I was at the gym the other day and was just finishing up my squats. A dude twice my size came up to me and asked, nervously:

“hey bro, how many sets do you have left?”

He was smiling, when I said “1” he smiled back, nodded, nervous laugh. The whole shebang.

All I could think was, “what does this guy have to be so nervous about??? I’m not that scary am I?”.

Same exact gym session, finishing up my deads, another dude walks up to me.

“How many left?”.

He doesn’t smile, looks me dead in the eye, it’s like he’s boring a hole in me. Real intensity in his gaze, mouth clamped shut. He’s got this real serious aura around him. I find myself nervously smiling myself as I reply. I realise only seconds later how much of a little bitch I looked.

We smile when we are nervous or scared. It’s a sign of discomfort and anxiety. We try to comfort ourselves and the others around us by smiling.

But it has the other effect. It shows weakness, it shows insecurity. It is entirely unmasculine. You will see it a lot in women, girls who are nervous around you and you are gaming well. Nervous smiles, nervous laughter.

You need to try and avoid this. You will have much better responses from everyone you speak to if you avoid the nervous and comforting smiling. Stick to your straight poker face, look them in the eye or the bridge of the nose, and talk slowly and seriously.

The effect will be startlingly obvious. People will treat you with much more respect. They will think you are scarier or more important than you actually are. Guys at the gym twice your size will submit to you.

There’s just something about a serious resting bitch face in a guy that makes him scary, unapproachable but also powerful. It doesn’t work in women because they are supposed to look feminine and open, but with guys, the locked off “don’t talk to me face” can go a long way in changing the aura your project to people, the way they treat you, and your frame in general. Try it next time you cold approach a girl. You might resort naturally to smiling, or “mirroring” their facial expressions. I know I used to. I used to smile when they smiled, soften when they softened.

Now I have a hard, straight, serious face; as if I have shit to do and I can’t be wasting my time with her. This instantly puts you above her, and can really shoot down a girl who thinks she is too hot for you. If you submit and smile, she will put herself above you, if you show you won’t submit to her, she will second guess herself. She will start qualifying herself to you, she won’t shit test you as hard, won’t play games.

Try it with everyone, not just girls. The straight, serious, stern face you see in bosses, police officers people who have to deal with shitty members of the public all of the time. Once you adopt it and see the effect it has on people, practically scaring them into submission before you even open your mouth, you won’t ever go back to nervously smiling again.

Lessons Learned:

  • Don’t smile (needlessly). Of course smiling at the right opportunities and laughing is important. In fact, in lends more weight to your actual smile if it’s rarer.

  • Resting Bitch face in guys can make you seem important and serious.

  • Don't mirror the facial expressions of the people you are speaking to. Keep up youir pokerface.

  • Eye contact can be scary and powerful, use it to your advantage.