How to Make a Good First Impression to Build Your Network

First impressions are not about changing yourself but authenticity. You also don’t have to make a good first impression on everyone you see. The halo effect is seeing one positive trait and assuming there’s more. There’s also the horns effect making you assume the worst off of one bad trait.

People also judge you more on first impressions than later interactions. We also assume people act based on their personality most of the time. But, it’s wrong to think we act due to circumstances while others don’t. Most of the time, just like us, people do things because of circumstances.

First impressions are about how the person feels being around you. It’s all about trying to make them feel pleasant by interacting with you. One easy way to make people feel pleasant is to appreciate them. You can talk about some talent that they have or their accomplishments.

Similarity with interests also makes people feel comfortable around you. A similarity with experiences can also make people more comfortable. Either being light or informing people would also be nice first impressions. You can talk about either light topics or heavy intellectual things you know.

To have a good conversation with someone, try to explore your passions. Make sure you have a giving each other time to expound on ideas. Starting topics can be similar things around you like the weather or event. You can then start talking about deeper things like opinions on things. It will be easy to hog the time when talking but try to notice and avoid it. We all have stuff at the top of our minds that we would like to share.

When people are shy, try to talk more to encourage them to talk. But when people love to talk, let them have the conversation and talk lots. There’s no universally preferred pace in talking so match the other person. When you are faster then you will cause anxiety, and slower is boring. Also, have a good balance of taking turns to talk and expound on things. You may come off as rude if you’re hogging the time to talk so much.

Source: Ann Demarais