We rely on watching others' faces to gauge social interactions, and things can feel strange when those faces are mostly covered. Luckily, a lot of information can be portrayed with your eyes and eyebrows, so it's still possible to wear a smile.
For instance, others can tell you're genuinely smiling when there are visible wrinkles forming around your eyes– these smile lines work to indicate happiness.
Be sure to hold eye contact as well, to appear more approachable and focused on others. Eye contact can help overcome the intimidating factor of being in a face covering.
Try to avoid wearing sunglasses if you can. Dark shades block out your eyes in addition to the rest of your face behind the face covering, so this is a no-go situation for communication.
If you want to go the extra step in showing happiness, learn how to "smize"– that is, smiling with just your eyes. This involves slightly narrowing the bottom of your eyes without changing the rest of your face.
Another easy tip is to pick out face coverings with fun patterns or colors. Even without a smile, this can show others that you're in a good mood and brighten their day as well. A bright floral, rainbow or smiley face design shows your personality better than plain, neutral masks.
Click here for details on how to read others' body language. You can learn to tell moods from eyebrows, head tilts and arm positioning, which are all very helpful if you can't read someone's face.