Making a Hilariously Great First Impression With Respect

There's this world famous idea that comes about by observation and imitation of one person by another. It's called an impression.

Impressions can be the funny voices we do of famous celebrities or family and friends for other family and friends, or even strangers we're meeting for the first time. They are a key component of many a standup comic's routine and politicians, among most, are fair game targets.

Communication is behavior. One human being sees another's behavioral traits and mimics them- whether to seek attention, gain sympathy, or make people laugh. Behavior is communication. Another human being wants to get a desired job position by demonstrating their easygoing personality. This is the difference between making an impression versus doing an impression. Both have the potential to make both the sender and the reciever feel good, but there is actually a small risk that doing an impression can result in some harm.

So how do you showcase your most authentic self- both in making an impression and doing an impression?

How does your personality come off during a handshake with a prospective employer? Picture yourself at the job interview. You happen to find out that you and the interviewer share a mutual contact. Maybe you do an impression of that old mentor or reference on your resume and it gets a reaction. You have already made at least one sign of a good first impression on the interviewer as a person with a sense of humor with your voice.

Now picture yourself at the dinner tale having a holiday meal with family. "Boy, these crescent roles are even better than the one's Aunt Rita used to make," you say out loud. You continue, "I know just what she would say in response to that: WELLLLLLLL, there's another food processing company I MUST DESTROY!" You open your eyes wide, make a silly motion with your lips and recieve epic laughs from all sides of the table. Whether Aunt Rita is alive and at the table or not, you are definitely the hilarious star of the moment, having just done a first-rate impression of her. You might even have made a good first impression on some new family members or family members you don't know so well!

It can be easy to assume that when you do an impression, you are taking on the role of a character. However, you are actually doing a cariacature. Author Lisa Dooley Fisk states that "Caricatures are overexaggerations … cartoonish without being a cartoon. They predate the avatars people tend to use on the internet." We sketch at least one element of another human being with our voices- much the way a cartoonist draws a figure in a newspaper- while not presenting a copy of the whole person- their values, their beliefs, etc. We have to sketch, like the impressionist painters of the 19th Century in order to do the impression.

Now what about this? You have known your friend Mike for about three weeks. Mike is new at your company. Let's say that you notice that Mike's scandnavian (or shall we say, Minnesotan or Upper Midwest accent) really tends to comeout when he is discussing something he's passionate about, like Dungeons and Dragons. One day at lunch, you are sitting in the breakroom with Mike and other coworkers when you realize that someone brought fish for lunch. You crack a joke in Mike's Scandinavian voice with a D n D referenece: "WOW. Smells like the bard forgot to let his dragon out!" Your other coworkers laugh. Mike, while not saying anything, does not smile and remains silent for the rest of the lunchtime conversation. Later on in the day, you seriously consider pulling Mike aside and apologizing, saying you meant no offense.

The sender of the impression usually has the best of intentions for the reciever- more so if the sender has known the reciever for a considerable amount of time. The intention is usually to amuse and not offend, but when the reciever fails to make a connection with the joke (and no, we can't assume it's because they have no sense of humor), this can result in intimidation, especially if either parties have yet to establish a trust that is built over time. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, this person (maybe Mike) simply wasn't flattered. Does this mean consequences like the end of the relationship before it really even began?

In a perfect world, no one would take themselves too seriously, right? Whether or not they were held to a higher standard as a public figure, they would not be bothered by an impression and react negatively. Unfortunately, our actual imperfect world isn't like that. People have insecurties. It is quite possible that our friend Mike could have been bullied in the past.

So what about doing an impression with character? Or in a moment of light-hearted social fun, just asking the person if they wouldn't mind being impersonated: "Mike, do you care if I do an impression of/impersonate you?" It may definitely sound weird asking it like that, but asking for consent in this fashion not only shows that you respect the person you're imitating, but you also value their actual character.

If they say "No, I'd rather you didn't" (and they might), honor that request. It is simple: instantly make the choice to make a good first impression rather than do a rude impression. By asking ahead of time, you are also acknowledging that you may be of a different age, gender, race, or height than the person you're lampooning and you are respecting that this fact might be an insensitivity factor in you doing the impression of them.

I will leave you with this. It is important to remember that an impression doesn't tell the whole picture of a person. Whether that impression is a first impression is a strange one made on the spot or a funny voice done by the sender- even if the intended reciever doesn't get the reference. We all must remember the old expression don't judge a book by its cover. Just because someone may seem a little awkward at first glance- even at a job interview- doesn't mean that sense of humor can't come out later down the line.