hands closed by the corner of your mouth, then open up suddenly

We do it fast because it's a short vowel and we level our hands with our mouth to better connect lips and hands movements.

Place your hands with your finger tips closed in front of the corners of your mouth and then open your palms suddenly like in an explosion. In the same way that we open our palms, we must also open our mouth to pronounce this vowel. The sound is more open than the Spanish E, about the same as the French "open E" (e.g. mère) or the Italian E (eg. "bella")