Study: Smiling could sabotage your odds of securing funding

Entrepreneurs have long been advised to appear positive and upbeat while pitching. The popular perception is that smiling while presenting to investors gives you contagious confidence that makes an offer of funding more likely. 

But it turns out that putting on a phony grin or a constant happy face during a funding pitch might be the wrong way to court potential investors. A study published in the Journal of Business Venturing suggests that pitching with a constant smile is actually likely to hurt your funding prospects. 

The study’s authors write that having genuine facial expressions that convey a broad spectrum of emotions, in tandem with a personal storytelling narrative, was found to boost an entrepreneur's odds of securing seed capital from investors.

The research

1. Whether the entrepreneurs met their stated fundraising goal.
2. How much total capital was raised. 
3. How many people contributed.

• Frequent use of different facial expressions in pitches promoted funding.

• Entrepreneurs who used a mix of happiness, anger and fear in pitches were more successful.
• Using facial expressions that convey sadness adversely impacted fundraising.

The case for mixing up facial expressions

 Don’t overemote 

Key takeaway:

Author

Kanika Sinha

Kanika is an enthusiastic content writer who craves to push the boundaries and explore uncharted territories. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of business-to-business dynamics, she creates compelling narratives that help businesses achieve tangible ROI. When not hunched over the keyboard, you can find her sweating it out in the gym, or indulging in a marathon of adorable movies with her young son.