How to Have a Good Poker Face: 13 Steps

A “poker face” is basically emotional Wi-Fi with the router unplugged: you still have feelings, you just don’t broadcast them
on your eyebrows in 4K. And despite the name, this skill isn’t only for cards. A steady expression helps in job interviews,
negotiations, competitive games, debate club, and any moment when you’d rather not narrate your inner monologue with your face.

Quick note (especially if you’re under 21): this article is about calm body language and emotional controluseful everywhere.
It’s not encouragement to gamble or play for money. Keep it legal, keep it smart, keep it wholesome.

What a “Poker Face” Really Means (and What It Doesn’t)

A good poker face isn’t a frozen mask or a villain stare. It’s a neutral baseline you can return toso small,
involuntary “leaks” (like micro-expressions) don’t give away surprise, disappointment, excitement, or nerves.
You’re aiming for “calm and unreadable,” not “stone statue audition.”

The trick is that your body reacts fastsometimes faster than your “I’m fine” script. That’s why this is less about acting
and more about regulating your stress response so your face has less to leak in the first place.

Before You Start: Build Your Neutral Baseline

Your baseline is your default resting expression when nothing is happening. The goal isn’t to look blankit’s to look
normal, relaxed, and consistent.

• Jaw: unclenched, teeth not pressed together.
• Mouth: lips gently closed (or slightly parted) without a smirk.
• Eyes: soft focus; no sudden “laser stare.”
• Brows: neutralnot raised like you just heard gossip.
• Hands: quiet and still (more on that soon).

13 Steps to a Better Poker Face

Step 1: Identify your “leak zones”

Most people don’t give themselves away with a big grinthey leak through tiny cues: eyebrow jumps, mouth-corner twitches,
nostril flares, sudden blinking, or a tight jaw. Spend two minutes in a mirror reacting to imaginary “good news” and “bad news.”
Notice what moves first. That’s your leak zoneyour personal emotional subtitle track.

Step 2: Choose a comfortable neutral expression (don’t invent a new face)

If your neutral expression feels fake, you’ll keep “checking” itmaking you look even more suspicious. Pick something you can
hold for a long time: relaxed cheeks, soft eyes, and a mouth that’s simply resting. Think: “waiting for the elevator,” not
“auditioning to be a poker robot.”

Step 3: Relax your jaw and tongue

Stress loves hiding in your jaw. A clenched jaw can make you look tense and can trigger more facial tension. Try this reset:
place your tongue lightly on the roof of your mouth (just behind your front teeth), let your jaw hang a millimeter, and exhale
slowly. It’s subtle, but it’s like turning down the volume on your face.

Step 4: Use belly breathing to lower the “tell fuel”

If your heart is racing, your body will want to do thingsfidget, blink, swallow, grin, grimace. Slow it down with diaphragmatic
(belly) breathing: breathe in through your nose so your belly expands, then exhale slowly. Even a minute or two can help you
look calmer because you actually are calmer.

Step 5: Learn a simple pressure reset (box breathing)

When you feel adrenaline spike, use a repeatable pattern so you don’t spiral into “I hope I look normal” mode. Box breathing is
straightforward: inhale for a count, hold, exhale, holdthen repeat. Adjust the counts to what’s comfortable. The point is the
rhythm: steady breathing leads to steadier everything else.

Step 6: Slow your reaction time on purpose

Big tells happen in the first half-secondwhen your brain reacts before your “neutral baseline” returns. Build a small pause:
when something surprises you, let yourself take one calm breath before you respond. You’re not “stalling.” You’re giving your
nervous system time to settle so your face doesn’t blurt out spoilers.

Step 7: Stabilize your gaze (without staring like a haunted painting)

Erratic eye movement, sudden intense eye contact, or looking away at key moments can read as nervousness. Aim for a relaxed,
consistent gazelook at the person (or the center of the table/game), blink naturally, and avoid “checking” people’s reactions
every two seconds like you’re watching live comments.

Step 8: Quiet your handsbecause hands are loud

Even if your face is calm, your hands can yell, “PANIC.” Common hand tells: tapping, rubbing fingers, gripping objects too hard,
or suddenly going statue-still. Give your hands a safe job: rest them lightly together, hold a drink with a relaxed grip, or place
them flat on your lap. Calm hands support a calm face.

Step 9: Keep your posture boring (in the best way)

People “announce” emotion by leaning in, pulling back, shrinking, or puffing up. Pick a posture that’s steady and repeatable:
shoulders down, spine tall, head level. If you always sit and move the same way, you’re harder to read because nothing spikes
when something matters.

Step 10: Control the tiny sounds: swallowing, sighing, and nervous laughs

A poker face isn’t just facial musclesyour body makes micro-noises when stressed. A sudden sigh, throat clear, or nervous chuckle
can be a tell all by itself. If you feel a laugh bubbling up at the wrong time, press your tongue lightly to the roof of your mouth,
exhale slowly through your nose, and return to your baseline.

