How to Make a Good First Impression, According to Experts

How to Make a Good First Impression, According to Experts

Despite all the hard work that comes after it, it can often be the firmness of a handshake and the straightness of a tie that forms alasting impression in business relationships. Here are some reasons why a good first impression is vital in business. By ensuring you make a positive first impression, you leave the rest of the time available to display your ability and skills.

This will contribute to their impression of you. Preparing beforehand will make you feel more at ease and will also show that you are interested and focused. If you feel a tightening of the muscles around your eyes, you know that your smile shows in your eyes. Because they are largely subconscious, first impressions are very persistent.

Why Recruiters Are Reaching Out To Candidates Directly & How to Access This Hidden Job Market

It’s also essential to dress appropriately for whatever occasion or event you attend. Focus on looking put together and polished while wearing clothing that fits the environment instead. % of people told us that this article helped them.

With all that in mind, you might start to wonder about the first impression you leave behind. You want people to remember you, of course, but you want to feature positively in their memories. The “halo” of this first impression can linger for a month, if not longer, and it can absolutely affect your interactions in the meantime. If you don’t leverage first impressions correctly, your customers might get the wrong idea in their head. If they have a negative interaction with you or another person in your company, that might be the only memory that actually stays with them long term.

Talk about things you have in common, don’t try to be too witty or the life of the party unless that comes naturally to you. It helps to have a friend you know, to break the ice, but it’s not essential. The sooner you learn to talk to new people in party situations, the easier it will be for you in the future. Try to schedule the the time and place of the meeting. If you have the ability to do so, either suggest a place and time that works best for you, or come to an agreement with the person you are meeting about what works best for you both.

Importance of First Impressions Psychology

Once it’s time for introductions or meeting new people, maintain eye contact throughout the conversation and keep an open and confident body language (e.g., arms uncrossed, back straight, etc.). Smiling can also help create an air of openness and positivity, encouraging others to do the same with you during conversations. While this may be an exaggeration, making a good first impression is important in almost any situation. Whether you are meeting someone new at a party, interviewing for a job, or entering any other situation, your initial impression can significantly impact how people perceive you. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to ensure that your first impression is as positive and successful as possible.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Approach every new meeting with kindness, empathy, and a willingness to learn and grow. You might wonder, then, what you can do to start relationships off the right way.

Why Are First Impressions Important?

After an initial meeting, don’t forget to follow up by sending any necessary information such as notes, presentation docs, next steps, or a simple thank you email. For example, former Jacksonville, Florida, television reporter Ken Amaro is known to sport a bow tie in all his TV appearances. While he wears most reporters’ typical professional suit attire, the bow tie helped him stand out. It even became the name of an annual golf tournament in Jacksonville — The Ken Amaro Bow Tie Golf Classic.

• Some of the qualities we try to gauge include a person’s friendliness, honesty, trustworthiness, and competence.
• WikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback.
• Diversity & Inclusion Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.
• Even when you don’t put your opinions about a specific person or situation into words directly, those feelings can come through in your body language, face, and voice.
• Maybe they were running late for work or simply didn’t see you.

You’ll want to choose your outfit based on the context of the meeting, so how you dress for a job interview will be different for how you dress for a punk show.Dress to either stand out or blend in. Great first impressions can be made both ways, and your answer to this question will depend on what your intentions are and your own comfort level. For a job interview, research the company ahead of time. If your questions are about specific aspects of the business, it will show you are a serious candidate who has really considered what it would be like to work for them. Some people seem to have a natural charisma that leaves no doubt about these questions. For the rest of us, there are some simple steps to take that improve the chances of making a mark in any first social or business meeting.

A genuine smile reaches your eyes and creates an impression of trust and sincerity. If your smile reaches your eyes, it will be seen even if you are wearing a mask. If the first impression that you create includes competency, this will instill confidence in others of your abilities and skills.

Sales Performance Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders. Diversity & Inclusion Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging. Platform Overview Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance. Use this simple method to discover which people are likely to have a negative impact on your life. Metaperception has been widely studied within the realm of narcissism.

Step #10: Use Your Ideal Voice

Finally, remember that your body language matters, too – try to keep your posture open and relaxed, and avoid crossing your arms or legs, which can make you seem closed off. If you can master these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to making a great first meeting that makes you seem more trustworthy. On the other hand, if we have a positive first impression of someone, we may be more likely to give them a chance, even if they don’t seem perfect on paper. In either case, it’s important to remember that first impressions are not always accurate. Just because we have a good or bad feeling about someone at first doesn’t mean that they are necessarily a good or bad person.

To calm your nerves when speaking publicly, spend a lot of time preparing. Before, I would write down my entire presentation and then stress too much over its delivery. If my presentation is 15 minutes, I will talk for 15 minutes without looking at my computer screen or thinking about my slides. I practice this every day leading up to the presentation.

Refrain from tapping, touching your face too often, placing objects in front of yourself, blinking excessively, and sitting or standing too close to others . Some budgeting report habits can suggest dishonesty, such as avoiding eye contact and touching your mouth, so avoid those habits as well. People often use facial appearances to judge others’ personality traits. Using profanity impacts the way a speaker is perceived both personally and professionally. Effective listening is more than just paying attention and comprehending; we also need to show we’re listening. The sequence that we encounter matters in how we judge subsequent information.

The first impression you make on someone could be the difference between getting a job or being passed over. Studies show that employers often decide whether to hire someone within the first few minutes of meeting them. And multiple studies suggest that skimping on shut-eye can lead others to perceive you as less attractive, less smart, more depressed and less healthy. You’re likely to find something you both connect with.

Weekend MBA student Anusha Dwivedula is director of product management at Morningstar and a former co-chair of Booth’s Evening/Weekend public speaking group. I feel a little different about the tip for bad days… when I have a bad day it’s particularly important to me to go out, it really helps me to snap out of it if I go somewhere. Also teaching really helps, because all of a sudden I have to be there for somebody and can’t afford to be grumpy. As you get ready to meet someone, think about what kind of people you want to meet and what kind of interactions you want to have. This can be an incredibly grounding experience and works very well to focus what kind of energy you want to have for your event.

People thin-slice others based on how a person looks and sounds, more so than their explicit verbal statements. This article discusses what you can do to make a good first impression and how to gauge whether or not you have succeeded. It also offers tips for what you can do to help overcome a bad first impression.

Blog The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace. Research Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more. Conversations with strangers can be daunting because first impressions are so important. The best approach is to show interest in your partner, but to share as much as you listen. New data finds that women judge an urban situation as less threatening when they encounter a person with a small or medium-size dog. While it’s important to use attractive and appropriate photos on social media and online dating sites, we often judge strangers by what they write.