This is one of the most overthought decisions in headshot photography. Smile or no smile. Teeth or no teeth. The answer is simpler than most people make it.
The Short Answer
Smile if your job requires people to trust you and feel comfortable around you. Go neutral if your job requires people to take you seriously and respect your authority. Most roles need both, which means a slight smile is almost always the safest bet.
When to Smile
Full, natural smile (teeth showing):
- Sales, real estate, recruiting — roles where warmth drives conversions
- Therapists, coaches, counselors — approachability is the product
- Customer-facing roles where likeability matters
- Social media profiles where personality is part of the brand
A genuine smile makes you look trustworthy and approachable. The emphasis is on genuine. A forced smile is worse than no smile at all. Tight lips, dead eyes: it reads as hollow.
How to get a real smile in a photo:
- Think of something genuinely funny right before the shutter. Not "smile." An actual memory or thought.
- Laugh first, then settle into the afterglow. The natural fade from a real laugh produces the best expression.
- Squint slightly. A real smile engages the muscles around your eyes (called a Duchenne smile). If your eyes are wide open while your mouth smiles, it reads as fake.
When to Go Neutral
Composed, serious expression (no teeth):
- Law, finance, executive leadership — authority-first roles
- Military, law enforcement, government — formality expectations
- Academic headshots where gravitas matters more than warmth
- Any context where a big smile would feel incongruent with the work
Neutral doesn't mean unfriendly. It means composed. Think "I'm listening carefully" not "I'm angry about something." The jaw should be relaxed, the brow smooth, the eyes engaged.
Common mistake: People trying for neutral end up looking annoyed or bored. The difference is in the eyes. Keep them alert and focused. A slight lift at the corners of the mouth — not quite a smile, just the absence of a frown — reads as calm confidence.
The Middle Ground
For most professionals, the best headshot expression lives between smile and neutral:
- Closed-mouth smile: lips together, slight upward curve. Professional warmth without the casualness of a full grin.
- Soft smile: barely there, just enough to avoid resting serious face. Works across almost every industry.
- The Mona Lisa: subtle, knowing, slightly amused. Hard to manufacture but excellent when it happens naturally.
This middle ground works for LinkedIn, company websites, conference bios, and email signatures. It's the professional default for a reason.
Industry Quick Reference
| Industry | Expression |
|---|---|
| Real estate, sales | Full smile |
| Healthcare, therapy | Warm smile |
| Tech, startups | Soft smile to neutral |
| Law, finance | Neutral to soft smile |
| Executive / C-suite | Composed, slight smile |
| Creative fields | Your choice — personality matters more |
| Academia | Approachable neutral |
| Government, military | Formal neutral |
Both? Both.
If you're not sure, shoot both. Any decent headshot session — or AI headshot generator — gives you multiple shots. Take some smiling, some neutral. Compare them at thumbnail size (how most people will see them). Pick the one that feels right for your primary context, and keep the other for situations that call for a different tone.
With Narkis.ai, you can upload photos with different expressions and generate professional versions of each. Use the smile for your LinkedIn and the composed version for your firm's website. Same session, two tools.
Final Take
Don't overthink it. A slight, natural smile works for 80% of professionals in 80% of contexts. If your industry skews formal, dial it back. If it skews warm, open it up. The only wrong answer is a forced expression that doesn't match who you actually are when people meet you.
