Build Your Career, Make A Positive First Impression

Do you believe that you're not creating the best first impression possible when you should? Or is it that you are unable to make a strong impression that exemplifies the professionalism you like to convey? Read on to discover more about how to make a memorable first impression in order to achieve career goals that are genuinely inspiring and powerful.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, everybody makes dozens of first impressions each day from the words we speak or don’t say, the actions we take or avoid, and the dollars we spend or save.

Having that first impression upon interacting or engaging with someone is how we organize and evaluate information in the world around us, especially when it comes to career. So long as we are careful and intentional about it, we can learn how to make a good first impression in the workplace to help connect with the right people to collaborate effectively and further career goals.

Making a good first impression can establish yourself as a competent colleague who is easy to get along with. This will make people more open to inviting you on to their projects or collaborating on new ideas. It also opens up the possibility for people to get to know you better, because they will be drawn to your open and positive demeanor, the way you make them feel, and the possibilities you help them step up to.

First impressions are inevitable, so let’s make sure they’re good! There are some practical steps you can take to learn how to make a good first impression. Let’s look at them in-depth so that you can put it into practice.

What is an Impression?

An impression is an idea, opinion, or feeling that we have about someone upon first meeting them. It’s what impresses our brain in the first split-second of interaction. Our brains are powerful and can synthesize a lot of information in a short period of time to make sense of even the quickest interaction.

First impressions are quick and we don’t have evidence and data yet to justify the impression we have formed. And yet, they are very influential because they inform how we act around that person, whether we trust them or not, and our assessment of worthiness to continue a relationship.

Because first impressions are so influential, it’s important to be aware of how you are coming across and learn to make a good first impression.

Why We Make First Impressions

If first impressions aren’t always reliable, why do we make them? It’s a way for our brain to make sense of the external stimulus. But there are some specific reasons we use first impressions in the workplace.

• Prudence: As professionals, we want to ensure that we are acting prudently, or wisely, and doing our due diligence on the people we interact with or hire. Therefore, a first impression is a way to decide if someone is trustworthy and worth bringing into the inner circle at work.
• Productivity: Employees and employers alike care about getting things done in a productive and efficient manner. We want to know right away if the person we will be working with is knowledgeable enough to contribute to the team and help move a project forward. First impressions provide key metrics that help establish the competency and capability of that person.
• Protection: Each person in a workplace has a reputation to maintain, both on a personal level, on the team level or company-wide level. First impressions tell us something about that person and whether we can protect or elevate the reputation by bringing them into the team.

How to Make a Good First Impression

It’s about being cognizant and aware of how you present yourself, demonstrating skillfulness and tact during your interactions with people, and taking steps to correct your behaviour as needed.

Here are four steps to consider to make a good first impression:

• Understand the context of your workplace.?Context applies to both the wider environment of the workplace and also the individual context of who you are interacting with. Context is important because it tells the story of a workplace and gives you information and clues on how to interact and respond.
• To understand?external context, consider these questions to learn more: What is the pertinent background information? What are the current circumstances in the culture? What drives the culture and teams?
• To understand?individual context, consider understanding who are the decision makers here? What are the prominent and influential personality types?
• Communicate in their values in their ways. Communication is the foundation of just about everything in a professional setting, so deserves your attention and focus. Good communication is about speaking with intention and clarity, while articulate how this interaction, this particular arrangement or the proposition to move forward is going to help them fulfill their highest values. The moment you are able to communicate in their values and link it to how meeting this individual is helping you to fulfill what’s valuable to you, it will establish you as a professional who has valuable knowledge and insight to contribute.
• Reflect on the questions that arose?after the first conversation. By learning more about the context and then through actually communicating with someone, you will learn insights about common concerns or issues at hand. Reflect on what arose out of that conversation so you can later contribute with solid insight and impactful information to contribute.
• Have the right attitude that is conducive to making a good first impression.?We hear all the time to “just be positive”, but that can be vague and unhelpful advice, let alone unrealistic. This is not just about having a positive attitude, because that alone may not translate to making a good first impression. The right attitude is much more than trying to be positive, as it includes how you respond to other people, what you believe about yourself, and how you accept feedback.

We went through some hands-on tips to learn how to make a good first impression — make sure you understand them and implement it when you get back to your office or workplace. You can also check out some more tips and tricks on my?YouTube channel, which is all about career growth, communication skills, and critical thinking for career and business professionals. You can also connect with me directly on?LinkedIn.

As a gift to my valuable readers like you, I have created a guide that divulges the top speaker’s success secrets on how to get your message across clearly and confidently on any platform.

Click HERE and get your free gift.

Accountability is the multiplier for success. When we set out to make improvements to ourselves and our lives, transformation is key. Information alone doesn’t transform. My coaching program, Awaken to Vocation, is an empowerment program for educated, career-driven professionals who value making a meaningful contribution as much as they value making a good living. It is designed to help you master your professional destiny, elevate your vocational confidence, and dominate your life purpose. Guard your future.

Apply HERE?for an opportunity to work with me.

With gratitude from your #1 fan,

Grace