Step 11: Reframe the moment (so you don’t have to “fight your face”)

Trying to suppress emotion with willpower is exhausting. A smarter move is a mental reframe: “This is information, not a threat,” or
“I can handle this.” When the situation feels less dangerous, your face stops acting like it needs an emergency broadcast system.
This is emotional control from the inside out, not just cosmetic calm.

Step 12: Practice under real-ish pressure (mirror practice is step zero)

Practice in layers. First, mirror: hold your baseline for 60 seconds. Next, camera: record yourself reacting to prompts (a friend
reads “good news/bad news” statements). Then add pressure: a timer, friendly competition, or distractions. Review the footage for
patternsyour leak zones will show up like recurring characters in a sitcom.

Step 13: Know when not to use a poker face

Sometimes the best social move is to be readable: celebrating a friend, showing empathy, or being honest in a relationship.
A poker face is a tool, not a personality. Use it to stay calm and consistent under pressurenot to become emotionally invisible.
The goal is control, not coldness.

Common Mistakes That Make You Easier to Read

• Overcorrecting: trying to look “neutral” so hard you look tense.
• Staring contests: intense eye contact can look unnatural.
• Fidget “trade-offs”: freezing your face but tapping your foot like a woodpecker.
• Only practicing when it matters: skills stick when you train them calmly.

A Simple 7-Day Poker Face Training Plan

1. Days 1–2: Baseline + jaw relaxation + 2 minutes of belly breathing.
2. Days 3–4: Add the pause rule (one breath before reacting) during everyday moments.
3. Days 5–6: Record a 2-minute video reacting to prompts; review for leak zones.
4. Day 7: Practice in a low-stakes competitive setting (games, debates, interviews).

Real-World Experiences and Lessons (500+ Words)

The funniest thing about building a poker face is realizing how loudly most of us emote without noticing. In casual settings,
it’s charming. Under pressure, it becomes… less charming. The good news: you don’t need superhero control. You need repeatable
habits that keep you steady when your brain wants to do jazz hands.

Scenario 1: Game night with friends (no money, just bragging rights).
In friendly competitive games, people often reveal “this matters to me” through tiny burstssudden grins when they think they’re
winning, frantic blinking when they’re unsure, or a quick slump when something goes wrong. The most useful lesson here isn’t
“hide everything.” It’s “keep your reactions the same size.” If your normal reaction to a small win is a small smile, keep it a
small smile for a big win too. That consistency makes you less readable because your facial volume doesn’t track the importance
of the moment.

Scenario 2: A job interview waiting room.
People don’t usually “mess up” during the interviewthey arrive already stressed. While waiting, nerves show up as fidgeting,
jaw clenching, and a face that cycles through ten emotions in thirty seconds. A practical routine helps: feet grounded, shoulders
down, slow belly breathing, and a neutral expression you can hold without effort. The experience-based lesson is that calm isn’t
something you perform only when it’s your turn to speak; calm is something you build before you walk into the room. When your
body is steadier, your face doesn’t have to work overtime pretending.

Scenario 3: Negotiating something small (like chores, plans, or a group project).
In everyday negotiations, people tend to “leak” when they hear a number, a condition, or a suggestion they love or hate.
You’ll see eyebrows flash up, lips press together, or someone leans back like the idea physically pushed them. The best poker-face
move here is the pause rule: take one breath, then respond. That breath is a tiny buffer that keeps you from broadcasting your
strongest reaction before you’ve chosen the best words. It also keeps the conversation smootherbecause it’s hard to sound
thoughtful when your face just yelled, “ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

Scenario 4: Competitive performance (sports, debate, presentations).
Under performance pressure, your body can treat the moment like danger: heart rate up, muscles tight, breathing shallow. That
often creates “tells” even if you’re not trying to hide anythingyour face just looks strained. A consistent breathing pattern
and a relaxed jaw help in a way that feels almost unfair: it’s not just appearance management; it’s nervous-system management.
Many people find that the more they practice calming skills when they’re already calm, the easier it is to access them under stress.
In other words, your poker face gets better when it stops being a “face trick” and becomes a whole-body calm habit.

The biggest lesson from real-life practice is simple: a poker face isn’t about never reacting. It’s about reacting in a controlled,
consistent wayso you stay in charge of what you reveal. You can still be warm and human. You just don’t let your eyebrows run the
meeting.

Conclusion

If you want a good poker face, don’t start with “hide your emotions.” Start with “lower the intensity.” A calm body produces fewer
tells, and a consistent baseline makes you harder to read. Practice in small, everyday momentsthen your face won’t betray you in
bigger ones. And if you occasionally crack a smile? Congrats. You are, in fact, a person.