The worst way to get a candid expression from your subject

Whenever I go on a shoot, I always try and get an assistant that can help pose the subject and make them laugh and play so that I can focus on the photography. My pet peeve is when the assistant says something like, You look so stiff! Loosen up! Ugh! Telling the subject that they don t look good only makes the situation ten times worse. Never tell the subject they look stiff or they need to loosen up. It backfires 100% of the time.