mouth to scream or take in a quick breath.

Are you flashing fear in your photo?

Depending on the flash or lighting, p e o p l e c a n s h o w a s m a l l microexpression of fear in their photos! When someone’s eyelids are just slightly wide so you can see a bit of the upper whites of their eyes we think of them as low confident, fearful and anxious–not the signal you want to send out!

Remember:

Want to learn all 7 microexpressions? Check out our videos:

ScienceofPeople.com/Face

• Smile for real• Never smirk• Banish fear

#3 Power UpDo you want to show power, confidence

and charisma in your photos?

*Harvard Business School researcher Amy Cuddy discovered that there are universal

power body language moves

3 Power Body Language Rules• The more physical space someone takes up with their body, the

more confident they appear and feel

• Strong body language is when the forehead and chest are pointed up and the shoulders are rolled back

• Powerful, confident people aren’t afraid to open up their body especially their torso and chest so that they are free of barriers—uncrossed arms and legs

#4 Get ColorfulWhat signals are you sending with the

colors you wear in your photos?

*Color specialist Leatrice Eiseman says how color affects us correlates to that color’s behavior in

nature. She has asked thousands of people what they think of specific colors and has found many patterns.

What to Wear: Our Color Guide

*Print this guide and put it on your closet door for

easy reference!

What to Wear: Our Color Guide

*Print this guide and put it on your closet door for

easy reference!

#5 Context is KeyThink your photo is only about you?

Think again!

*Here at the Science of People, we conducted an experiment looking at the most popular photos on the

dating website HotorNot.com. We found that the hottest photos tended to have some kind of background story or

activity— hiking, beach trip, travel, cooking and more.

Trophies: We also looked at ‘trophies,’ objects that people put on display in their photo in addition to themselves. Men’s favorite objects were guitars, cars, motorcycles and guns. A l t hough none o f t he se impacted hotness scores.

Want even more on Hot or Not?

Read our full analysis here: ScienceofPeople.com

Sorry guys, not all women are impressed by a guitar.

Test Your PhotoDoes your LinkedIn photo look competent? Does your Twitter photo look fun? Does your OkCupid

photo look attractive? Find out!

*We have partnered with PhotoFeeler, a free profile photo testing tool that helps people choose better

profile photos by clueing them into what their photos are really saying.

We gave this tool a little spin ourselves. Here’s the 3 photos of me and how they ranked.

What’s your impression saying? How smart, likable fun and trustworthy are your photos compared to the average? How it works:

1) Upload your photo2) Vote on other people’s photo3) Wait for the results

Ready to play? http://bit.ly/1Vf0n4z

Photofeeler conducted a study based on over 60,000 ratings of p e rc e i ve d C o m p e t e n c e , Likability and Influence for over 800 profile photos in their database. From eyes to smiles to photo setting and more, PhotoFeeler analyzed multiple characteristics to rate the photo in the above three areas. Here’s an overview of what they found:

Eye Obstruction: Be wary of ‘playing it cool’ in your profile photos. This study found that eye b lockage , e spec i a l l y w i th sunglasses, can significantly harm both your likability and your impression.

Squinching: Slightly squinching or subtly closing your eyes can help portray confidence and comfort. Photos with ‘squinchers’ had higher scores in competence, likability and influence.

Defined Jaw: Accentuating your jaw line or creating a shadow line that outlines the jaw all the way around may boost your rat ings in compe tence , l i k ab i l i t y and influence.

Smiling: According to PhotoFeeler, smiling is ‘by far the most impactful characteristic [they] found in this study.” While a closed mouth smile only slightly raised a user’s likability rating, a smile with teeth skyrocketed ratings for all 3 areas.

Style of Dress: This study found that nothing tested paid greater gains in perceived competence and influence than formal dress.

Area Shown: How much should you show off in your photos? This study found that a photo featuring a bust (head and shoulders) or torso (head to waist) is preferable to a face-only close-up or full-body shot.

Guess what? This study found no s ta t i s t i ca l l y significant effect on a user’s photo based on the setting (solid/studio, nature, urban or home). Take your picture where you fee l most comfortable!

The key here is moderation. Don’t over-lighten or over-saturate your photos. This study found that having a too-dark photo can drop your likability score. Black a n d w h i t e h a d n o statistically significant effect.

Want to dig a little deeper?

Your profile photo is one aspect of your nonverbal messaging. I want to teach you how to perfect all aspects of your nonverbal brand, how to master your communication and presence and how to increase your impact in my course:

The Power of Body Language

*Get 30% off with code VANESSAPOWER30

Congratulations! You are ready for the perfect profile photo. A little challenge for you…

Check out your current profile photo on LinkedIn, Twitter Facebook, etc. Can you update it to one that captures your best angle, expression and pose?

Remember, be YOU. The best photos are the ones where you are having fun. This will show through and show who you really are!

xoxo, Vanessa

You did it!