Matter of First Impressions

When you walk into a room, whether it’s for a first date, a job interview, a corporate meeting, or a casual social gathering, people form immediate opinions about you, often within mere seconds. Before you’ve even had the chance to introduce yourself, decide everything about your personality, authority, intelligence, competence, and trustworthiness.

Harvard Study of Communications found it only takes seven seconds to make a first impression, they also found that on average, it takes meeting that same person seven more times to change that first impression that you made on them.

Nearly?70%?of people trust their first gut feeling about someone else

The way people perceive you is influenced by a multitude of factors, including physical appearance including clothing, grooming, your body language including your etiquette, and verbal communication.

According to Albert Mehrabian communication was 55% nonverbal, 38% vocal, and 7% words only.

That means the majority of communication happens on a nonverbal level i.e. body language. Sensory factors such as how we look, sound, and smell drive much of the impressions conveyed when we meet someone. Body language is many times more relevant than the words we utter.

Make a great first impression, and 72% of your customers are likely to spread the word to six or more people.

By becoming aware of clothing, grooming, and body language and learning to manage & control their effects on you and others we will become successful in managing first impressions as well as every impression thereafter.

So, now that we know some of what drives first impressions and how important it is to make a positive one, here are a few suggestions:

• Having a positive body/self-image results in a feel-good factor and leads to healthy self-esteem. Steps to take become aware of your inner voice and listen to constant statements & judgments, confront them, stop comparing, learn to love yourself, give positive affirmation, and develop your strength.
• Dress slightly better than the occasion warrants. Ensure you dress Appropriately, Authentically, Attractively, and Affordably.
• Make frequent eye contact, especially when speaking

44%?of people first notice a person's eyes when meeting them

• Smile
• Learn Power Poses to feel more confident with body language[1]
• Treat everyone with whom you come in contact as the most important person on earth. - Earl Nightingale.

Success essential is getting a chance; which depends on first impressions and people's decisions based on the first impression and/or performing on the getting chance through your hard skills and soft skills. Luck is when opportunity meets a lot of preparedness.

[1] https://www.betterup.com/blog/power-poses